One thing she wanted to do was use the famous subway. As we
were a short stroll from Rivadavia and Castro Barros, that
was easy. We got four single tickets and were on our way. It
was too late for the San Telmo market, so the plan was to
go direct to lunch at Parrilla Don Julio on Guatemala and
then to the 4 pm English tour at Teatro Colon (the lady on
the telephone said no reservations necessary, just show up
at 3:30). It's an easy journey for 5 pesos each - take the
A train eastward to Peru, then transfer to the D and go
nine stops, walk a few blocks, et voila. Our original idea
was to leave a few minutes early so we could walk to the
Our Lady of Guadalupe church and from there a few blocks
to the restaurant, but Gaucho had suggested we get there a
quarter of for our 1300 reservation, just to make sure
everything was okay. So we abandoned our quest and went
direct there only to find, at a quarter of, nobody else
among us, but, as Gaucho feared, the other tables filling
up rapidly. We were seated quite readily at our table for
eight and had a glass of Septima Malbec, a nondescript red
and a Quilmes for me, while we waited. And waited. At 1310
I apologized to the staff and had them call Gaucho, who
hadn't heard anything from anybody. At 1320, rinse and
repeat. We decided to order at 1330 and also to start
munching on the excellent bread and butter we were offered.

We ordered one of the off-cuts, entrana I think, but it was
off, so plan B was the perennial one, a sirloin for me and
a ribeye for her, mashed potatoes on the side. And the
Susana Balbo Signature 12, another typical example, well
made, of no great distinctiveness but plenty of brambly
fruit and just enough oak, with coffee and chocolate coming
out on the palate - a terrific food wine and worth every
penny of the 350 it cost.

Of course, as our food arrived so did three other intrepid
members of our group, bobovespa, timid_trnchcoat, and
genemk2. It turns out that nobody had heard either the 1300
reservation time (not changed on page 1 of the thread, so
the blame was not all theirs) or the admonition to get here
early. The good part was that the bill was split into two
manageable bits (our deuce costing way more than their
three).

They got two steaks, with a beet and greens salad (I turned
down a sample not because of the beets but because of a
suspicion there might be cheese among the ingredients) and a
mixed grill of offal to start - intestines (chinchulines),
kidneys (rinones), and sweetbreads (mollejas), all of which,
from my tastes of each, were pretty good, as expected,
though the chitlins were filled with some peculiar white
substance that might have been mashed yuca or something.

They ate faster than we did, so we finished at around the
same time. We said goodbye and strolled to the subway
station for a quick ride to Teatro Colon, only to discover
that the station was closed. Some guy in the tobacconist's
gave us the unwelcome news - not only was the stop closed,
the subway was closed. Why? Who knows. So another taxi
ride, which took longer than the subway would have and
cost ten times more.

We'd been told that if we showed up at 3:30 there would be
no trouble getting on the 4:00 English-language tour. There
wasn't - there were only five of us, the capacity for some
reason being 34. Our guide spoke terrific English-scented
English and was extremely well versed in the architectural,
historic, and artistic features of the place, which is
impressive in all these ways. She wasn't just going through
the motions - she's clearly committed to the place. A
most enjoyable and informative hour, including the big
public spaces, the auditorium itself, and the president's
box. Not including any backstage areas, sadly. We tried to
hang out in the lobby for a while, but they were really
itching to close the joint, so we left.