The Plan

We will fly through Atlanta and land the next morning in Buenos Aires around 9:10. Ricardo, our first host, has arranged for someone to meet us and drive us to our apartment. We have written to Ricardo to ask how we get cash, how to get SUBE cards which will allow us to use the buses and the metro. He has suggested taking a walking tour organized by some university students so they can meet people from other countries. I broached the subject of Tango which we are nervous about because normally we don't think about steps when we dance.
After a week we will head to Gaucho Country. We will stay in a spa kind of place and maybe visit a ranch for an afternoon.

We will take a five hour bus ride and then a cab to get to the beach. Mar de las Pampas is a small beach town with a lot of trees that were planted by the guys who first developed this land. A place for long walks on the beach and eating in nice small restaurants.

And then we return to Buenos Aires for our last two weeks. We will be near the big parks of Buenos Aires thus maintain some closeness to the greenery.
You can see that we have not planned too many details. We are going to try to be open for any opportunities. We will continue to meditate in the morning.
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Buenos Aires, First 2 weeks

Dawn:
Thursday, Feb 29
The long awaited day of departure arrived. The water and heat were turned off or down, the fridge was emptied, and now our Lyft was at the door, carry-on bags out front. But wait! Stephen is saying, "Our flight is canceled." Wha??? What do you mean? There was no explanation from Delta, but subsequently we found out that there was a national one-day strike of airport workers in Argentina the day before that prevented the plane leaving Argentina. The workers stood on the runways all day long. Delta rebooked us the following day on earlier flights which worked out okay. Stephen Whatsapped Ricardo, our Airbnb host, to reschedule our pickup ride from the airport to the following day.

We had gone to the Grotto for our traditional night-before-travel drink and pizza so we decided to head to Joe's other place, Antonio's Bacari, for our Ground Hog Day replay. Turns out we did not see Joe at either place as he is off skiing in Switzerland. The staff is always friendly and the Northern Italian inspired small plates filled the bill.

On February 28, we turned off the heat and water again, got more trash into our neighbor's bin, repacked what we had needed to unpack, and headed off to the airport with José, our Uber driver from the Dominican Republic who indulged my mediocre Spanish and decided that since we are now amigos, he would take us directly to the departure dropoff, instead of leaving us in Central Parking. A couple of hugs initiated by Stephen made it clear that we were friends in case any authorities wanted to bust him as an Uber driver in the wrong place.

Boston to Atlanta was uneventful. Layover and lunch in Atlanta airport where "Yes ma'am" was often heard, then boarding Comfort Plus for the long haul to Buenos Aires. Ten hours overnight in a plane is kind of a beating, in spite of dinner with wine, blankets, pillows and breakfast. I only pretended to sleep, but Stephen got a few winks in various contorted positions. There was a surreal, beautiful moment about 3:00 a.m. when I pulled up the window shade and saw flashes of multicolored lights through the clouds and in the mountains to the west, my first, and maybe only, view of the Andes!

Passport control went smoothly, although they didn't even stamp our passports. Photo, thumbprint, address of our Airbnb, and boarding pass satisfied the authorities, then off we were to find Leandro, our driver, which took awhile but worked out. We were greeted by heat, humidity, and, hopefully the last of the mosquito infestation the city has been experiencing. About 45 minutes later, we were in the Palermo Soho neighborhood of Buenos Aires, greeting Ricardo.


So today was a combination of napping, showers, unpacking, exploring this nice neighborhood, picking up a few supplies, getting a SUBE card charged up with the maximum of $2.75 which should last us awhile since subways and buses seem to be ten to thirty-five cents a ride. We had some delicious fresh fruit smoothies at a place in front of a yoga studio. I took a picture of their schedule. Who knows, maybe I'll take a class or two there, or maybe I'll just roll out my mat on our little balcony and do my own practice. These are the big first world decisions I am lucky enough to be contemplating.

