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Day 6 - Best Day of Angela's Life

I read on the website whatsupbuenosaires.com about a local designer in Palermo having a super liquidation to clear room in her showroom for the launch of her new line. We decided to go check it out since Angela felt she hadn’t scored any great deals yet. The address on the site was wrong (and as we found out later the studio didn’t have a sign and it seemed to be a mostly residential area) so we thought it was a bust. We decided to go grab a bite to eat at a little French restaurant called Oui Oui in Palermo Hollywood. The name “Hollywood” comes from the many film studios on this side of the barrio. Oui Oui was is a small French (obviously) spot that has become one of the most popular breakfast and lunch destinations in town. Angela got vegetarian sandwich with humus, brie, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce and a mystery green vegetable that resembled a hybrid between a cucumber and squash. I had a smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese. We both had papas fritas on the side. We don’t want to go as far as to say these were the best fries we’ve ever had (especially since we made that comment at Don Julio a few nights before) but we’ve never had fries any better than these. The same can be said about the homemade lemonade served with tiny chunks of parsley (or something).

After lunch we decided to take another stab at finding the local designer. We used the iPhone at Oui Oui to find the correct address and we cabbed it there. When we showed up, though, it appeared we were at a small food market, but there was what looked like an apartment building above the market. We rang the bell, and down the stairs came Maria Lizaso, the designer herself. From what we’ve gathered, Maria is a really up anc coming designer and has her clothes all over Buenos Aires, Madrid, New York City and most recently Seattle. We got up to the studio and clothes started flying off the racks and into the fitting room. Jackets, skirts, dresses, hats, shirts you name it. Angela loved all of the clothes and even more so, how everything fit perfectly. Since this was a super liquidation, the prices were extremely low. Items that were typically $150 were on sale for $12.50. When all was said and done, Angela picked up 12 awesome items for about $150 and was describing today as the best day of her life. We gave Maria our email address and she said she would invite us to her launch in a few weeks. We hope to hear from her.

We rushed back home so Angela could change into her new shirt and then cabbed to the Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes in Recoleta. This museum boasts the world’s largest collection of Argentine art and a total of 24 ground-floor galleries of European and American art. Among the world famous artists with original work inside of the museum are Picasso, Pollock, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. Simply amazing. Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures so you’ll just have to imagine how beautiful this collection is.

After the museum we stopped by the Basilica Nuestra Senora del Pilar. Whereas the rich get buried at the Recoleta Cemetery, they get married and hold other ceremonies right next store at this gorgeous facility. We snapped a few pics and headed down the road. Our plan was to do a wine tasting at Grand Cru, but it was closed so we settled on an early dinner at Duhau Restaurant and Vinoteca at the Grand Hyatt Resort. To our surprise, this is a full-on five star restaurant so we felt a bit underdressed. Nonetheless, we took our eat in the scenic courtyard. Since it was early, we decided on the wine and cheese tasting instead of a full dinner. We chose two malbecs and a syrah, all from Mendoza, Argentina. We were served four cheeses which ranged from mild to extremely intense. Everything was picture perfect from the wine to the cheese, service and ambience of the restaurant. After over two hours of enjoying the delicious wine and cheese, and for once not feeling overly indulged, we decided it was a perfect end to the day and walked home.

Day 5 - Palermo Part Deux

One activity we didn’t get a chance to do yesterday was go to the Buenos Aires Zoo. Combined with the fact that Felix forgot to take the sensor off of my new shirt which warranted a return trip, we decided to go back to Palermo Viejo. With another 75 degree plus winter day on our hands, we decided to take the quick cab instead of walk. The zoo is quite a bit different than any we’ve been to in the U.S., most notably because of the unique architecture for a zoo and the skyline surrounding the zoo walls. Also, it was impossible not to notice the huge water rats the roamed freely around the entire zoo. After strolling through the zoo, we grabbed a “choripan” from a street vendor on the way out. We’d heard a lot about these and were glad to finally have a taste. An Argentine choripan is a sausage made out of beef and pork, hot off the grill, split down the middle and served on a roll. We added the legendary sauce chimichurri and it was afternoon snack.

Choripan in hand, we walked to the huge local park - Parque Tres de Febrero - where we took in the great scenery and giant rose garden (although being winter they were not in bloom). After our leisurely stroll, we walked back to the shopping district. After exchanging the shirt at Felix, I bought a t-shirt at a small boutique called Antique Denim. We then stopped into the cafe, CLUNY, for a mid afternoon snack (which is a Buenos Aires staple) of ham croissants and coffee.

After CLUNY we headed back home because we had some laundry to attend to. Instead, we got lazy, turned on some It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and instead of hitting another parilla as planned we settled on some late night Mickey D’s before calling it a night.