Our first stop today was the Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes building on Corrientes and Riobamba. This is a building that we’ve seen time and time again since we’ve been here, so with our departure looming we felt we had to make a visit. Work on the building began in 1887 to address the health needs of the city that at the time was overtaken by epidemics. Since 1987 this building has been a national historical monument, and we certainly recognize it as one of the most beautiful in the entire city.
From there, we headed west about 10 blocks to the Abasto barrio and the Museo Casa Carlos Gardel. If the name Carlos Gardel doesn’t jump out at you, don’t worry – it didn’t to us either. It didn’t take long, however, for us to realize how this man was not only a national hero to the Argentine’s but also very well respected world wide. He is best known for being the most important figure in the history of tango. Although the dance existed far before he became popular, Gardel was instrumental for matching a music to the dance. His popularity has been compared to that of Elvis, and he even starred in American movies before his tragic death in an airplane crash in 1935. As interesting as the museum that celebrates his life is, you can’t help but feel he deserves something grander when you compare it to the likes of Graceland.
The Gardel museum was our gateway to Abasto. Up to this point in our trip, we had avoided this barrio for one reason or another. We can’t tell you about the neighborhood as a whole, but the few blocks that line the museum make for excellent site seeing. Many of the buildings are marked with murals of Gardel and lyrics to his songs are painted on the sidewalks. For someone we didn’t know much about before our trip, Carlos Gardel lived a life we are excited to learn more about.
After touring Abasto, we grabbed a late lunch and coffee at Cafe Martinez before heading back to the apartment. We downloaded and sampled the new Pearl Jam album, tooled around on the internet and relaxed before getting ready for dinner.
We arrived to 647 Dinner Club in San Telmo around 9:30. Being a Monday night, we expected a sparse crowd. We pretty much had the place to ourselves when we arrived. The decor of this French restaurant was gorgeous – from the chandeliers to the high ceilings. We grabbed a seat in an oversized, round booth and took a look at the menu. For our entrada, we went with a veal carpaccio, which was extremely tasty. To accompany our appetizer, Angela ordered a Rhum Forrest, Rhum (get it?), a rum based cocktail, and I had a Mint Jagger (get it?), which is basically a mojito made with jager. Both were excellent. Our entrees were equally as satisfying; Angela had a pumpkin based pasta dish and I had quail with blue cheese stuffed pear. Even though the place was fairly empty which likely took away from some of the ambience, this place easily climbed to the top of our top restaurants in Buenos Aires.
Although the San Telmo barrio is becoming more and more safe with the high quality restaurants and bars going up, we still had the bartender call a cab for us. Only a few minutes later, we were on our way back to the apartment. After getting home around midnight we decided to put on Munich and call it a night. Even though we have said this before, we are planning on going to Uruguay tomorrow. There aren’t many days left on our trip, so we’re confident it’s finally going to happen.