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Stephen:
Saturday, Mar 3,
We went to the Rebelión for dinner Thursday night. Dawn wanted a salad for dinner so we searched around for salads near me and found this place. Unfortunately, while they had many salads on their menu hey were all out of them. We ended up sharing a shish kabob thing with some glasses of rosé. We followed with a chocolate moussy thing that was good but had salt which is a bandwagon that we have not jumped on.

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MALBA

Dawn:
Friday, March 1
We took the bus to visit MALBA, El Museo de Arte Latin-Americano de Buenos Aires. It’s a spectacular piece of architecture with a great collection of work. Each gallery has a theme. Sometimes when curators organize their collections around themes, it feels forced or contrived. Here it feels relevant and appropriate. Much of the art in this part of the world is deeply connected to social struggles and/or political activism. Although there were some familiar names, like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, many of the artists were not known to us. I took a few pictures of pieces that impressed us for various reasons. Most of the artists were also highly conscious of international art movements as well, like cubism and surrealism. Many of them spent time in Europe and often returned to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru or wherever they were born. br />

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La Escondida

Last night (Friday) was better. We got Dawn's salad and myself I got a steak at L'Escondida. Both were great. The grilled eggplants that surrounded the salad were exceptional. I ordered a "cup" of wine and Luis must have felt bad for me because you can see after the food picure what he brought to the table.
And here is the restaurant. we sat in he front just off the street. Our waiter was Luis who took care of us very well.

Teatro Colon

Stephen:
Saturday, Mar 2,
This morning (now Saurday) I slogged through the Spanish language ticket website of the Teatro Colon, dodging past all the tourist sites that wanted to sell me tickets for a guided tour of the place. This teatro, built in 1903, is one of the grand opera houses of the world. Finally I got two tickets to hear an all Stravinski concert by the local orchestra. After we get back from the beach, we might buy tickets to "Carmina Burana".

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Plaza Serrano (two versions)

Stephen:
In the afternoon, we went over to the Serrano Square, which has a large artisan market on Saturdays. We looked at some stuff, especially some primitve earrings and bracelets by Luciano. We dropped a photo to Lily to see if she were interested. She declined. We found a nice IPA for me and a super mojito for Dawn and shared a veggie burger as a snack. The people watching was excellent as we began to get a chance to see what the locals were wearing. All of this is permeated by high end clothing shops of endless variety. We stopped for a snack, a shared veggie burger that was very good, surrounded by a very good mojito and an also good IPA. All of this was watched over by the tree below.

Stephen:
We walked up to Plaza Serrano, a huge weekend market of artists selling their wares. We rarely buy anything, being at the stage of life when we are trying to divest ourselves of things. However, we got in a Spanglese conversation with Luciano, born in BA of Italian parents, spent two years in Italy and is now back here. He makes copper earrings and bracelets. I sent some pics of his stuff to my SF granddaughter who is soon to have a birthday, but they weren’t her style. So I ended up buying a bracelet that, after all, doesn’t really fit my arm that well! I think I mostly liked the guy who also has the male version of the name of my good friend Luciana

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La Boca

Stephen:
Sunday, Mar 3
Sunday Midday we took a long bus ride down to La Boca, here the football team rules. They were founded in 1903, fairly close to the beginning of the sport. They were prevented from getting the colors that they wanted and when they couldn't agree on what colors they should use, they just decided to use the country colors of the next ship that came into port. It as a Swedish ship and for a 125 years those have been there colors. We didn't take any pictures, but you can google it and see gaily colored houses and the amazingly touristic energy. It was a bit much for us as it was also game day. The flags were coming out and we could hear chants from the neighborhood. We took a break from all of it and went into a museum, Proa. Since we were retired, the young women at the desk offered us half price tickets at fifty cents each. We said we would be happy to pay full rate. The work did not stand up to the MALBA with the exception to two bathtubs hanging on columns. They were coated with h photosensitive material so that photographs could be directly printed on them.



