My Birthday Celebration (March 26)

For my birthday, I received lots of birthday phone calls, musical and animated e-cards, and multi-lingual emails from friends and family, which was great (technology is a wonderful thing). Thanks everyone!

To celebrate, we decided to actually “dress up” for dinner – what that really meant was no jeans, a nicer shirt for David, a sweater for me. David’s Spanish lessons are paying off – he made reservations (in Spanish) at a cozy French restaurant, Sirop Folie, where we ordered a bottle of TrumpeTer (a 2006 Malbec – our current vino of choice) and started with and fabulous tarte tartin and a wonderful ensalada with pate (perfecto!), and went on from there.





I should mention that, as we were leaving our apartment, a 2nd night of cacerolazo (the pot-banging protest we referenced in our 3/25 blog entry) was again erupting around the city, so we had some hesitations about heading over to the Confiteria Ideal (http://www.confiteriaideal.com/) , the milonga (tango dance hall) we had planned to go to – not because we felt like we were in any danger, but because we anticipated that major streets might be blocked off. And we were correct…thousands on the march, pots and soup ladles in hand, frustrated with a government that has raised tariffs and refused to engage in dialogue with farmers.

David, now proficient with “filming”, shot the following “video footage” so you have an understanding of what this feels like (see sidebar)

After walking for 20 minutes or so, we caught a cab to Ideal for our 1st tango experience –strictly as spectators. For the next 90 minutes, we watched the portenos come into the milonga with their tango shoe bags over their shoulders, change into their dancing shoes and join the dancers on the dance floor. Tango shoe stores are everywhere, especially those for women, and offer fancy little numbers with spiked heels and ankle straps.






We each singled out our favorites – a sensuous older couple that reminded us of Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronin, various sexy women in slinky outfits, and smoothly suave men (but none like Antonio Bandaras).

At 12:30am a live 5 piece orchestra assembled on a small stage and a show began, first with a couple of tango pieces and then with a female vocalist who joined them and added even more richness to the music. After a few songs she stepped aside and the dance floor cleared for a tango exhibition by 2 (we can only assume) professionals. They were wonderful to watch…. impressive footwork and more. (see sidebar)

At 1;30 a.m. we decided it was time to call it a night and caught a cab back to the apartment.

Pots and Horns in the City

March 25

We were relaxing this evening in the apartment when at 19:30 the world outside erupted into a din of banging noises, horns blowing, and people all over the place. Some out on the balconies of their apartment buildings and others gathering on the street corners.

I thought there must have been a big win for the Boca Juniors (Soccer Team). The Portenos are as crazy about there sport's team as Bostonians are about the Red Sox.

Curiosity got the best of us as the noise was continuing after 15 minutes, so we decided to go downstairs and find out. After stopping a couple of people and chatting in very broken Spanish and English we learned that the people have taken to the streets to protest the President's recent increases in export tariffs on beef and wheat.

This is causing the price of beef and wheat products to rise and also creating shortages as the farmers have been on strike. Apparently this is day 13 of a strike in the "Campo", farm country, and there are shortages of beef in the supermarkets. There are a lot of people unhappy with their government's policies....sounds familiar. Another reason I really like the Argentinians...they definitely have opinions!

We stood outside for about an hour watching the crowd grow, TV cameras show up, as did the police and we think their FBI (black suits with walkie talkies).

It appears that 60 ft from our building is a building that the president's husband has an apartment in (he's the former president...another interesting comparison to the politics going on in the US). The crowds continued to grow and the noise too! The tools of choice for making noise are pot and pans. People all over had either two pot covers which they beat together or a pot and something metallic to strike it with. I must say it's very effective. Added to that are the car and bus horns and you have a real racket.

We went back upstairs to turn on the TV where we learned protests all over the city were going on and thousands were in the streets. Magically at 21:30 the noise stopped. Barbara and I think that it's because that's dinner time.

Homework

Yesterday I had my first Spanish lesson. Diego from "Experiencia Buenos Aires" ( http://www.experienciaba.com.ar/) came to the apartment to start my education. Well the brain works a bit more slowly now than it used to but 2 hours later I was beginning to get the hang of basic grammer using 1st, 2nd and third person infinitives (I think). In any case he gave me some homework to do and I figured no sweat I'll do it tomorrow and when he comes again on Wed morning I'll be all set.

Here it is, the night before Diego is coming, and I am now going to do my homework.....funny thing is I am not quite as sure of my answers as I was 36 hours ago. Oh well, no one said it was going to be easy.

Tomorrow's Barbara's birthday, the almost big one. After dinner we are going to our first Milonga (tango hall) to check out the tango dance scene. This is where the locals dance and is not the big Las Vegas type tango review. I have been reading up on the history and ettiquette of tango, and I must say there are a lot of subleties. Here's an interesting website to whet your appetite. http://www.tangomuse.com/TangoManners.html

We'll keep you posted over the next couple of days.

