Highlights of my brother's vacation

During my brother's visit, I did get to show a bit of the city as well as a tiny slice of neighboring Uruguay and we saw a few places I had never seen before either. One place I have wanted to visit for a long time is Las Violetas, a café and panadería (bakery) that is famed for its elegance as much as for its delicacies. It's in the Almagro barrio on Avenida Rivadavia, not an upmarket area but one would never realize that after stepping through the doors. It reminded me of the lobby of one of the grand hotels of yesteryear, tall columns rising to the high vaulted ceiling, gilded wainscoting, stained glass windows, and brass and polished wood in abundance. The waiters were smartly attired in white jackets and the café was abuzz with conservation. The pastries lived up to their reputation in both taste and appearance. Open since 1884, I heartily recommend a visit to anyone who wants to relive some of the glamor of Buenos Aires' lost splendor.

Buenos Aires is renowned for its vast number of museums (130+), more than Paris has. One of the must-see places are the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) on Avenida Libertador in Recoleta, where one can view works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, and many more great artists from every era and style, all free of charge. Across Libertador is the Centro Cultural Recoleta, (Recoleta Cultural Center) where contemporary artists are showcased in renovated galleries that were once part of a 17th century convent.

We also toured the Museo Evita (Evita Museum), which I had never visited, for an extensive perspective of Eva Peron, one of history's most intriguing and powerful women. To this day Evita is reviled as a villainess or adored as a near-saint, so it's almost impossible to understand Argentina without some awareness of her role in history and politics.

We dined out virtually every evening and discovered some new restaurants that deserve commendation. 1816 (the name commemorates Argentina's revolution) is something akin to a tenedor libre (all-you-can-eat buffet). It's not a serve-yourself buffet but for a fixed price (I think it was 38 pesos or US $12.06) you can select anything on the menu and keep selecting more dishes until you're satisfied or you explode. The food is excellent, the ambience is moderne, and the staff is friendly and attentive. It's located at Avenida Cramer 1753 in Belgrano.

Reencuentro in Palermo (Cabrera 4801) is also a fixed price all-you-can-eat restaurant. It does have a buffet portion for salads and some side dishes but the meat, poultry, fish, and hot sides such as potatoes are brought upon request to your table. The food is even better than 1816, which is quite a compliment, and it's also cheaper (26 pesos or US $8.25). That may explain why it is always ultra crowded. I strongly suggest making reservations or arriving early, no later than 9:00 PM, if you don't want a long wait for a table.

Sundays were the days we had the longest outings because that's the only day of the week when Luciano's store is closed. The first Sunday, 30 September, we went to La Boca with my Colombian friend, John, and his sister, Juliet. It was the first visit to La Boca for everyone in our group, except me. I was surprised that not even Luciano had seen this extremely colorful and popular section of the city. It is one of the oldest barrios of the city and the home of one of Argentina's two greatest rival soccer teams (La Boca vs. River Plate). The architecture is striking, the outdoor cafes are literally in the closed-to-traffic street, and tango music pervades the air while dancers flawlessly execute their precise and elegant maneuvers.

The following Sunday we journeyed across the Rio de la Plata to Colonia, Uruguay. A river crossing doesn't sound like much but the Rio de la Plata is more of a broad estuary than a river, a vast expanse of water that seems like the ocean. There are two types of ferry offered by Buquebus in Puerto Madero, a slow conventional ship that takes 3 hours (99 pesos/US $31.43 round trip) and a faster hydrofoil which crosses in only one hour (149 pesos/ US $47.30). It was well worth the extra $16 to spend only 2 hours total in travel time instead of 6 hours. We left very early in the morning, about 8:00 AM and our return ferry departed at 10:30 PM so we had plenty of time to explore all of the old colonial town.

Founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, Colonia throughout the years whipsawed between Portuguese and Spanish control for more than a century, then became part of the tug-of-war between Brazil and Argentina until Uruguay finally became independent. It's very very charming and picturesque, well-preserved old buildings, a lighthouse, city walls, and cobblestone streets. The townspeople participate in parades and processions throughout the day, costumed to portray whichever historic period is relevant. There are many quaint cafés and bistros for dining or drinking inside and out, so you can pause to relax and regroup for more sightseeing. Colonia is one of the United Nations' World Heritage Sites.

As I wrote in my last post, my brother is a musician and music teacher. He particularly wanted to find some percussion instruments unique to South America. We had some wild goose chases at first but eventually found Bonkó Percusión in Chacaritas (on Forest at Olleros) which has a huge variety of drums, shakers, gourds, and everything else that is used to keep a beat. The owner, Javier, is a professional drummer, very knowledgeable, and a nice guy. He speaks English so I was let off the hook for a while (I interpreted for my brother just about everywhere we went and believe me when I say it can be hard work!). They spent 2 or 3 hours talking about music and instruments during the two visits we made to the shop and eventually my brother carted a whole suitcase of things back to the U.S.

It was an exhausting couple of weeks in many ways but I also discovered some new places and enjoyed visiting some familiar spots as well. Perhaps the next time I have a visitor things will go more smoothly.