Buenos Aires, Museum Cabaret and Parilla

Friday 19th February

Cloudy and damp today so decided to investigate the Museum of Latin American Art, which gets a good write up everywhere, both for its architecture and contents. Guess I've been spoilt by Tate Modern and Musee D'Orsay. I was thinking that the architecture would have been cutting edge when it was built in the 1970’s but in fact it opened in 2001 by which time enclosed atria and glass curtain walls were commonplace. The special collections were closed so I was only able to see the permanent collection of mainly 20th century art. I particularly liked the kinetic art and a few of the more representational paintings and photographs but confess much of the rest was lost on me. And they didn't even have a cafe, only a rather formal restaurant. Realise it isn't comparing like with like, but I thought the museum of pre-Columbian art in Santiago was infinitely more interesting.  

George Gershwin, An American in Paris
by Miguel Covarrubias, 1929

 Self Portrait with Monkey and Parrot by Frida Kahlo 
Reminds me of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean 

Dinner for Two? Conceptual Art by  Víctor Grippo

By the time I came out the sky had cleared and I found a cafe up the road. 

In the evening decided to have dinner in the San Telmo area. Surprised to find so many pizza and pasta places but settled on Don Ernesto’s which seemed reasonably authentically Argentinian although I did have a hostess who sounded as if she came from the US. Had a steak and a half bottle of Malbec. Good as the steak was, I am not convinced it was any better than you could get anywhere else. The guidebooks had led me to expect lots of lively bars but I couldn't find any so started walking back in the direction of the hotel but decided I wasn't feeling all that energetic and got a taxi the rest of the way. Buenos Aires is supposed to be the city that never sleeps but didn't see many signs of exciting night life.

Saturday 20th February

Spent much of the morning sorting out flights to and hotels in Cordoba and Iguazu. Budget airlines offering cheap one way flights don't seem to have taken off here so it's cheaper and easier to book returns to and from Buenos Aires.

Took the Subte to a part of the city centre I haven't explored so far. Very much the commercial centre with lots of shops hotels etc, dominated by the broadest boulevard I have ever seen, Avenida 9 de Julio. Indeed, according to Wikipedia “it is the widest avenue in the world”.  

Evita again. This time in  Avenida 9 de Julio

Avenida 9 de Julio. Widest avenue in the world

Avenida 9 de Julio.
The Obelisk was erected in 1936 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city.

Narrow Canyon-like Side Street

While Chile names its streets after war heroes and politicians, the same ones in every town, Argentina likes dates. Guess it helps children learn their history. Running perpendicular to Avenida 9 de Julio, Lavalle is a pedestrianised street with many cafes and bars. In one of the cafes I ordered a salad, thinking it would be a light brunch, but it was enormous. Just off Lavalle, in a side street, my attention was drawn by a huge pair of inflated legs sticking out of an upstairs window. The window belonged to Theatre Maipu which has several shows running, of which one, "The Hole", looks fairly visual and doesn't obviously feature Tango so I made a spur of the moment decision to book it for tonight.

 

Maipo Theatre

From Lavalle walked along Calle Florida, a major shopping street with an impressive turn of the century shopping mall, Buenos Aires's answer to Galleries Lafayette or GUM, in which there’s an interesting Borges Cultural Centre showing modern art. 

Solid Looking Doors for a Bank

Galerías Pacífico

Galerías Pacífico

In nearby Plaza San Martín, a park rather than a square, there is a tower built to celebrate the centenary of Argentina's independence. It was funded by the British business community and it was called the English Tower until 1982 when, after the Falklands war, it was renamed "Monument Tower". Close by is Retiro Station, a typical cathedral of the railway era,  now reduced to serving commuter lines and just a few trains a week going further.  

Buildings around Plaza San Martín

Monument Tower

Monument to José de San Martín in his Plaza

In a Peaceful World, Would Monument Builders be Redundant? 

The Hole was a good choice for this evening's entertainment since most of it was a cabaret sized, X-rated, Cirque du Soleil spectacular with acrobats and singers. The MC, Moria Casan, is a well-known TV personality here and obviously hugely popular, with an ability to speak at machine gun speed, and a pet rat. Not understanding a word of what she said, I have no idea of the role of the rat. The show originated in Spain and some of the cast such as Vineli von Bismark, who dominates the poster, came with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o4VI5bTeYY

After the show, I tried a mixed parilla, barbecued meat, at a restaurant nearby. It was a carnivore's delight, big chunks of lamb, beef and chicken, together with a fat sausage and black pudding. Do Argentines really eat so much meat or is it just for the tourists? If they do, how many survive past middle age?

According to "Worlds Best Bars" two of the best in Buenos Aires are in the area but one had closed down, or the address was wrong, and the other in the Plaza Hotel was deserted. Where is this city that never sleeps?