After a late start this morning we took the subway, linea "C" and "D", to the San Telmo and Boca neighborhoods. We walked from the Independencia subway station on Nueve de Julio Avenue, down through the narrow and cobblestone San Telmo streets, all the way to Plaza Dorrego in the heart of San Telmo. This is a beautiful Spanish style plaza surrounded by antique stores, bars and restaurants. It is also the oldest area of Buenos Aires. Having skipped our usual Buenos Aires breakfasts we were hungry and ready for some supper. We stopped at a beautiful little restaurant overlooking the plaza called "La Pergola de San Telmo". We started with a grilled proveleta that Bridget has taken a liking to. It was grilled to perfection with olive oil, fresh garlic and oregano. The cheese was creamy and sharp with a crisp brown coating over the top and was accompanied by delicious Argentine pancitos (bread). For the main course Bridget had a Chorizo steak with french fries and I had homemade gnocci with a Bolognese sauce. Bridget loved her steak but I thought it was cooked a little bit too much. The gnocci was first rate. From here we began walking towards the La Boca neigborhood through old streets and non-touristy areas of Buenos Aires. We reached the hilly and woodsy Parque Lezama imbedded with statues, monuments and churches. The park is very popular with the local citizens who work hard to keep it pretty. We walked straight through the park and in to La Boca through the rear, a route not recommended in the tour books but we liked going through these worn but classic neigborhoods. The people along the way couldn't have been friendlier. We soon came upon La Bonbonera (The Candy Box), the stadium of the world famous Boca Juniors soccer team, the team in which Diego Maradona rose to Argentine soccer fame before going on to Europe. Statues and tributes of the controversial soccer star permeate the neiborhood were he receives God-like status. The stadium has a wonderful museum on the history of Boca Juniors and hourly tours are given in both English and Spanish. This place is hopping with tourists from all around the globe coming to pay tribute to this old and decrepit stadium that is at the same time a magical international shrine of soccer. The owners of Boca Juniors to their credit have learned to cash in on a good thing. God bless them and God bless Boca Juniors!! Bridget had enough of this 2 hour soccer immersion (without even seeing a game) and after buying a few gifts we headed down the street to the historic caminito district with its colorful old houses and streets(See Pictures). This area is heavily touristed with busses taking groups around at all hours of the day. Tango music is also the theme here and there was a lot of hawking and hustling going on selling all kinds of Argentine souvenirs. I was glad to get out of there and take the collectivo 29 back towards La Recoleta. We had a fun ride on the bus as it carved through a myriad of busy streets and neiborhoods. We went a little further than our regular stop and got out in front of the Alto Palermo Galeria (Mall). This is a very busy, modern and nice looking mall on Avenida Santa Fe. Bridget was now in her element and became euphoric after buying two dresses and some pants. I took care of a few things myself and we both left in good moods walking to the apartment on Larrea. We rested up a little bit and then headed down to the Recoleta Village where we decided to get a little dose of home by going to the Hard Rock Cafe, Buenos Aires. It's located in a very pretty area of Buenos Aires right behind the cemetary. It's a nice looking but typical Hard Rock Cafe with blaring rock and roll and music videos. The potato skins were excellent the rest of the meal was the worst food that I have eaten in Buenos Aires. It was also the most expensive place with near New York prices. I can't believe that with all the great restaurants in Buenos Aires people come here and it was packed. We picked up the obligatory Hard Rock Buenos Aires T-Shirts had some great ice cream at "Freddo's" and called it a good day.