Must see...Palacio Barolo

In every city we travel to, we always look for a place with a birds eye view of the city. Well....The place to go in Buenos Aires is Palacio Barolo. It once was the tallest buildings in South America and is still today, one of the most beautiful on Avenida de Mayo. The building was designed by eccentric Italian architect Mario Palanti and primarily made of materials imported from Italy. The design of the building was based on Dante's Inferno. It's doors opened to the public in 1923. The entrance of the building is supposed to be Hell, with the patterned circles in the floor simulating fire. Intricate angry looking dragons line the entire lobby. A warning as you begin reading this post....there are LOTS of pictures!! They speak a thousand words right?? Better than me rambling...I'll let them speak for themselves. Well....for the most part : )

The entrance to Palacio Barolo and "Hell" 

Looking up at the ceiling from the lobby

One of the many very angry dragons in the lobby

The medallion in the floor designed to symbolize the fires of Hell

We left the lobby and began our journey up "into the heavens". Keeping in true Dante fashion, floors 1-14 represent purgatory, where floors 15-22 were designed to represent heaven. After walking up the first 7 or 8 flights (breathing heavy up the winding staircases of purgatory) we realized those old looking elevators do actually work (more on those later) and hitched a ride. A nice gentleman in a suit on the way back to his office opened up the elevator door and invited us in to join him to floor 14. That was as high as this particular bank of elevators would go. We got off here are walked around  some hallways - all painted white, until we found yet another spiral staircase that would take us higher. We traveled up the staircase through "heaven" on foot. The higher we went, the more narrow the stairwell became. At last, we reached the highest point, the rooftop lighthouse that is meant to represent God and Salvation.  

A view of Buenos Aires from the  lighthouse tower

Another view from the tower

My favorite view of all....Plaza Congreso

Another view of Congreso 

It was very difficult to get a picture in such tight quarters, but we did it!!

Upside down reflection of the city in the giant beacon lens

I figured out a way to get myself  the picture!!

As we were  looking around...this cardboard Batman cutout was found on top of the light! We got a good laugh out of this one! Batman lives in Buenos Aires!!! Who knew??? TO THE BAT MOBILE!!!!!

After about 30 minutes or so taking in the spectacular views, we headed back down to earth. The picture below will give you an idea of just how narrow the hallways actually were. Not recommended for the claustrophobic......at all!!!

A shot of the stairs we are about to walk down...8 floors of them until the elevator!

At the base of the light tower was a room that was pretty much a giant circle with the entrance to the staircase inside. Throughout this space there were a bunch of old things. Not quite sure why they were there, but I thought they were pretty cool. See or yourself....

Yes...a box of dirty lightbulbs.... I dunno....it looked pretty neat sitting there

Not 100% sure what this was......

Or this one........

It said "Barolo".....I had to take a picture!!

Stopped for a quick photo  at a little window balcony on our way down

Ah!! Now on to the elevators...I said I would get to those later : )

Honestly...as I said before, I did not think these elevators actually worked. they looked like something from an old vampire horror film. There was a one person elevator (did NOT ride that) that went straight down through the center of the spiral staircase we were walking down. When we got back down to the 14th floor we boarded the larger set of double elevators that looked a little more "friendly". They did however remind me of the ones from the Tower of Terror ride in Walt Disney World. When i said that.....(out loud of course!!) the people in the elevator weren't to happy with me to say the least! Oh well! We were descending into Dante's "Hell" after all. Happy to report we made it to the bottom safe and sound and our visit to Palacio Barolo was...for lack of better words....

SIMPLY HEAVENLY

A look down the single rider elevator in the center of the spiral staircase

A look down the double elevator shaft.....I told you it looked creepy!

The 14th floor elevator entrance...Tower of Terror written all over it my friends!

The view of the elevators in the hotel lobby

Let's get cookin'...Empanadas

I always knew that empanadas were a staple in South American Cuisine! Well my friends.....Empanadas are EVERYWHERE here in Argentina! You can find them on every corner - In the bakeries, pasta shops, pizza shops, deli/kiosks, coffee shops and all restaurants. The most common varieties here are Carne (beef), Pollo (Chicken), and Jamon y Queso (Ham and Cheese). For about $5 or $6 pesos each ($1-1.25 American dollars).....you can beat this on the go snack. Heck...grab a few and you have a bargain meal!

I decided to take a stab at making them at our apartment. I tried a few times, testing out different filling combo's and different dough options. After lot's of taste testing (best part), we decided that the empanada discs from San Jose pasta shop were hands down the winner!! This pasta shop makes everything fresh and from scratch everyday. We are a little spoiled for sure. I will go into more detail about this amazing place in another post. I paid $9.50 peso's (Under 2 American dollars) for 12 discs. When you open them up, they smell just like fresh homemade pie dough.....heavenly! I am going to be at a loss when we get back to the states!! Guess i'll just have to start experimenting with dough when we get back : )

Fresh empanada dough

 I found it easiest to prepare the fillings the night before so they are cooled down when you are ready to fill the dough. This time we used ground beef and mixed half with rice and half with potato. I cook the ground beef the same I would if I were preparing it for taco's. Brown it in a frying pan, drain any excess fat and season the meat any way you like. Here's where you get creative - everyone here has their own "carne" recipe for the filling that makes their empanada unique. Be daring an have fun with this part! The taste of your filling will make all the difference!

Here is an example of what my 2 fillings used looked like.

Beef and rice filling

Beef and potato filling

The next step is stuffing the empanadas. I typically get 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons of filling in each one. I find it easiest to place the disc in the center of your palm and use that as a little cup so the filling doesn't end up falling everywhere. Here's a couple pictures filling each kind and closing it up. 

Stuffing the beef and rice

Stuffing the beef and potato

Almost there...

Once you have the empanada firmly pressed closed, you can use whatever technique you like to "decorate" the edge the same way you would for a pie crusts edge. The most popular method used here in Argentina is the rolled method. I've been practicing that one a lot and think i finally have it down. Here's a couple finshing touch pictures below.

The rolling closure

Fancy pie pinch I learned from my mom while making pierogi's growing up

Once all of your empanadas are sealed and pinched or rolled, place them on a baking tray and put them into a pre-heated oven, 350 degrees or so. It's kind of hard to tell here since there isn't a temperature gauge on our oven. Our options are high flame.....or low flame....fun times! Keep an eye on them and bake until they are a nice golden brown. Yes!!! They bake empanadas here! WAAYYY better than the deep fried ones we are used to in the United States. Trust me...i like my deep fried treats more than some people may realize, but baking empanadas is the way to go!

Fresh out of the oven!!

Cooling off a bit

Dinner is served

ENJOY!! I know we will!!