Puerto Madero

Today we visited another neighborhood called Puerto Madero.  It's in the southeast corner of Buenos Aires.

Again, we live in Palermo, which is on the other side of the map.  However, with the Subte, it only takes about 20-30 minutes to get from one side to the other.  Pretty nifty!

Here's a map of Puerto Madero:

The 4 blue rectangles on the left are the 4 dikes in the middle of the city and the green area on the right is the ecological reserve.  We got off the Subte with a 20 minute walk to Puerto Madero, so we took a deep breath and off we went.

We ran into a protest:

and a guy selling sugar nuts:

and these weird puffs:

The puffs were gross.

We're getting close!

We're here!

There are 4 dikes in Puerto Madero and we were at dike 4.

They had giant cranes all over:

More of dike 4:

The other side of the walkway is lined with really nice bars and restaurants:

We walked around dike 4 and down the street until we reached Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur (the only real nature preserve in the area).  Before we entered the reserve, we spotted a bunch of sandwich stands and decided to pick one up.

We ended up getting a bondiolas (pork sandwich) with ham and egg:

Here are their special sauces:

I added some special sauce to my half:

It was super garlicky and delish!  Super yummy, gigantic $5 sandwich!

Now we were ready for our nature walk!

It was a pretty walk, but tame compared to what we were used to seeing in Costa Rica.  Not sure what we were expecting, but we just weren't really into it.  We didn't even get to the lake before we turned around and headed back to the dikes.

We walked by the Coleccion de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat.

Amalia Lacroza de Fortabat is Argentina's wealthiest woman and this museum was built to showcase her extensive art collection.  We didn't go in, as we've had enough of art for awhile.  

We saw this cool restaurant on the dock:

This bridge is called La Puente de la Mujer:

While we were walking we saw a helicopter fly overhead.

When we approached the bridge, we saw a bunch of locks clipped to the side.  I've heard of a bridge in Paris where they do the same thing (although the one is Paris is MUCH bigger):

Then we walked across:

The bridge is supposed to represent a couple dancing the tango.  It rotates 90 degrees to allow boats to pass.

Really beautiful view of the city from the bridge:

Also really pretty view of this ship:

We walked up to it and turns out it's an old sailing vessel and you can go on board and take a self-guided tour.  The ship is called Fragata Sarmiento and it has traveled around the world 37 times between 1899-1938.  All aboard!

The ship in it's heyday:

Building of dike 2:

Let's go below deck:

They had lots of old memorabilia:

Why would you take the time to carve that expression?  It probably took months, if not years to make that bust and that's the face you choose??  It doesn't look menacing or bad-ass, it looks like a baby sucking a lemon!  So lame!

Someone's quarters:

Barbershop?

Probably where the captain ate (the crew had a mess hall):

Lots of plaques:

Voyages of the Sarmiento:

The ship mascot, Lampazo (OMG gives me the shivers!):

Knots:

Then we went way below deck to look at the engine and motors and such (I know nothing about this stuff, I took pictures for Aaron):

Oohhhhhh!  Aaahhhhhhhh!

No idea what any of that is, or if it even IS anything at all.

That's the free tour!  I took pictures of the outside one we exited because they turned on the lights:

So purdee!  Aaron said this was a propeller (I thought it was a golden snitch):

Pictures of the city as the sun goes down:

I even took a video.

We've seen a few of these around the city.  It almost looks like a play structure for kids, but they're actually for working out.  Aaron will demonstrate:

Let's get physical!

Let me hear your body talk!

We didn't really know what some of them were for and the instruction pictures were all faded.  Really cool idea though!  Fat-ass America take notes!

We kept walking (we're at dike 2 now) and saw a college:

It was called UCA and I don't know how these kids get any studying done with bars directly underneath the classrooms!  I guess they figure they should eliminate the pesky step of having to WALK to the bar after class.  Only in Buenos Aires!

Cool mural along the wall near the school:

City at night:

Well, I never said they were good.  My phone takes terrible night pictures.  Sorry.

Then we looked at our guidebook and realized we were pretty close to San Telmo (another neighborhood we've been wanted to see), so we figured let's see it at night.  We walked about 15 minutes and immediately the streets looked different.  San Telmo has narrow roads and cobble-stoned streets filled with shops and resto-bars (restaurant-bars, as they're called in BA).  

It's known for antiques and quirky knick knacks and having something for everyone.  Most shops were closing, so we window-shopped:

There's a square in the middle called Plaza Dorrego (similar to Plaza Serrano where we live, but much smaller).  There are tables and chairs for dining and drinking and people selling their homemade wares.  On Sundays, they have a huge flea market/fair in the square.  We are planning to visit on a Sunday, for sure!

It's surrounded by resto-bars and shops:

We walked into what seemed like a small space in between two buildings and found a random giant area filled with small shops and stands.

There was a shop with tons of records (if only I collected records):

These pictures are garbage, but trust me, there was an obscene amount of records in there.

Store filled with old posters:

Old children's toys (some creepy, some Disney, some creepy Disney):

Paintings:

A few meat and produce stands:

Honeycomb!

I've only ever seen one of those in a Cheerios commercial!

Store filled with jars of spices:

A coffee shop smack in the middle:

Then we walked about 20 minutes to the Subte and went home (we're getting pretty good at this walking thing).  On the Subte, occasionally someone will sing or play the guitar for change.  Tonight we had a whole band, so I tried to record it without looking like a weirdo (it didn't work on either front).  Don't bother watching because the video is useless, but try to listen (over the loud sound of the train) to Smooth Operator.  They did a couple other covers (a Carlos Santana) and were pretty good!

Once home, we were hungry, so Aaron went to a restaurant a block away from our house and ordered food.  He ended up ordering a giant assorted meat plate for two.  Of course, he took no pictures of the restaurant or menu and had no idea what any of the meat was, so we had to guess.

It came with two kinds of steak (one was good, the other tough), chicken (good), pork (good), ribs (good), sausage (good) and two other cuts of beef that were tough (no bueno).  We also got roasted veggies and some sort of free dessert (it was almost like a flan, but with sweet cheese instead of eggs.  Not my favorite).

We also got a special surprise:

The dreaded BLOOD SAUSAGE!  We cut it up and tried a piece and it was nasty!

It didn't taste overly bloody (like iron-y or anything), but it tasted really strange.  Had a soft texture and almost melted in your mouth, but the flavor was really rich (almost like eating straight up fat) and it was just not great.  I couldn't even keep it in my mouth for more than 10 seconds (but I'll admit I was pretty grossed out before trying it, so I kinda psyched myself out).  Now we've tried it and can stop thinking about it FOREVER (except in my nightmares)!

Currently watching The Imitation Game on Netflix and if you haven't seen it, it's excellent!  So hard to believe it's a true story and I've never heard of Alan Turing before!  Not only did he single-handedly end WWII, but he invented the computer!  Amazing!  Okay, I know I kinda gave that one away, but the movie is still REALLY fantastic.  Favorite quote: "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."