Travel with Indigo

There was a storm in the area last night and this morning, it was overcast with much wind.  But before long, it turned into a beautiful sunny day.  Today, Hugo took us to the neighborhoods or barrios of Palermo, Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood, all in the same area.  And yes, it is what is sounds like–a rather hip bohemian  area with lots of individual clothing and decor stores (like in Soho), plenty of parks and trees and a special area they are trying to fashion after Hollywood, California with really hip shops.  We didn’t spend much time in the Hollywood section so I can’t tell you much about that but the other two areas were very interesting–to me anyway–with street vendors and small shops of individual designers.

We drove back to the Recoleta barrio where Hugo suggested we eat at the parrillion de Recoleta.  “Parrillion” is a common word in Argentina to describe the process of grilling food over an open wood fire.  Like many such places, this one specialized in Argentine meats and Hugo told us what to order–so good!  They also served a chimichurri made (I think) of parsley, oil and garlic.  That was a big hit to put on bread, meat and just about anything else.

Hugo then took us to another barrio–San Telmo–which is the oldest part of BA and is the antique and tango center of the city.  On Sundays, there is a flea market–many of the neighborhoods have those, especially on the week-ends–and even today, there were lots of street vendors.  This is definitely the neighborhood for antique stores if that is what you are looking for.  Many of the streets here are very narrow but that is not unusual once you get off the main roads, which are definitely not narrow.

The traffic here in BA is a bit overwhelming.  There are lines drawn on the roads to delineate the lanes but no one pays much attention to these suggestions and no one stays in the lanes.  It’s definitely every man for himself.  Probably the most famous road is the 9 de Julio, which is 460 feet wide and at least eight lanes each way.  On this road is the famous Obelisk which commemorates the 400th anniversary of BA.  I decided that the traffic is probably why there is one psychoanalyst for every 30 Argentines in this area.

Tonight, we had dinner in a little cafe in Puerto Madero–just coffee and little sandwiches but delightful.  Then back to the sun roof for cheese and wine–can’t complain about that.  Grant and the two Kyles went to a club called Rumi about 10PM.  Remember: things get started late here and some clubs don’t even open until 2AM.  Hard for a mom to get used to but Grant is loving it.