Rosario and the Trip to Buenos Aires

Monday, Feb. 7

The thunderstorms hit not long after I went to bed last night. I had to get up and close the shutters on the window to keep it from blowing into the room. It didn´t last long as a storm. Instead, it switched to a steady rain that continued through the night.

I am impressed with Rosario. It is cosmopolitan and sophisticated. There are many old buildings. They have been maintained well, and there is a high quality look to both them and new construction in the center of town. Best of all, it still has a downtown department store in an elegant old building with a stained-glass canopy over a central atrium. It has sweeping staircases out of marble and heavy wrough iron, and it has caged elevators. Although the building is old and elegant, the store feels modern and fresh with bright lights and nice displays. It is a perfect place to shop here.

I can see where another elegant department store once existed. The atrium (more plain than the other) with a stained glass canopy (much simpler and smaller than the other) is still there. A McDonalds is now in the corner that was the main entrance, a small mall occupies the rest of the ground floor, and offices are now in the upper floors.

The day was spent walking the streets to further explore the city. I stopped for lunch and had pizza with mozzarella, provalone, dried ham, tomatoes, and oregano. Later, I bought my ticket to take me to Buenos Aires tomorrow. The hotel was so far from town that I just stayed in the room during the evending.

Now that my tour of Argentina is over expect for Buenos Aires which would be in a category of its own, here are my evaluations:

Most sophisticated, cosmopolitan city: Rosario
Best quaint, laid-back, comfortable city: Salta
Best small city: Victoria
Best mountain getaway: Tafe del Valle and La Cambrecita (Tie)

Tuesday, Feb. 8 (Part I)

It hasn´t been the best travel day. There are showers off and on, and it is the second day of a strike by subway workers in Buenos Aires. I already knew about the latter problem and had looked at my map. It is only about 35 blocks from the bus station to my guest house, so I knew I could walk it IF the rain would cooperate.

It was a luxury bus from Rosario to Buenos Aires. There were leather seats that were wide (2 on one side of the aisle and 1 on the other) with lots of leg room and good fold-down leg rests. It took four hours for the trip.

It took 1 hour 10 minutes to walk to the buest house, but I hit almost every light red causing a lot of time to be eaten up waiting at intersections. It didn´t rain, however. Almost all the way was on a wide street with a wide sidewalk. That meant I never felt slowed down by crowds.

The guest house wasn´t what I expected. I thought I was to have a room with a private bath. Instead, it is a private room with the bath on the hall and shared with others. It faces a noisy street, and it is beside the service desk. The people are nice, however. The manager sat with me to complete the paperwork, and he gave me a tour of the facility. I have decided to stay there only tonight. I have found a hotel nearby--private room with bath and TV away from the street--for only 30 pesos--$10.04 U.S.--per night. I will move there tomorrow morning and will wait to take my shower and shave until I am there.

I am waiting for a late lunch (4:00 p.m.) now. I ordered arroz ala cubana (whatever that is), but they didn´t have it. Instead, I am getting escalopes ala marsala with fried potatoes. I can hear the chef either chopping the potatoes or tenderizing the beef in the kitchen right now. I am starving.
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Well, escalopes ala marsala is another name for chicken fried steak. I got three small (4 inch/10 cm diameter) steaks that were battered (with fresh herbs in the batter) and fried. Along with them came a small platter of freshly made fried potatoes. It was a big and tasty meal. I´m satisfied now for the rest of the day!