Eva Peron

Apparently Cada Domingo (every Sunday), there’s a wonderful street fair in San Telmo. San Telmo is a barrio in Bs Ar that is known for its bohemian essence.  From where I live, it’s an hour plus stroll---so being a beautiful day we decided to walk. On the way we wanted to see the famous Plaza de Mayo, which is a beautiful area with lots of grass, markets, and of course tourists. Plaza de Mayo is situated between Casa Rosada and the Cathedral Metropolitana and in the middle of the plaza is another obelisk called Pirámide de Mayo. After being completely stunned from all the marvelous buildings and views, we got completely side tracked and decided that we should spend the afternoon here and wait to go to San Telmo a different week. Meanwhile, we saw throngs of people waiting in line at Casa Rosada---this is the house where Madonna filmed Evita AKA Eva Peron’s house. We waited in a long line and toured the casa.

I can’t describe how breath-taking and unique each room is…every inch of the building is covered in beautiful detailing which shows the character and history of the building. I could just feel the presence of Eva…or atleast Madonna.

There were many men in olden-time uniforms guarding the inside and outside of the house---Honestly, I was one of those annoying tourists who asked to take a picture with them…but seriously, who doesn’t want a picture with them? They’re so cute! So as the tour began, I became friendly with one of the tour guides who only spoke to me in English but I refused to answer because I wanted to speak in Spanish. He told me that the room we were standing in was dedicated to the 14 most powerful women in Argentine history---of course Eva Peron was one of them (there were paintings of each woman hanging around the room). We eventually made it to the famous balcony. The balcony where Eva addressed all the porteños (people from Buenos Aires) with her gracious yet powerful words concerning the future of Argentina. People packed themselves across the Plaza de Mayo and would listen to Eva’s influential and sincere speeches. It was such a remarkable feeling that I was able to stand on the balcony and feel the “power” she once had---and I, of course, began singing: “Don’t cry for me Argentina.” Yes, I know, cliche, but a truly fantastic song for a perfect moment!

After we returned to the house and relaxed for a bit, we decided to become true porteños. We went to dinner...but not just a dinner…we went to Tuscan Steakhouse at 9:30PM (which is really early for a porteño to eat dinner) and we devoured huge sirloin steaks with chimichuri sauce, ofcourse. Daniel, I’m waiting for you to visit me because there is NO way I can bring home the delicacy of these steaks for our pre-pessach ritual. Also, the prices for these steaks were solemente (only) 20 US$...you can’t find steaks like these in the US for that price- even at the best restaurants in NY. It’s Unreal. Just as a pure sum-up, Argentineans are defintely NOT lying about the mouth-watering steaks they produce in this country! The tenderness and flavor of our steaks puts Trader Joe’s grade A kosher steaks in the dumpster! Dad and Daniel---Thanksgiving 2010, my hood?…my treat, (fine, Dad’s treat!)