Cafe Tortoni

When I saw Ian's May 2005 snapshot of Tortoni, I immediately thought of our first and only other visit to Buenos Aires, in May 2002. Tortoni has long been on every tourist map, but the amazing thing was that it was big enough to swallow all the tourists gushing about Borges and tango and maintain its charm. We sat ourselves at its marble-topped tables at least once a day to write in our journals, eavesdrop on the locals and order Martinis (and then smile when we realized a Martini here is Martini y Rossi vermouth on ice--which is a fine drink and much easier on the rest of the evening). I can't wait to return.