Trains, Boats, and Cranes

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After finally getting a load of laundry done in the all-in-one-machine we were off to town. It took almost 2.5 hrs to do a small load. I guess if you have to have a machine in your apartment, then you have to put up with these issues, sure not like the LG front loaders we have at home. Anyway, we were heading out to Palermo today so we got to experience the subway again. Last year the price on the subway was 70 pesos (22 cents US) - this year the price had gone up to 90 pesos (28.5 cents US) - I guess because of the rising price of oil. Anyway, we got our tickets and jumped onto the Greenline to head up to Palermo Soho. The trains are very clean, pretty quick, and not air conditioned, but what the hell, it beats walking a couple of miles. When we got to Palermo, it was raining - not too much, so we continued on our way. We found one of the other buildings that we were looking at for an apt rental, and I am glad that we decided not to rent in this area because the traffic noise is horrendous and the neighborhood is not as nice as Puerto Madero. As you can see by the photo the streets are crowded and the building are old and very close together, so even if you had a balcony, getting any sun on it would be tough, and you would have to listen to the noise all day. The rain continued to get worse as we headed over to Palermo Hollywood where we had planned to have lunch in one of the many ethnic restaurants; unfortunately many of these restaurants are outdoor restaurants and they don’t open in the rain. So, we packed in the walking and got back onto the subway and headed to the ABASTO Shopping Mall. This is one huge mall, on the third floor they have a food court and above the court they have a huge indoor ferris wheel; there were lots of kids lined up to get on the wheel - I thought this was unusual until Jo pointed out that they were on their summer break - summer break in January, mmmh? Also, for those of you who eat only kosher food, they have perhaps the only kosher MacDonald’s outside of Israel - another great reason to come to Buenos Aires.
As we toured around the mall, we found a MUNCHIS; it was right across from a FREDDO - MUNCHIS was 50 cents less than FREDDO, and their ice cream is so much better. In fact, I would have to say that Buenos Aires has the best ice cream in the world; I know they say Italy holds that position, but having been in Italy last fall, I don’t think they hold the top position on ice cream anymore.
After an afternoon of shopping, we headed home. Got on the red train and walked the rest of the way. In Puerto Madero there are many large cranes just parked beside the water. Upon close examination, they are all decommissioned and it looks like they are there as decorations. If you need a crane, perhaps you can make a deal. Along the water way there are many boats parked; some of them are modern and a few of them are museum pieces - actually they museums. We decided to have dinner at an American restaurant - TGI Fridays. The menu was in English. They had a happy hour from 4-9 PM, so we indulged in some margaritas. After dinner we decided to make our way upstream to the Casino. They did not have one here last year, in fact I would say from the state of construction it had only just opened. We had a short stay at the Casino because the 100% rule kicked in quickly - that when you double your money you cash in your chips. So, after a long day out on the town, we headed home for some sleep. My feet were getting sore as we did more than 19,000 steps according to Jo’s pedometer.

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