Travel with Indigo

It’s the day after Christmas and today Phil, Grant and I went to visit the Circulo Militar which is now a private club of sorts but in the past, was the Palacio Paz, a family home of the Paz family.  This is a mansion built with materials brought from Europe and in the style of Louis XIV with lots of marble.  Every room is different and quite rich with gold flaked areas, murals on the ceilings, exquisite woodwork and marble, different flooring in every room and lovely gardens.  We were escorted by Alejandro, an employee of Carlos Pedro, who is a retired military officer.  Alejandro speaks very good English as does the young woman who gave us a tour of the house.  The house took 18 years to build while the owner was in France but unfortunately, he died two years before it was finished at the end of the 19th century so he never actually lived there.  But his widow, his children and his grandchildren lived there for many years and since it is located on the Plaza San Martin, the children were able to use that park as their playground.

We then had lunch at the Hyatt (again–it’s worth it) in the Recoleta barrio, and then Grant and I went walking and shopping in the area.  We visited the Patio Bullrich, an indoor shopping mall which is very nice and has lots of good shops.  We then went next door to Etiquetta Negra which is reportedly very popular with the younger crowd.  We also walked around the Galerias Palacios again and decided that it is best to buy jeans in the U.S.

That evening, Juan Scalesiciana, his wife Marta and Norma Vitale came to the boat to have dinner with us.  You remember that they were the ones who built the Palacio Duhau and the Park Hyatt.  We were also joined by Alejandra and Pedro and their two sons (Sebastian and Philip).  We had met Alejandra at Carlos Pedro’s La Torcaza and learned that she and her family live in New York where she works at Sotheby’s and her husband works for an investment banking firm.  Grant and the boys hit it off right away and the grown-ups had a wonderful dinner prepared by Chef Geraldine.  She called it “Gourmet-USA Style” and it was delicious.  We had celery root soup with bacon and apple and then Moulard duck breast with walnut sherry vinaigrette, braised radis and haricots verts.  The dessert was Key Lime creme brulee and Juan asked Geraldine for the recipe and suggested he may put it on the Hyatt menu–that’s how good it was!  The cheese and port we then enjoyed up on the sun deck–it was then rather late so no sun–was a perfect end to a wonderful day.