Bife de Chorizo

We met up knowing it was going to be the last day together as a group. Unfortunately, James had been feeling under the weather the last few days so wasn't able to accompany us for most of the day. A group of us decided to head over to the Palermo SOHO district for lunch and to walk around a bit. Palermo SOHO is an artsy district filled with designer shops and restaurants up and down every sidewalk. We went to one of the squares and sat down at a table in the sun for lunch. Several of the boys had hamburgers which weren't the best burger I've ever eaten, but considerably better than the burgers we ate in Uruguay. I've also noticed people aren't drinking beer with lunch anymore but ordering Coke or Coke Light (Diet Coke), coffee, or just water. The boozin' is definitely catching up. We finished lunch and the group split ways to do different things. Some of the girls went off shopping, some went off looking for gifts for our "GAP Awards Ceremony" that was scheduled to be held that night, the rest of us went off to explore the neighborhood and check out some of the local sights.

One of the sights we set off to see is the "Plaza Naciones Unidas" and the famous "Floralis Generica". The Floralis Generica is a HUGE metal flower build by Lockheed Martin that opens when the sun rises and follows the sun across the sky. At night it closes. We had passed it in the taxi on the way to Palermo SOHO so we had an idea of where it was. Unfortunately, our ability to measure distance was crap so we walked for over an hour trying to find it. We only even got the direction right after I asked a Portuguese couple for directions. But when we finally did find it, it was a treat. The flower itself is huge. It sits in a beautiful pool surrounded by a park. We sat in the sun on one of the lawns just talking for an hour while we rested our tired feet. We knew we had a ways back into Buenos Aires Centro and to the hotel so we cabbed it the rest of the way. Speaking of cabs, I don't know if I've mentioned that the cab drivers here are CRAZY! Now that I think of it, I believe I mentioned it when I wrote about our first day in Rio, but other than that, I haven't really revisited the subject. Probably because I'm trying to repress it. I can't even recall the number of times I've held my breath or grabbed the seat in front of me readying myself for a crash. But amazingly, I've yet to see a crash or be involved in one (knocking wood). Defensive driving doesn't even come close to describing how you need to drive here. Neither does offensive driving. They say defense wins championships. I suppose the same theory applies to driving because if you can make it through the streets of South America without dying or trading paint on the roads, consider yourself a champion. One night Gary even told our cab driver "MAL" while holding his hands up like he was holding a steering wheel. The driver looked at him...and downshifted. I think I prayed. My tendency was to get out of the cab as soon as we reached our destination and pay from outside the cab. I just never knew if the crazy bastards would take off with me still in the backseat after I paid.

We got back to the hotel (with me jumping out as soon as the car stopped) and had a few hours to rest before we were to meet up again for dinner at La Cabrera (supposedly the most famous and best steak restaurant in Buenos Aires). Coincidentally, when speaking with the 2 Canadian girls way back in Ilha Grande, they had told me where to go for the best steak in Buenos Aires and I had written it down on the back of a business card. I was getting dressed and remembered the card so went to my wallet to look. Sure enough, La Cabrera. I was stoked. We got to the restaurant and the waiter warned us "the steaks are meant to be shared" so Andrew, Thom, and I shared 2 Bife de Chorizo's. A 700 gram steak cooked medium rare and served with about 5 small sides and a tray of 6 different sauces. 700 grams is about a pound and a half times 2. 3 pounds of meat for 3 grown men. I wish I had done the calculation prior because I know I can eat a pound of meat myself. But as soon as the food came, Andrew started feeling ill. All of sudden he had to excuse himself and get some air. Next he excused himself and actually took a cab back to the hotel. I knew he had to be feeling terrible to walk away from the group and especially a meal. James, the trooper that he is, came out just because it was the last meal, but he was also feeling terrible so he and Sarah went back to the hotel with Andrew. 3 down on the last night. Definitely not how we envisioned the evening. The plan was to go enjoy the meal, then head over to Barbara's place for some after dinner drinking and the awards ceremony. Well, it looked like that was not going to happen. Instead it was decided that the awards would be held at 8am the next morning at the hotel. But I was enjoying the food and kept eating…and eating…and eating… I'm pretty sure I ate all of 1 steak myself and most of the sides. It was a great piece of meat and I'm not even that big of a meat eater!

Tensions from the night before were still high and boiled over once again after dinner. What is surprising to me is the fact that it is the youngest AND the oldest member of the group (and NO, I am NOT the oldest member :P) that are the highest maintenance. Both are bratty and whiny. The only thing that was missing was footstamping or holding their breath until they passed out. I finally had to tell one of them to "stop being such a whiner." That shut her up but then she started pouting. Wonderful... but at least she wasn't whining anymore. We finally made it to a bar and the guys went inside for a drink and the girls stayed outside. The guys had 1 round (which consisted of 4, 1 liter bottles of Stella Artois. A liter is basically a quarter gallon. The other night at the percussion show, Thom had 4!!! Liters! Or a GALLON of beer!) before calling it a night. Another interesting night in Buenos Aires, check. Tomorrow is the end of the journey (well, at least as an "official" tour.)