Day 3 – Friday
Total cost: 213,788 pesos ($213.78)
Friday morning the rest of our group arrived and we headed into town to meet them at a local cafe called Café del Medio, where I ordered a mocha for 2,820 pesos ($2.82).
After our coffee, we walked around a bit and stopped at the La Recoleta cemetery, where Eva Perón (aka Evita) is buried. The entrance fee was 7,750 pesos ($7.75) per person. We wandered around for about 40 minutes and paid our respects at Evita's grave. After this pilgrimage, we wandered into a small bakery called Dos Escudos, where we bought four empanadas for 4,720 pesos ($4.72), or 1,180 pesos ($1.18) per person. Argentinian empanadas are the best because they are baked with bread that has the consistency of a croissant.
Next, we went to choose Argentinian outfits from Arandu, a well-known Argentinian brand specializing in artisanal leather goods, traditional Argentinian gaucho (cowboy) clothing and polo gear. At the store, we spent two hours browsing leather jackets, vests, belts, wallets, bags and other accessories, as well as wool ponchos, brimmed hats and lots of yerba mate accessories . In the end, I decided to buy a beautiful wool poncho with a structured collar, a felt hat with a slight cowboy vibe, and a boina hat for 139,584 pesos ($139) in total, a steal.
We put on our new clothes to really get into the spirit of Buenos Aires. I put on the full gaucho outfit, and my brother and my two friends all put on the exact same polo shirt. Afterwards, we headed to Sottovoce Italian Restaurant for lunch. We had free champagne and bread with some truly amazing dips, then we each had our own plate of seafood pasta and shared two desserts between the group. Our bill was 193,670 pesos ($193.67), or 32,270 pesos ($32.27) per person.
After lunch we shopped, walked, then ate again. The dinner took place in Palermo, at a Perónista-themed restaurant called Perón Perón. We started with a round of empanadas, then ordered six different meat dishes and ate them as a family. Food and a bottle of Malbec came to 106,000 pesos ($106), or 17,660 pesos ($17.66) per person. This seemed like an incredible value, especially considering the free 20-minute lesson on Perónism the waiter gave me when I asked him about the ideology. According to him, no one knows what it is anymore.
After dinner we walked for about two hours until we came to a bar called La Frenteria, a very trendy place with great cocktails. I ordered a set of five for 67,500 pesos ($67.50) or 13,500 pesos ($13.50) each. At the end of the night, we took a taxi home for 592 pesos ($5.92), or 148 pesos ($1.48) per person.
