We started the day by watching the news, and we saw the most surreal weather forecast EVER. It was a 3D animation of dancing suns on the beach. And it lasted way too long. And behind them was Wilson the volleyball from ‘Cast Away’. I’m completely serious.

We dropped off our laundry at the place next door and bought a few groceries, then headed to Bar Britannico for lunch. I had a surprisingly good salami and cheese sandwich and split a raspberry tart with Cecile. We went to the internet cafe to look up some schedules and check email. I took the opportunity to call my Dad and wish him a happy birthday.

We took the subte to Abasto, the plan being to see the Guardel museum. Unfortunately it was closed that day so we made due with photos of the painted buildings in the neighborhood, and headed back to the giant Abasto mall for some bargain hunting. We bought a few things then took a taxi to el Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Barrio Norte.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid used to be a theater and then a movie house. The inside is gorgeous – quite the experience. We had a snack at the bookstore’s Impresso Café, which is situated on the stage. You can look out over the main stacks and see up into the dome and upper floors where the music and education books are shelved.

Back in San Telmo we picked up our laundry and grabbed a quick bite at Desnivel (I had delicious carne and pollo empanadas) before cabbing it to Café Tortoni in Microcenter. Tortoni is a big tourist attraction – tango shows and great atmosphere. The show was fun, but after seeing traditional tango up close, show tango seemed a bit vulgar and stilted

After the show, Cecile and I walked back down Calle Florida, stopping at a little artists’ market where Cecile bought a traditional painted sign. Then, at the end of Calle Florida near Galleria Pacifico, we caught the very very end of a performance by some young tango buskers.

We took a taxi to Palermo Chico for lunch at the café at Malba. However, it being Buenos Aires, the museum wasn’t quite open yet. So, we walked back along Figueroa Alcorta towards the National Fine Art Museum to take photos of the Floralis Generica – a huge metal flower that closes at night and opens during the day. As we were walking back to Malba we ran into Cecile and Nora’s friend Lauren, a member of their book club who, along with her fiancé, had been on our flight from Miami to Buenos Aires.

At Malba we had sandwiches at the Café des Arts and saw some cool Latin American art; there was a whole exhibit of mechanical/motorized art. We walked across the street to the Jardin Japonais and took photos of the koi and the little bridges and water features. Since we were close and it had been recommended to us, we walked to the far side of the series of parks to Volta, a gelato place. The gelato was really good and perfect for the hot day.

After gelato we walked back across the parks through Plaza Holanda. The original plan was to go paddle boating but we had done so much walking and it was so hot that we just wanted to get to our final destination: the Hipódromo Argentino.

We walked into the wrong part of the stands at first and ended up sitting in the cheap seats with the hard core gamblers. Sort of awkward, sort of awesome. We watched a race then walked over to the swanky part of the race track – a lawn with umbrella-ed tables where we were waited upon.

We headed back to San Telmo for Cecile’s tango lesson. The lesson was pretty early (for Buenos Aires time) but at the awkward time where it would be difficult to get something to eat beforehand, since everything is closed for a few hours in the evening. Nora and I decided to go to Desnivel; I got a delicious choripan (chorizo sausage on bread roll slathered in chimichurri) and Nora got a couple empanadas – the best ones in Buenos Aires so far. We ate on the go and finished up outside of La Independencia while we waited for it to open.

The tango lesson was pretty great to watch – Alfredo and Eva showed some new steps and lifts to the more experienced dancers, while being sure to offer alternative ornamentations to the beginners. I took a lot of video of the dancing (see them here). One of the attendees was a scientist who splits his time between Buenos Aires and Fermilab, outside of Chicago! Nora got his card and a promise for a tour of Fermilab when he gets back into town.

After the tango lesson we walked to Bar Federal so Cecile could have dinner and we could all unwind with some beers.

In the morning we walked around the corner to Lezama Park, where an outdoor market was being set up. We met Ingrid there then took the bus to Palermo. We had lunch at BoBo then checked out the sidewalk markets and boutiques.

We cabbed to Recoleta Cemetery and spent a few hours looking at the beautiful mausoleums and sleeping stray cats. We battled the crowd at Evita Peron’s mausoleum, then left to have a snack at Monaco, across from the cemetery.

We checked out the art museum at Palace des Glace and listened to mass at Basilico Nuestra Señora del Pilar before taking a cab home to eat leftovers from Manolo. We watched Harry Potter on cable, then we snuck out and got ice cream at the corner shop.

We breakfasted at the famous El Hipopótamo cafe, then began our walk to Plaza de Mayo. We walked through an indoor market and saw Belgrano’s tomb. Once in Plaza de Mayo we took photos of Casa Rosada and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral, which had beautiful mosaic floors and painted gilded ceilings. San Martin’s mausoleum was incredibly beautiful.

We walked down Calle Florida, which is a main shopping street, and had ice cream at La Florinia. We stopped at a cafe in Plaza de la Republica for beers and empanadas then headed back to San Telmo to de-sweat before dinner at Manolo with Ingrid. We ate giant steaks and delicious calamari, and got a pick-up note from some random dudes that saw us from outside the restaurant. After we finished stuffing ourselves we went to Ingrid’s favorite milonga, La Independencia.

yes, truly a miracle, but i’ve been back in LA for less than a day and already i’ve started processing and posting photos from the trip!

On the last day of our tour (before the day spent in the air) we left Lucerne and headed back to Frankfurt via the Black Forest. Our first stop was the Rhine Falls – a thunderously loud 70 foot-wide waterfall across the Rhine. We bought some chocolates in the gift shop and admired all of the fish in the shallows.

We stopped at the House of Black Forest Clocks and were greeted with glasses of cherry liqueur as we admired the giant cuckoo clock outside. If only I had a few thousand dollars to spare, I’d have bought one of the beautiful handmade cuckoo clocks, but instead I got gifts for friends and some liqueur. We had lunch in the cafeteria upstairs (where the handmade grandfather clocks are displayed) then were back on the road.

In Heidelberg we had a few hours to wander the city, Heidelberg Castle looking down at us from the hilltop. Mom and I walked through the streets and bought some snacks. The streets were very crowded and had a decidedly modern, London-y feel to me, after having spent so much time in older or more remote cities like St. Veit, Zermatt and Lucerne. We boarded the bus one last time and returned to the hotel in Frankfurt where we spent our first night in Germany.

thus concludes the over-a-year-long process of getting these photos prepared, tagged and posted. time for a drink.