December 18th
We went for a walk down Florida Street as our first day we didn’t get all the way to Plaza de Mayo and I wanted to visit the craft market at the old city hall and of course see Evita’s balcony.
Florida Street at Christmas
Casa Rosa
As we had noticed our first night on Florida Street many independent artisans and vendors selling everything from interesting handicrafts and jewelry to cheap junk randomly set up on Florida. This mainly occurs in the late afternoon, early evening. The area closest to Plaza de Mayo often has artisans lining the street during the day as well. They simply take a blanket, place it on the ground and put their handicrafts on it to sell to pedestrians.
Cabildo Patio Fera
Our first stop was to visit the craft market – Cabildo Patio Fera in the garden patio behind the Cabildo (old city hall). The quality of crafts here was interesting although the market was very small. The market runs on Thursday and Friday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Historical and Political Buildings
After visiting the market, we walked around the main buildings with a stop in the Cathedral which was pretty but not spectacular, you’ll find more interesting churches in Europe. Next stop in the square was a look at the Casa Rosada to see window from Evita’s famous address to her adoring public. Outside the Casa Rosada you can see historical political images of the country’s presidents with other nations’ leaders. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t go in the Casa to see the inside (I think we just couldn’t find the right entrance – but the guards told us there was no entry)
One thing we read which we found interesting is that the pink colour of the Casa was selected as a compromise between the two political parties. One political party’s colour is red and one white – the combination of which creates pink.
Taking A Break For Lunch
We had lunch at a café right in the main square called the Gran Victoria. It was bustling with local business people. The Plaza de Mayo is the political centre of the city but also where most of the main banking offices are located. The food was not exceptional but the experience was. We shared a sandwich and watched the locals. I love the way some of the coffee is served. They serve it with little containers of whipped cream, sugar and dolce de leche. Our waiter presented the amount of our bill by writing it on a cocktail napkin. We never actually received a bill.
Cafe Victoria Coffee
Diagonal Norte to Lavalle
After a lunch break we walked to the monument Diagonal Norte and down Lavalle, another pedestrian street which we hadn’t visited our first time on Florida.
Taking The Metro/Subte
We decided to give our legs a break and take the metro to dinner. When visiting a city we usually try to whenever possible take public transit rather than rely on taxis. In the case of BA, taxis are not very expensive but we still like taking public transit.
The metro in BA is called the Subte. You will see the circular signs at the metro stations with the word “Subte” on them.
We purchased four tickets (two to get us to the street for dinner and two to get us back. The cost of one ticket $.90 pesos. A ticket or trip is called “viaje” and is a paper card more or less the size f a credit card. You can put multiple trips on a single ticket but we had read that the megnatic strip on the ticket can be affected by the humidity and not work. We opted to primarily purchase one trip at a time. Upon entering the station there is a ticket agent from whom you can buy tickets. Once you have the ticket you put it in the slot at the turnstile and it returns it to you out the top. If you bought multi trips you will want to keep the ticket, otherwise there is no need to do so. Unlike some metros you do not need to keep it as proof of purchase (at least this is what we were told).
An interesting note on the paper Subte cards, there is a man who has an artisan booth at the Feria Frances who makes things out of them such as desk organisers/pen holders and hot plate mats. It’s pretty cool and I like the idea that he uses old materials and recycles them.
http://www.subte.com.ar
Dinner and Market Shopping
Dinner at a restaurant on Baez. This street is packed with restaurants and lots of young people. At the end of Baez there was an artisan market set up. Not sure if this market happens regularly or not as we had not read about it in advance. There were about 20 vendors selling fashion items (mostly for women) and jewelry and even a band playing. It was a pretty cool market.
This street is a fantastic place to go for dinner. Pretty much every building on the street is a restaurant and most with patios out front. There are lots of great choices and the streets are bustling with young hip people. This was my favourite area for the evening. The restaurants are reasonably priced but many do not take credit cards so make sure you have enough cash for dinner and drinks.
We went to a casual pizza and pasta restaurant sharing a bottle of Rose wine and a pizza. Since we paid cash and I didn’t write it down, I can remember exactly but I believe total including tip it was under $20 CAD.
Argentinean Pizza
A word about pizza in BA and Mendoza, the style of pizza is not similar to North American pizza (nor Italian). The crust is a different texture, almost spongy, it’s not a thin crust but it’s not thick either and whatever variety you order is sure to have a ton of cheese on it. The cheese isn’t shredded cheese like NA pizza but it’s also not round pieces like Bononcini either. The cheese is so thick it’s like big slices that have been melted over the entire pizza. We tried pizza in a number of places and it was the same everywhere.
Read Other Posts In This Series:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part IX
Part X
Part XI
Part XII
Part XIII
Part XIV
Part XV
Part XVI
Part XVII
