After the Flood - El Salcador & Armenia

Here are some photos on a beautiful sunny day at the same corner where the photos and video were taken from on the day of the flood.

Fruit!

El Tigre

We took the train - Linea Mistre - from Retiro to El Tigre today.  It was so cheap ($2.70 Argentinian pesos each return - that is less than $1 each return CDN) and it was supposed to be a beautiful and sunny day!  We thought it would be really nice to get out of the city and visit the delta area and the river and enjoy the beauty.

We could tell that it was HOT the minute we stepped out the door.  It was supposed to get up to 36 degrees...

We took an air-conditioned taxi to Retiro train station and stood in line to buy our tickets.  The train station was very busy, but we realized it would be given that it's Saturday.  We got a seat on the train for the 45-minute train ride - it was really hot and only getting hotter.  We got to Tigre and headed out.  I don't even know how to descibe the heat that we experienced there.  It felt like 40 +.

Our plan was to take a boat ride along the water and maybe even go for a swim, but then we saw this:

So we walked around a bit and then stopped for some food at L'Foret Pizza Libre.

Yes, that is a slice of pizza topped with french fries and then a fried egg...  It was delicious!

We headed out to look for the street market.  We were already exhausted from the heat and it was seriously just getting hotter and hotter.  The market was small but okay. 

We came across the CUTEST puppy!

It was pretty nice there, but because of the heat, we decided to head home. 

It wasn't exactly what we expected.  A decent day trip but we are exhausted now!

Shopping for leather and great food in Palermo, Buenos Aires!

Okay.  We realize that, really, all we are posting are photos of us eating and drinking.  But we decided that we are okay with that.  The food and wine here is just amazing!  And the beer...

We had a great day of shopping today locally (leather bags) and then we stumbled upon a beautiful restaurant (owned by Canadians from Vancouver) really close to where we live. 

Mary indulged in Happy Hour...

...and we ordered some delicious tacos!

We will definitely be back!

We timed things perfectly though.  Once again, the rains started.  So we are hoping that they will slow enough for us to head out for Mexican for dinner at Xalapa tonight.  Crossing our fingers that there aren't any floods!

Flood Video - Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina - February 1, 2012

Here is a little video that I took of the Palermo flood today.

Thanks to Daniel for editing.  :)

Yesterday - Shopping on Calle Florida and El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore

Yesterday we took the subte to Plaza de Mayo so we could do some shopping on Florida street.  It's the main shopping area and where tourists are targets for many many different scams.  Two years ago I was almost a victim of a pickpocket.  This time - we were left alone!

There wasn't much that we wanted to buy, so we headed to El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore.  This converted theatre, originally called Teatro Gran Splendid, is absolutely beautiful!  There are levels and levels of books and they have kept a lot of the original features intact.

Just gorgeous!

Mary also took a tango lesson on the street.  :)

Too funny!

Downpour! A Flood at El Salvador & Armenia, Palermo, BA, Argentina

Well it happened.  Mary and I got caught out when it started to rain.  We had been assured by our landlord that the flooding wouldn't happen until a bit later in February.  I guess she was wrong.  We were out shopping and ended up back at Mark's Deli & Coffee House for some food.  It was so hot!  We noticed that it had started to rain - no big deal...

Then I decided to head over to the door to check it out.

Just a LITTLE bit of rain!  It happened SO fast! Luckily we were dry and cozy inside Mark's.  Although their roof started to leak (a lot!) and they lost power at one point, they let us all stay to wait it out. 

We decided to order dessert.

The rain was showing no signs of stopping, but it did seem to slow down a bit.  We took a chance and decided to make a run for it.  We had bought some leather bags and I was wearing leather soled sandals, so we had to put everything in plastic bags and I had to take my shoes off...

Yes.  I had to run down the streets of Buenos Aires in bare feet.  I had done it before though, so I figured it would be okay.

We actually stopped at a supermercado (supermarket) on the way home.  We needed milk and cereal and it was open, so...

I couldn't go in because of the bare feet though.

Anyway, by the time we were finished there, the rain started coming down so hard that we were soaked through in about 2 minutes.  We had to go about 6 blocks and it felt like forever!  But we made it!

Just a little bit wet...

Even the hallway of our apartment had started to flood.  The water was running down the stairs!

Quite an experience!