We got up this morning and hailed a taxi to the Recoleta neighborhood. The first stop was to visit the famous cemetery.

Afterwards, we walked through the neighborhood. Recoleta has grand avenues, stately mansions, and luxury hotels. It is a grand old neighborhood.

We passed into the Barrio Norte neighborhood which is filled with more grand avenues and beautiful old buildings. This seems to be the main shopping district of the city with shops everywhere. 

Our next stop was El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Barrio Norte. This building was originally built in 1919 as a theater for ballet, opera, and tango. In 2000, it was converted into a bookstore, and it retains the character of the original theater. It is so cool!

Lunch was at a place that specializes in milanesa, one of the traditional Argentine dishes. A milanesa is a breaded and sautéed cutlet of beef or chicken which is pounded very thin, and it can be served with a variety of toppings. On our first day here, I had beef milanesa napolitana with melted provolone and sliced tomatoes on top. Today I had a plain chicken milanesa, and it hit the spot.

We had grand plans to go to another neighborhood after lunch, but by this point, we were so hot and tired that we took a taxi back to the apartment and just chilled for a couple of hours.

We eventually worked up some energy to go out into the neighborhood, primarily to buy some groceries. We had a few things in the fridge from the previous couple of days, but we needed more supplies for this evening (Christmas Eve) and all day tomorrow (Christmas Day).

I’m glad we went out when we did! Most mom-and-pop shops had closed early. The giant supermarket was still open, but it closed in 10 minutes at 6 pm. We hustled around to make sure we bought enough food, and we came home with some stuff for salad, bread, bottled water, pasta, and tomato sauce, and yogurt, fruit, and juice for tomorrow morning. With these new groceries and what we already have in the fridge, we’re all set for our holiday meals.

Now Chad is prepping some food for dinner. We’ve been seeing green parakeets flying around in the botanical garden across the street, and I’ve been watching the clouds over the city. Our apartment really does have a wonderful view.

Felices Festivas and Feliz Navidad.