The wind at Puerto Madero was biting.

July 27 began at the renovated dockside area known as Puerto Madero, and ended  in the Centro Culturál Borges with a performance of “Bien de Tango.”  Paul, Bridget, and I had hailed a cab and asked him to take us to the Frigate Presidente Sarmiento.  The driver was a little confused we couldn’t explain more than to say “un barque antiguo,” but eventually he found it, and we were reunited with Carl, David, and Zhi-Ning.

The Sarmiento was named after Argentina’s 7th president who wrote “Civilization and Barbarism.”

We visited the training vessel named after Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, President of the Republic from 1868–1874, whose writings present a vivid picture of early Argentina.  The Sarmiento is moored in the renovated dockside area known as Puerto Madero.  If you look at the high-rises behind the ship, you can see why this newest part of Buenos Aires contains some of the most expensive real estate in South America.

The Edificio Kavanagh is an early and impressive apartment tower overlooking Plaza San Martín.

In the afternoon, we had lunch at the Galerias Pacificas on the Florida.  We viewed the Torre Monumental, but when it began to get chilly, we took refuge in a café and watched the opening festivities of the London Olympics.  The café was fairly empty, and so we didn’t feel too bad about lingering for an hour and a half.  Afterwards, we enjoyed the “Bien de Tango” and planned our next day’s visit to the Villa Silvia Ocampo.