We found the restaurant on the top floor and I had a Heineken and Dawn and I shared a burger. He view and the serenity of ithe place were its highlights. After lunch, we returned to the streets and after a spin around the neighborhood, we began our long, long trip to the Theatro. Missed buses, getting off a bus too soon, walking on the wrong street all contributed to our getting to our seats about a minute before the 5 PM show. The underlying issue was my iPhone8 battery weakness. I had to turn it off during our navigation so I made plenty of mistakes. Also, the tickets were on my phone. (They were on Dawn's phone also, but somehow I discounted that).

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Stravinski

Dawn:
The all-Stravinsky program at the beautiful Teatro Colon was eye opening, or I should say ear opening. They played three pieces that the composer wrote for ballets, Firebird, Petrouchka, and the famous Rite of Spring. In its time, Rite shocked its early audiences with a somewhat strident repetitive sound that interrupted the gorgeous melodic moments. Perhaps I have never heard a full orchestra play the piece live before, only the two piano version. There were so many quiet subtleties in the music, and that famously “strident” section seemed almost gentle! I wonder if the recordings that we often hear are manipulated by a sound engineer to emphasize some sections over others, because the piece sounded so different to me.

Stephen and I both had the same reaction listening to Petrouchka. We heard some sonorities and rhythms that reminded us of West Side Story and wondered if Leonard Bernstein was doing some quoting of Stravinsky when he wrote it. Over all, Stravinsky’s work, considered revolutionary in his time, was wonderfully rich to experience.
Stephen:
There was a. moment in one of the pieces, maybe the Firebird, where the conductor was asking the orchestra to play really quietly and he himsefl became quiet by hiding his hands and arms in front of his body so he seemed to just be standing there. Nice.

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After the performance, we grabbed the 39 bus, which is the same number that we have at home. We were exhausted by this long day, and I knew that if we went home we would never get out again for dinner. We decided to stay on the bus one more stop which should leave us close to La Escondida, (sort of) where we could get a drink and a meal, which we did. Luis took care of us
The menu is large and conceptually complicated. I solved this problem by just telling him I wanted a small green salad and some meat a little smaller than the other meal. He worked it out by suggesting we could share an arugula and Parmesan salad and a mixta brochette. Perfect. Dawn really didn't want as much wine as that picture shown earlier. He could not really fix that issue, but did the best he could by bringing the same amount of wine in larger glasses so they were "a half a copa". We turned down dessert and after paying the bill, a five minute walk brought us home.

Sunday from Dawn's Viewpoint

Dawn:
Lest our faithful readers think that Stephen's and Dawn's travels are always smooth and wonderful, last Sunday, after getting on a bus in la Boca to go Teatro Colon for the concert, my fabulous navigator made a couple of major errors. First, we got off the bus too soon so we had to walk further than necessay and thn he picked the wrong road. To correct these errors we had to walk very fast on uneven pavement, in sandals, for about 45 minutes to arrive just in the nick of time for the concert. The next morning I was in such pain, I could barely get out of bed. Bending in any direction was excruciating. It was scary because it didn't feel like muscle strain. I thought I had done something bad to my spine. On top of that I had the runs for two days! The good news is that I took Naproxen for two days, and on Tuesday, I walked almost four miles, which has been our usual daily amount here. I am SO grateful for the fast recovery. .

We took Monday off

Stephen:
Monday, Mar 4,
I spent an hour in line at the Western Union Store sending myself $150 from my apple pay accout. Their money counting machines are getting tired so it took some time at the window. When all was said and done, I paid $158.99 and received 158,950 pesos which is better than the rate my credit card gets (979 to 920 per dollar but going down). Dawn nursed a sore back and we made an omelet at home.

We visited the Rose and Japanese Gardens

Dawn:
One of the great beauties about BA is the number of parks. We went to the immense rose garden. Although it's early fall here, there are still a number of roses blooming. The upkeep for these parks is extraordinarily labor intensive. They do lots of lawns, maybe not the most ecological choice, so grass cutting and edging is a big job . We also saw someone pruning as there are many fading blooms at this time of year, in addition to the blossoms that keep coming. It's clearly a place enjoyed by visitors and locals as well. There’s also a poet's garden with sculptured busts of poets from various countries, including Kahlil Gibran (a favorite of mine in high school), William Shakespeare, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and many more who were awarded literature Nobels.