Lazy Days in Buenos Aires

We have opted for a couple of quiet days in town…leisurely breakfasts of toast and café con leche at our local Café, Josephina’s…

afternoons in the park, reading, sketching, grocery shopping, early evening walks. David has arranged to start taking private Spanish lessons twice a week and I am doing some painting, using the tubes of watercolors I brought with me.

March 21, Good Friday

Many businesses are closed in preparation for the long Easter weekend (Monday is a holiday too). The sun is bright and the humidity low, so we decide to head out on foot. We leave the Recolta, walking down the Avenida Figueroa Alcorta (an area of the city that is predominantly “green”), past the Floralis Generica fountain…

and through the Palermo Chico neighborhood, home to diplomats, celebs, and the very rich.

Next is Jardin Japones (Japanese Garden) – a peaceful oasis in the middle of the city. The carp are huge, but the acres of flowering perennials (irises, azaleas, daylilies, wisteria) are past their prime (we’re heading into fall here) - still a lovely place to visit.

We next head over to Parque Tres de Febrero (one of the city’s larger parks) because I want to see Rosedal, a garden within the park that contains 12,000 rose bushes. But, like the perennials in the Japanese Garden, they are past their prime.

Oh well – at least I can cross it off my list.

By now we’re hot and ready to get off our feet (we’ve been walking for 3+ hours), so we stop in Palermo Soho at the 1^st air-conditioned restaurant we find. The menu is huge and we are not really sure of everything we’re ordering. We wind up with cold slabs of mystery meat for appetizers, lomo (filet) steaks with mushrooms and potatoes for David, and pasta with that Chef Boy-R-Dee taste for me. The good news is that the air-conditioning works really well. It's not too often you get a so so meal in Buenos Aires, but this one certainly was.

At the end of the day, we’ve walked at least 9 miles (as best as we can figure). Walking is what we do. We decided we did not want to have a car in Buenos Aires.... and based on how the "portenos" drive, that was a smart decision.

We haven’t quite figured out how the "colectivos" (public bus) system works. It is not as simple as you might think...or perhaps we are not as smart as we think . The following link tells you how to interpret the bus system routes (there is a book you carry with you until you know) but even knowing this we can't seem to find the exact pick-up and drop-off locations for the bus we want. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g312741-c5232/Buenos-Aires:Argentina:How.To.Use.A.Public.Bus.In.Buenos.Aires.html

We have avoided taking subways because with the heat and humidity, the thought of going underground to ride subway cars without air-conditioning reminded us too much of the #7 Flushing line and the #4 Lexington Ave line in New York City (back in the 70's and 80's). Been there -done that!

While taxi's are plentiful, unless we are really beat from walking we avoid them. Walking ... the new exercise for retirees.

Patagonia - Part Two - Mar 16 & 17

Sunday...

OK - after a fantastic day yesterday you might think that once you've seen one glacier, you've seen them all (David did). Even so, since it was too late to cancel Sunday's full day excursion cruising Lake Argentino in order to view five more glaciers on a catamaran, we decided to "tough it out" and wake up early 2 days in a row (retirement's a bitch)!

And that, too, was thrilling for me...the sky was threatening for much of the day, and this was exactly what I had always imagined Patagonia's weather to be. And even though we booked "1st class" seats on our catamaran...the "Upsala Connection" (http://www.fernandezcampbell.com/).

I spent much of the day outside the cabin photographing the glaciers and taking in the entire experience, while David enjoyed the view (from a private balcony) and the company of other passengers in the warm cabin chatting about politics, the economy, etc.

Our first stop was Onelli Bay. We disembarked and hiked through Onelli forest (another of those ancient Andean-Patagonian forests).

On the way back from the walk we met a couple from the UK (Manesh and Sonal) and munched on box lunches while we chatted about traveling, as they have been to many of the places in the world that we are looking forward to visiting.

We spent the rest of the day cruising, first to Upsala Glacier (the largest in the Park)...where 12 days earlier a huge piece of glacial ice broke off... and part of it turned upside down (the swiss cheese looking part)...

and on to Spegazzini Glacier, the highest (over 400 feet above the lake).

Because of its size, the catamaran was able to get incredibly close to the glaciers and ice flows, and we were able to take some pretty good photos, considering that we only have our pocket-size digital camera (different ship shown below but we went in just as close)

After a full day on the water, we turned around and started the 60 minute ride back to Punta Bandera Port, where our bus was waiting to take us back to El Calafate.

After a quick nap (life is tough) we met up with Manesh and Sonal for an Asado dinner ( http://www.3men.com/asado_spit.htm )

at La Tablita, a traditional Argentinian restaurant in El Calafate, where we had one of our best meals to date. (http://www.interpatagonia.com/latablita/)

Monday...

