Argentine Steaks and Cemeteries

 Outside Don Julio's in Palermo, our favorite neighborhood steak restaurant.

 Inside, the place was filled with wine bottles with hand-written notes on the labels from the people who had eaten at the restaurant in years past. It is clearly a local favorite.

 Can you see the excitement on his face?!

 "Lomo" (Fillet Mignon) and a salad- one of 2 salad options we found on the menu. The other involved black olives, marscapone cheese, avocados and bean sprouts.  We also ordered fries and proveleta (a 4" diameter disc of provolone cheese brushed with olive oil and herbs and quickly grilled until it was crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.)

 Don't you love those surprise photos?

 Our waiter and the butcher/cook in the background. From our table we could see the large cuts of meat being sectioned off into individual portions before being placed over the wood fire behind the cook. From there the steaks went directly to the customers on bare plates with no silly garnishes or extras.

I had assumed there would be something to eat other than steak in Buenos Aires, but the only other real option was Italian. So we mostly ate "Lomo." Here are Ken and I's "Half Portions" at the last restaurant where we ate. Note: my half portion includes three medallions of fillet totaling 1 lb, and Ken's half portion is smothered in Roquefort cheese. Can you even imagine ordering a regular portion?

 Recoleta is the national cemetery of Argentina, where Ava Peron and many other important officials and once-wealthy Argentines are laid to rest. It is beautifully kept up, and it's free to tour.

 Walking along between the moseleums. It was so expansive, and really sobering to realize the inevitability and finality of death. All of these people were once great in their time, but very few names seemed to be recognized by visitors. 

A map of the cemetery is helpful so you a. don't get lost and b. know a little bit about the people and families buried in the different moseleums.

 The Peron family moseleum. All the fresh flowers were left by the day's visitors.

 After being outside for 3 hours in the summer sun while walking through a cemetery, it seemed a little cheering up with Freddo ice cream in the plaza was the thing to do.