By the time we got to the Japanese Garden, we were pretty thirsty so asked if there was a place inside where we could get a bebida fresca. Silly question! We ended up having not just refreshing drinks, but also a lovely sushi lunch, along with a number of Porteños. We found out that Tuesday was a free day for local residents, hence the crowds. The garden is spectacular and reminded us of the one in San Francisco and of course, gardens in Kyoto. The photos will speak for themselves. There was even a young tree that descended from a tree that survived the bombing in Hiroshima, a sad reminder of that awful legacy and of the current nuclear threats that Putin is making.

We packed for the next day's trip. Then we went to Doña Tota for dinner. It is a tribute bar to the football star and Argentinian saint, Diego Maradona. Doña is the name of hos mother.u

An Overnight Trip to San Antonio de Areco

Dawn:
BA is a fascinating, varied city, but like any big city, it's kind of exhausting, finding the correct bus stop, figuring where to walk, etc. Sometimes I feel a bit too old for this kind of travel. We did get away for an overnight in "gaucho country", much like parts of the American West. We splurged on a wellness/spa hotel and got in the swimming pool and hot tub. Our terrace overlooked fields with horses. Sunset and morning light were tranquil and a good place for evening cocktails and our morning meditation.

Checked out at 11:00. By the time we walked into the charming town of San Antonio de Areco, almost everything was closed for "midday" which extended til 4:00 p.m.! So we walked and wandered, got into one museum and a church, sat in the park,
walked more and got our bus back to BA at 6:45 PM! We had a perfect pick me up around 3:30 in a place that was open and made wonderful fresh fruit smoothies. Plus Stephen's characteristically wonderful navigational skills had returned and this time he took us to a sodaria for a bite on the way to the the bus stop.

We have met some wonderful people, always the best part of travel for me.



Stephen:
We have had our second hug. The story starts at the Retiro Bus Terminal in the center of Buenos Aires. We have gotten up earlyish and finished packing our backpacks and have taken off for San Antonio de Areco, a small picturesque town about two hours NW of BA. We started with the 106 Colectivo bus which which slices through town during rush hour and deposits us at the station. The driver solves our first problem, the emptiness of our SUBE pass, by letting us on anyway. Construction near the station required him to make a big looping circle and it felt for a moment that we were being kidnapped, especially because now we were the only people on the bus. But he weaves back and soon we are there. We have time to buy a new SUBE card so we can continue to use the city buses.

We learned later that if you don't have enough money on your card, your balance will go into negative territory which you pay the next time you charge you card. Very clever.

So we are at the area where we have been told the bus will arrive, but it does not seem to be mentioned on the display screens in the terminal. Other Cavallier buses come and go. Dawn is nervous. Finally we speak to a young man who is waiting in the same area. He says he is going to the same place and that

"It is alway late"

It was amazing how comforting these words were to me. They took me from a world of worry and doubt to the world of normalcy. Of course, the bus is always late. We are now in the real world and we would go go along with whatever happens.

I had a similar experience when we were registering for a week at Plum Village in France. The sister could see that I was nervous and perhaps not understanding everything, especially because we were doing it in French. She said:

"You are already home"

She took away my tenseness and worry with that simple phrase. I knew it would be okay.

She had just explained the present moment.

And the young man did the same thing. What had been complicated was now very simple, the bus was late.

His name was Facundo. It is shortened to Facu which he did not like among English speakers so he called himself Wayne, from a Bruce Springsteen song. It turned out that he lived in San Antonio de Areco, perhaps only five blocks away from our hotel. When we asked him for the name of a good restaurant he wrote one down on one of my cards. The bus did come, strangely they put people with paper tickets on the bus first and then people with virtual tickets on afterwards. Our seats were reserved, so it didn't matter and we grabbed our seats at the front of the top level, picked out so we would have a view.

When we got to the town, he took us to his restaurant and it turned out that his mother worked there. He graciously introduced us to her and we took a table for lunch.