Our last day in El Calafate, we walked around town one last time, bought some souveniers, and left for the airport but not without talking about coming back next year and spending time in Ushuaia (the southernmost city on the continent), Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, and Bariloche.

After a long day, we landed in Buenos Aires around 11:30 p.m. - only to find that our luggage was no where to be found. We met up with a retired French woman "enjoying" the same luck of the draw.

(Two Weary Travelers - No Bags)

Barbara honestly thought we'd never see it again. I, on the other hand, had the great experience of trying to contact the airline for info on the bag's status. I am pleased to report the experience is the same as in the US - Either the phone was constantly "busy" or no one picked it up.

However, Lucas from Aerolineas Argentina told us the night we landed that it would be found and at some point delivered. As promised, it was located and delivered to our apartment 36 hours later. So here we are, with another 3 weeks in B.A., and all kinds of adventures and mini-expeditions left to experience before we head off to Chile to board our ship for the last part of our South American adventure on the way home.

More to come.

Patagonia - Part One - March 14 & 15

Friday...Mar 14

A dream come true for me - as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go to Patagonia. It's beautiful, foreboding, majestic, larger than life. The flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate is 3.5 hours, and we arrive early afternoon on Friday. As we disembark, the snow-capped Andes are off to our right, and on our left is nothing but desert (visually, very much like New Mexico). The air is crisp, the sky is crystal clear, and the sun is strong.

From the airport, we drive the 15 minutes to El Calafate, check into our hotel:(http://www.kostenaike.com.ar/) .....

.... and immediately go out exploring. There are shops, restaurants, markets and a casino. Many of the buildings and houses are log-cabin style or colorfully painted. I am surprised to see so many rose and lavender gardens, and the latter are huge by Cape Cod standards.

The population of El Calafate is around 8,000. There are also a lot of very mellow dogs, curled up lounging in the sun, or visiting with each other (yes ..... just like a group of friends hanging out), or walking along the sidewalks with purpose (just like people) with some destination in mind. It's very funny to watch as most of the time there are no people accompanying the dogs.

Our initial observations are that the town has quite a few South Americans taking long weekend vacations and very fit backpackers and mountain trekkers from around the world. For the first time in three weeks we are hearing a bit of English spoken on the streets.

Even though we've lathered ourselves with sunscreen (SPF 30), after 2 hours we are sunburned, so we upgrade to SPF 70. After a quiet evening (it gets dark around 9:00 now, but during the height of summer, we hear it stays light till 1:00 a.m.) we go to bed, eager for our trip to Perito Moreno Glacier on Saturday.

Saturday... Mar 15

Up early, the temperature is mild (feels like high 50s), the sky is blue, and there is absolutely no wind. We take a bus to the first (Perito Moreno) of 6 glaciers we will see in Glacier National Park over the next 2 days. The Perito Moreno is spectacular - it covers an area of approx. 200 sq. kilometers and is 70 meters high at the point where it meets Lake Argentino ( and another 130 meters deep below the surface). Note: this glacier is actually sitting on the floor of the lake and not floating like many glaciers in other parts of the world.

The ice is white with areas that are incredibly blue, and we are standing on a series of walkways, "the balconies", directly opposite it. Occasional calving of the ice causes a loud booming sound similar to that of a large bore rifle shot. It's pretty outrageous - but the best is yet to come!

After a picnic lunch, we take a boat across the Lake...

where we are met by experienced guides ( www.hieloyaventura.com ) who will lead 10 of us as we trek up the glacier. They suggest we leave our backpacks and assorted belongings at "base camp" so as not to weigh us down. We don't even need to bring water as glacial water is very safe and a "suggested" treat to drink.

It's also mandatory to wear gloves as the ice is very abrasive and will cut your hands. We're given an "orientation" and then we hike for about 20 minutes, first through this ancient forest, and then across the beach, which feels somewhat like the moon,

before we put on crampons and spend the next 2 1/2 hours trekking up (and then down) the glacier.

we are taught how to walk on level ice (feet shoulder-width apart), how to ascend (walk like a duck...feet pointed slightly out) and descend (leaning backwards on slightly bent knees).

Single file, we slowly ascend...sometimes traversing paths as narrow as 14 inches, with ice sloping down on either side.

There are deep blue crevasses criss-crossing the ice and water-filled "sink holes" that we drank from.

The guides occasionally have to pick-axe "steps" in the ice if the slope is too steep and there is David, taking photos of the entire experience (between the 2 of us, we took about 500 photos over the course of 2 days).

And, just before we complete the trek, at the foot of the glacier, is a makeshift "bar" - and we toast our success with Famous Gross scotch chilled with glacial ice.

We both agree that, with the exception of flying our plane, this is definitely the coolest thing we've ever done!

That's it for now as it's been a long day....more tomorrow!