Trip Report 9- Rainy Day at the Spa

Thrs. Apr. 14 ----------- The physical effects from the previous day's walk had really caught up w/me, and the only items on the agenda were a 2:45 p.m. session at a spa around the corner and dinner with my Argentine friend that night. Plus it was gray outside and raining hard (it would continue to so the entire day; Travis Bickle would have loved it!). ---------------As it turned out, despite my lack of a serious schedule I still had to rush to my appointment, mainly b/c I became enthralled in CD shopping (I went back to finish up later in the evening- more on this below). I took a cab up the street to sample some empanadas from a recommended old-school place (El Sanjuanino). Running late, I got them to go and ate them as I walked back in the mild rain towards the spa (I don't like having to eat while walking, but they were quite good).----------------- I popped a mint before going in and my body was a little pumped form the 15 minute walk. It wasn't until about 1/2 way through the initial facial treatment that I started to calm down.---------------------- As part of my research I had pulled every New York Times travel piece about BA from the past 3 years. The Aqua Vita Medical Spa had been mentioned in one fairly recently, and of course I had to check out at least one thing discussed in the articles. While I have had massages before, this time I allowed myself the pleasure of a full-out spa visit, and at about US$ 75 there was no excuse not to. The facial was super relaxing and the massage afterwards was fantastic, esp. after all the walking I had done plus a recent lower back injury at the gym. The final treatment was a hydro-aroma therapy bath, which was very mellow and ultimately resulted in a huge release of toxins via sweat. Given the high humidity that day, I continued to sweat heavily for over a half-hour after I left the spa, which wasn't necessarily nasty (I certainly did not smell bad) but was somewhat unpleasant to the extent of feeling drenched. I left a nice tip for the skin therapist and masseuse, and walked out of there with my body feeling completely at ease.----------- Afterwards I stopped in a cafe for a bit and then to the CD store to finish up my shopping. I went to Musimundo, which has a wide range of genres but not much depth. Since I didn't really have any tango music the lack of depth was not a huge deal. If you like music, CD shopping in BA is one of the best bargains around. The price for everything, including new releases, was US$ 6-8. Plus I found a 10% off coupon while glancing through a tourist guide, so about 30 CDs ended up costing US$ 160 (i.e. slightly more than US$ 5 apiece!).------------- Having not sampled that much pasta yet despite the country's Italian influence, that evening my Argentine friend took me to an Italian spot in the Monserrat neighborhood, well off the tourist path. The pasta is made fresh, and you choose the kind of pasta you want + the sauce (there were about 15 choices for each!). The decor was exposed red brick with mirrors and other ornamentations. It truly was one of those meals that you don't want to end b/c you are enjoying the company and the food so much. Afterwards we walked back to our respective places (her apt. was not too far from my hotel) in the pouring rain. It was actually a very enjoyable walk, and I got to take in a few previously unseen neighborhoods.