His mother was running the place as she had for the past 25 years which was more than the age of Wayne. At the end of the meal Dawn explained to her that Wayne was the same age as Tess and that her son had been very kind to us at the bus station and then on the walk to the restaurant. This is the end of the hug story because as we left both of us got generous loving hugs from his mother. (The first hug was at Logan airport with the Lyft driver).

Wayne also mentioned that people reaaly enjoyed sitting in front of their rooms with theirs drinks and watched the sunsets. We thought that sounded like a great idea so we WhatsApped room service and got two cocktails brought to our room. I don`t ever remember using room service before so it was kind of goofy. The pictures above don't do it justice nor the beautiful in the morning when we meditated. Wayne's suggestion made all the difference.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Stephen:
We are doing Argentina at a comfortable pace. Sometimes I wonder if we are keeping the travelogue interesting enough. We had plans yesterday to go down to the center of town to see the governmental architecture. We got to the bus stop and we verifying our location when a young woman asked us if we needed help. I responded that I thought we knew what we were doing. That turned out, predictably, to be wrong because there was a big demonstation down there in recognition of International Women's Day. She thought that might be why the buses were overcrowded or not even stopping for us. Pickpocets and thieves would also be in great abundance.

Continuing to talk to her we found out that she worked for Exxon Mobil but only for one more week. Then she was going to take her Australian one year work visa and move there. She was worried about understanding the Aussies, but really exciing about the coming change.

We changed our minds about going downtown and went looking for a bus that would take us to a differnt part of town but we gave up on that because it looked like the rain that was predicted for later was about to arrive. All this led us to the tapas bar, Perinola.
Dawn:
Tapas night:
I really enjoyed this place. For me, it was great to have a couple of small plates to share instead of immense platters of meat and fries. We had something called Buñuelos, I think, filled with spinach and another green. They were somehow deeply fried but not greasy, and were delicious. Stephen ordered a pita bread with kind of thinly layered small steaks inside. I had a bit of it, and it was good. We shared a spectacular chocolate mousse for dessert. Our server was a fun and friendly young woman who had a tattoo on the front of her neck, either of a bowtie or butterfly, or maybe both in one. It was International Women's Day, and she was working, so we gave her an extra generous tip.

We have noticed many groups of women of all ages going out together for drinks, coffee or a meal. Of course there are also groups of guys too, but somehow the number of women’s groups seems larger.

Although Porteños are somewhat diverse, having seen many beautiful people who appear to be of indigenous descent, I have only seen about a half dozen Black people here. As we were walking to a bus stop, a stunning tall, dark, thin yet shapely woman in a bright green camisole-topped, long tube dress crossed the street in front of us. Later I was sitting at a bus stop, and she sat down next to me just as Stephen said we should move on to another bus stop. As I stood up, I said "Qué linda!", how beautiful, and she gave me a stunning smile with a "gracias."

Review of our coffee place:

Dawn:
I am writing in English to encourage other English-speaking visitors to come here for coffee. We bought Argentine coffee in a supermarket to make our own in our AirBnB. It does not taste like coffee at all! The friendly owner of Eje Cafetero gets his coffee from Colombia, and it is delicious! They make all styles of coffee and cater to your very particular taste. As for food, we only had a pastry which was fine, but they serve sandwiches and bagels that also look very good.

Avenida de Mayo

Dawn:
Avenida de Mayo is the wide avenue in downtown, monumental Buenos Aires. The Capitol building and Cathedral are famous landmarks. The architecture of the apartment buildings here seems to be of the same era as Haussman in Paris. A couple of examples are pictured here.

Our SUBTE line started at the stop called Catedrale. It was so easy to charge up our card with a real person in the subway booth and no commission as in the El Jevi convenience stores. Since we were at the originating stop, we got seats on the comfortable, clean, fast subway car. The only minor drawback was a guy playing much too loudly a trumpet version of La Vie En Rose, one of my favorite songs.

