Palacio Barolo

We decided to take a tour of Palacio Barolo today (Tuesday) which we had seen during our walking tour last week.  The tours don't begin until 4 p.m. so we lazed around the apartment and I took a walk by myself in the neighborhood for a couple of hours - looking at shops and scenery around Santa Fe and Callao streets.  Here are some observations made during my walk:

Everything is overpriced and clothing for the most part, looks to be of low quality.  Shoes are especially expensive which was a surprise since they have so much leather from all the beef that is eaten.  The shoes are very high fashion but even little canvas nothing sneakers and flip-flops are 40 US and up.  Inflation rate is very high and Argentine pesos are not worth anything outside of Argentina.

There are a zillion taxis in BA - all painted the same black and yellow.  They are metered and not terribly expensive.  We haven't taken one yet because we either walk or take the bus.  Our rental agent said that you can go from one end of the city to the other for about 40 pesos ($8 US).  The bus, on the other hand, costs about 1.6 pesos (35 cents).  If one is on a budget, it's a no-brainer.  Not that we're on that tight a budget but  the bus is kind of a fun challenge as long as you don't take it during rush hour.

The sidewalks are really in bad shape everywhere - even in the best neighborhoods - but after a while, you don't really notice it much and it's automatic to watch your step.

There are lots of cafes, restaurants and bars - I don't think people cook at home very much.

There are no street dogs that we've seen.  But there are lots of dog walkers - young people with anywhere from 3 to 12 dogs on leashes trotting down the sidewalk.  Kind of cool to see the dogs of many sizes, colors and styles all heading down the sidewalk together peacefully. You do have to kind of watch where you step but it's not as bad as one would think.  I did observe one gal walking a couple of dogs and carrying her little plastic bag of poop.

Well, now back to our tour.  We determined which buses would get us to Palacio Barolo - a 60 or 102.  The bus stop is only 1/2 block from the apartment.  We decided on the 6:00 tour so we set off a little after 5:00 in case we had any problems getting there.  The bus trip was fine but again, it is a little tricky figuring out where to get off.  We did well, though, arriving only a block or so from the Palacio.  Tickets for the tour were 65 pesos.  The ticket seller said that there were some stairs to climb at the top - would that be a problem for us?  (Surely she didn't think we were old farts?)  No problem, we said.

While waiting for the tour to being, we heard a big commotion outside.  It was a demonstration/parade going by.  I went and took a few pictures and at home looked it up on the Internet news - it was the Socialist Movement Workers Party and had to do with a union member who was murdered and the alleged murderer's trial was starting.  The mostly college age students were marching for justice. It was totally organized and peaceful and by the time we finished the tour (45 min) - it was over.  There were TV news crews around filming.

Socialist Workers Movement party demonstration

The tour is operated by two great grandsons of a man who had an office in the building from its opening - they have kept the office rented and operate the tours out of it.  Our guide, Tomas, gave the tour in Spanish and English to the six of us taking the tour.  His English was not so good so we had a little trouble understanding everything he said.  However, they have a good web site that gives all the historical and architectural information about the building (built in the 1920's).  The architect based the building on Dante's "Divine Comedy".  If you are interested in reading about it, here is the LINK.

Elevator in Palacio Borolo

We took the elevator up through Purgatory but then we had to take stairs to Heaven.  It turned out to be six flights of winding staircase for our first view of the city - the 360 degree views were spectacular and made the whole tour worthwhile - especially on this lovely day with unlimited visibility.  Then we took two more flights of stairs up to the very top where the rotating search light lives.  The very top would be iffy for those with acrophobia.  The searchlight is still used on special occasions and is turned on for their special night time tours: 300,000 candle power.

Then we wound our way back down to the elevators and took one to the 9th floor where we saw Tomas' great grandfather's office - still maintained as it was back in the 20's.  The building is all offices, no apartments.

Tomas in his Great Grandfather's Office in Palacio Barolo

After the tour we walked around the area looking for a place to dine.  7:00 p.m. is early for dinner in BA but we found a decent looking restaurant - the Plaza Congresso.  Our legs were complaining from the 8 flights of stairs and the cold beer tasted especially good along with our lomos de bife.

By the time we looked for our bus stop, it was dark.  We found the 60 bus stop and had to wait quite a while for it to show up but it did.  We were offered the front two seats by a younger person - how nice!  But the funniest thing was when an older woman (not necessarily older than we are) got on the bus a few stops further on and implied that we should give up our seat for her - that it was for "viejos" - she looked perfectly healthy so we pretended not to understand her - she found another seat.  Anyhow, we managed to get off the bus at the right place (just barely) and walked the block home.  If you want to see more pictures click on this link:    PICTURES OF PALACIO BAROLO