On Smoking, Eating, and Falling

Two days before my departure, Lisa and I made plans to smoke cigars in the Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays in Palermo. Instead of just the two of us, I ended up with a fun entourage consisting of Carlos and Indi, with whom we had dined the night before, and Indi's co-worker, Nick.

The park was beautiful and the weather was nice. It was already making up for the failures of the previous day. The shoot went well, despite being my first solo endeavor at Smoking in the Park without the aid of Charlie's expertise in tobacco. I had even donned eye makeup for this rare, special occasion... and then wore sunglasses the whole time I was being filmed.

An odd little scooter outside the park

Indi and Nick chat in the shade.

A statue that looks like someone walked in on it while it was dressing

Spindly trees

And then we contributed the aroma of cigar smoke to the park's fragrant air.

After our time at the park, Lisa, Indi, and Nick withdrew to their respective work obligations while Carlos and I went to find something to eat. I was feeling a bit woozy from the morning's nicotine onslaught and Carlos was craving clean, healthy food, so I suggested a place called Meraviglia, which listed in the Lonely Planet guide as an organic vegetarian restaurant.

As its name suggests, it was marvelous! The place was bright and spotless, and our waitress was friendly.

While we waited for our orders, she brought us some delicious, fresh focaccia and freshly pressed orange/carrot/ginger juice.

I ordered an impressive and refreshing salad of mixed greens, candied almonds, assorted seeds, avocado, and a honey vinaigrette. Carlos had a spinach-based salad and topped it with an avocado he had bought from a neighborhood produce stand on our way to the restaurant. The waitress had a good laugh when she saw the avocado peel on his empty plate after the meal.

Carlos carves up his B.Y.O. avocado.

The price was excellent for an organic restaurant. The salad and juice together totaled $7.50 USD.

I returned to the apartment and finished out the day in a low-key manner. After Lisa was done working, we made another stir-fry from the previous night's leftovers. It wasn't as good as the one Carlos had made, but it was good enough.

The next morning, Lisa and I met some of her friends for breakfast and a French place called Oui Oui. I'm always incredibly skeptical about French food outside of France and this place was no different. I was especially skeptical about their eggs benedict, which everyone raved about. Eggs benedict is one of those things that is so good when done right, but can be awful when done wrong.

I ate my words, along with every bite of this delicious eggs benedict.

Meghan and Indi chat on the patio.

After breakfast, Lisa and I walked to the King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center so that she could go for a run in the area and I could check out the mosque. I had just missed the tour when I got there, but I had neglected to bring a headscarf and wasn't wearing the most modest of shirts anyway. I took a nice long walk around the perimeter of the mosque grounds and gained an appreciation for its external architectural features. I was also impressed by its size, which rivaled that of the mosque in Paris.

  

 Geometrically designed doors and minarets

Tree-lined Avenida Intendente Bullrich

Mosque entrance

Lisa was still running when I had finished walking the perimeter, so I headed into the large shopping mall on adjacent Av. Cerviño to use the baño. I took a moment to reflect on the drastic differences between the activities taking place in the neighboring structures.

I walked back to the mosque entrance just in time to see Lisa approaching at the end of her run.

  

Ridiculously photogenic runner

On our walk back to the apartment, we stopped at a small kiosk for water and popsicles, a real necessity on that inordinately warm and humid day. We had a rest and then Lisa departed for a teaching gig. We agreed we'd meet up for our final dinner together at the grill down the street when she was done.

I decided to take a few pictures of the apartment so that my readers could appreciate its beauty. 

 Living room

 Bedroom

 Kitchen

 Baño with bidet. Why don't we have these in the US?!?!

 Upstairs sunroom

Open air terrace (with a busy Indi)

Night fell and I left the apartment to go secure our table at bustling Las Cabras, just a couple blocks away. I stood on the corner across from the restaurant, waiting for traffic to clear, half balancing on the uneven curb, when both ankles suddenly buckled under me. I fell into the street on my hands and knees exclaiming, "Ah, shit!" in English as I went down.

"Are you okay?" a man asked in Spanish as I rose. He seemed reluctant to get involved, but I didn't mind since I was thoroughly embarrassed and felt like disappearing into thin air anyway.

"Yes, but my ankle hurts," I replied.

"Well, yeah."

Luckily, my tumble didn't result in any real injury, except to my pride. I brushed the gravel off of my palms and my knees and limped across the street and onto the restaurant patio.  It didn't take long for me to get a table, and Lisa soon joined me. We dined on a spicy chile Caesar salad, beef loin, and delicious quesadillas. When we got home I iced my ankle, just for good measure.