Belles Artes Museum

Dawn:
The first thing you should know about El Museo de Belles Artes is that it is completely free to everyone, all the time, not just one evening a week or on certain holidays, but every day except the one day a week that it is closed. And it has some spectacular collections! The exhibits of pre-impressionist and impressionist French art are unusual and captivating. I did not take any pictures, but there were some surprising Degas, Renoirs, And Monets, plus unexpected works from Toulouse Lautrec, Gaugin, and Van Gogh. Rodin himself contributed two rooms full of his sculptures and sketches in the early twentieth century.

Other older European art included an El Greco and a massively huge tapestry. There is Argentinian art and more contemporary art that we will return to experience.

Here's the museum's website which you can have translated into English

Stephen:
I took this picture because seeing this drawing made me finally "get" Degas and his dancers. He really knew them, here sketching their self involved backstage warm-up. By extension he knew all dancers. I could feel this room. I had been in or stood next to everyone of these routines. I could smell the place.

Hipodromo de Palermo

The first thing we did when we got there was go through the beautiful entrance. Then we prepared to watch the next race, which included standing at the outside rail and watch the horses parade out of the paddock, mostly sideways and close enough to us to bite us. Their beautiy of color, movement and muscle was astounding.
Beside the parade, the racing was a disappointment for me. The track is really long so the first race at 1,200 meters, didnt 'even use half the track and we couldn'see the beginning. The second race at a 1,000 meters didn't even need the last turn. It was a straight race. What was exciting was that the winner must of had long odds because there were some very happy people cheering and cheering and then running around the place with their arms over their heads after the horse came across the line. That was fun!

I expected the horses to be louder when they ran. The hooves kind of whispered as the came by us. And when they came aound the last turn they looked so small as to be nearly invisible. The big tote board becomes a video screen for the race. It an half an hour between races during which the validate the results, figure out the payouts for the owners and the bettors and get the new race organized.

According to wikipedia, the track is a mile and a half around compared to Churchhill Down's (Kentucky Derby) one mile.

Art in the Apartment

Apartment Review

For two weeks in early March.
We were greeted by Ricardo when we arrived from the airport and he showed us the apartment. We exchanged some dollars and pesos at the rate that Western Union was using which was very helpful. He lent us a SUBE card which we took to a corner store on Scallibrini Raul to charge up. He was available to answer any questions we had during our stay.

We liked the apartment. The art work was entertaining. The kitchen worked for coffee and some small meals we made when we didn’t feel like going out. The balcony was nice for coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening. The apartment had everything we needed and was very quiet. It did not feel cluttered and there was enough room for our clothes.

The location in Palermo Soho was great. There are many restaurants, bars, markets, cafes and drugstores within an easy walk.

Wrapping up, this is a great apartment in a great city. Don't hesitate to reserve.

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A Week at the Beach in Mar de las Pampas
A link to the History and photos of some of the houses that have been built here

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Three Walks on the Beach

Stephen:
Wednesday, Mar 13,
The day we arrived, we found out that we were going to have to buy some kitchen and cleaning supplies. Dawn wanted to go to the store right away and take care of it. I was more inclined to take us for a beach walk because that is why we came here on a long six hour bus ride. we paid extra for bigger seats which were the size of first class seats on an airplane, with just three seats across the bus. So, we got out our beach clothes and walked to the beach, first a half a block south, then 2 blocks toward the beach, then over the dune that was built to protect the town from big storms and then down to the beach. It was mostly cloudy and not too warm. The area was just finishing up three days of rain and it felt like it. It was great to be on the beach, just a few souls there with us. We walked up to the beach club and got two 16 oz. beers for 7 USD, including tip. The place was being run by three kids who didn`t seem to know whether they were open or not. We were the only customers for a while, but our drinking where we could be seen from the beach seem to attract others. From the bar, we just went back over the dune, 2 blocks away from ocean, then a left on Pedro Luro to complete our square walk. We were now officially beach bums for a week.

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The next day the sun was out, so we went for a long walk, except when we got over the dune, the wind was blowing with enough force that Dawn needed to hold onto her hat. As we walked south and out of the town of Mar de las Pampas, the environment changed totally. The dune disappeared, and a string of hotels appeared.

