March 11, 12, 13

Walking, Walking and more Walking. We've spent the past few days getting ready for our trip to El Calafate, Patagonia (www.todocalafate.com/english/peritomorenoglacier.php).

I must confess that in spite of Barbara's wanting hard plans for this trip, I refused to make any because I wanted her to get out of "work" mode and into "retirement" mode. Of course, Barbara wanted to know what the weather would be and I kept saying "hot." Little did I know that she kept looking at photos of Patagonia, shaking her head!

So we were totally unprepared, clothing wise, for this trip "down south" - 3.5 hours from Buenos Aires (another 450 km and you're in Ushuaia, gateway to Antarctica). Santiago, our resident expert (and superb travel agent) suggested a local camping store and sent us off to do some shopping. (Nicholas, Santiago and Graciela)



We are now the proud owners of enough Gore-Tex and fleece to do some serious mountaineering.... that'll teach me not to plan (especially since we left similar clothes at home). Don't you just love spending money on things you already have?

In order to delay packing as long as possible, we walked to another of the barrios (neighborhoods) on our list of "must sees" - San Telmo, an area with cobbled streets, crumbling stucco, wall art, antique stores, cafes, and references to the tango (Argentina's "national" dance) everywhere.




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We left our apartment at noon and, except for a quick stop and a leisurely lunch at La Ventana, http://www.la-ventana.com.ar/index2.html,





















...and we didn't get back until 5:00 - tired, happy to be home, and ready to pack...but not before updating the blog and putting in some of today's photos...

Since we are not bringing our laptop with us to El Calafate, the next time you hear from us, we will have mini-trekked on Perito Moreno glacier and cruised Lake Argentino...stay tuned.