Tea Time ...
Last Saturday, Marce and I met Susi and Flori at one of the oldest cafes in Buenos Aires. Las Violetas is a grand cafe in the Almagro district of Capital Federal (the city of Buenos Aires) that was founded in 1884, making it 129 years old. Susi treated us to a traditional tea, complete with sandwiches, pastries and one of the best chocolate mousse cakes I have ever tasted.
Later that night, we went with Andy and Nico to see Bruce Springsteen at a nearby stadium. The show was fairly small given the big name headlining it, but The Boss was absolutely incredible! Scaling scaffolding, singing with an eight-year old fan, taking requests off of posters the crowd was holding up, dancing with a young girl and letting another play his guitar were just a few of the things Bruce did to make his show extra special. I hate to admit this, but prior to the show I only really knew his more famous songs. Now I am a lifelong fan. You can tell he truly loves entertaining and wants to make his fans happy.
One of Marce's co-workers got married last night at a beautiful church in Palermo and then had an amazing reception at the Yacht Club in Olivos, right outside of the city. Let me break the wedding timeline down for you (along with some photos to make it even more interesting):
20:45 Time the ceremony was scheduled to begin, however, the church was
a little behind and the previous bride was just entering. It was a bit
chilly so Marce and I found a close cafe and took a Quilmes.
21:30 The ceremony began.
22:15 The ceremony ended.
23:00 We arrived at the reception - first, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres - and I
am talking a LOT of options: mojitos, piel de iguana, campari,
margaritas, vino, cerveza, just to name a few. As far as food, I only
saw half of what was offered and that included fajitas, tartas, pork
sliders, bruschetta, ceviche, lettuce wraps and fried fish on a stick,
among other items passed around by servers.
00:30 We were ushered into the main event hall and into a huge ballroom,
complete with disco balls, lighting and, wait for it, a smoke machine.
We found our table, threw down our belongings and joined the bride
and groom on the dance floor.
Table 20
scrumptious risotto - my favorite part, of course. A yummy
chocolate mousse with the most amazing cream I have ever tasted
arrived shortly after.
02:30 Back to the dance floor.
03:30 Carnaval Carioca (named after the carnival in Rio) - props were
distributed to the guests - think hats, glasses and masks, to wear
while dancing.
04:00 The cake is cut! An ice cream cooler you would find in a local
heladeria is rolled into the the room and a dessert table with other
delicious sweets is set up.
I think we look pretty good for 4 am.
05:00 By now, you all know this is 5:00 in the MORNING, right? Just want to
make sure because I spotted a table of grandparents still partying
when I was on my way to grab a sandwich smothered with
chimichurri and filled with some of the huge hunk of meat they were
slicing on the table for a little snack.
06:30 Marce and I finally give up and decide to head home.
07:00 Konked out.
13:30 Woke up and watched the last two episodes of season 2 of Newsroom.
All in all, this was one of my favorite weddings and I really hope I get to experience something else like this again while I am here! The Porteños really know how to have a good time - sin lugar a dudas!