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Our last walk was one to the beach and back. We took the chairs and sat, and in fact did meditate. I took a quick swim. The water was warm and the waves were there but not menacing, so later I took anoher. Dawn, as always, watched me carefully. We did some people watching, which is always fun. When I get back I am going to need to slim down.

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Looking Back to BA for a Moment- Dinner with Martin

Dawn:
We finally got a date for dinner with Martin. He is a very busy person and teaches Spanish in person and online. I took some classes with him in the fall, at Luciana's recommendation. He was excellent, but I was frustrated by the Google Meet technology, not able to see him on screen while reviewing the homework together. When someone speaks a foreign language, it is much easier to grasp meaning when you can see their face! For various reasons, my payment did not get to him, so we agreed to meet in BA when I would be there to pay what I owed him and take him out to dinner. So we finally did that!

It was a pleasure to spend an evening with Martin. Since Stephen's Spanish is even worse than mine, we mostly spoke English which Martin does very well. Although we had agreed to try an Italian place that sounded great, there was an hour`s wait outside and rain was intermittent that evening. So we took Martin to La Escondida, our old standby, sat in the enclosed back garden and had a lovely evening. We were so engaged in conversation that I completely forgot to take a picture which would be mostly for Luciana since she has known him as a teacher online way longer than I have. So I will try to reconnect with Martin when we return to the city, and maybe see if I can schedule a couple of lessons in person!

Yoga in the Forest

Dawn:
Here at Mar de las Pampas, we live in kind of an enchanted forest. Although the house is kind of old and funky, the location is perfect. We have no car so we walk to the beach and into town which is kind of like an upscale ski town! Our house is the oldest here, built in 1981. Many are very upscale, ultra modern buildings. Will try to get some pics. But back to the enchanted forest. As I lie on my yoga mat on our little front deck, I look up at pines shrouded in some kind of vine, not English Ivy. There are twisted branches, pine cones, and massive nests that the birds continue to expand, chattering loudly in the morning. At the end of my yoga practice, doing shavassana, the corpse pose, I feel completely immersed in the environment, "In the ultimate I dwell," as Thich Nhat Hanh has said. It is deep connection, absence of fear, a wonderful feeling to experience.

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Dinner at a French Restaurant

Now let's talk about a completely different, more earthly wonderful experience, dining at El Nido! We had met a lovely woman, Veronica, who owned the health food store who recommended this amazing French restaurant. As most of you know, Argentina is the land of meat and parillas, everything grilled. I was missing fish. Here on the Atlantic shore we had a beautiful, completely unexpected meal. We split a lovely ceviche with lime, kiwi and avocado added to the raw fish. Our main courses were a spicy calamari with its ink for Stephen and a beautifully cooked fish with three mussels in a bed of curried barley risotto for me. So unexpected and so delicious! A bottle of Mendoza sauvignon blanc complemented the meal. Although it was the most expensive meal we have had in Argentina, it was still easily half as much as it would have cost in Boston. We have been happy to tip well and always in cash.

Pampas Grass

Up and over the Noth Passage of the Dune on another Sunny Day
and another Windy Walk

The plan was to get on the beach through the north passage. This one goes to a beach club so you can see the electrical wires. It is not as steep as the other one. Once we got to the top, we found it again to be windy, but we need the exercise so we pushed north. We were trying to get to the Kamikase Food Truck for a bite and a drink.

Concert, Fanny Mendelson and Beethoven

Stephen:
We are going to face-time a friend and then take a 16 minute walk on the sand roads to hear a concert. Well that is the idea and we will let you how it went. We are also trying to make a reservation for a restaurant in a woman's home that has four tables. That is for next Tuesday and I fear we are too late.

Well, we got there early enough to get a seat inside. The music was okay, they were a pretty young group and there were only ten of them. There were good moments. It got hot in there until someone opened the back door. After the chapel was filled, the rest of the audience sat outside and watched a video screen and listened to the music through a sound system. Leaving the performance we were in a chaotic stew of walkers, cars in the road and cars trying to unpark. We survived and walked into town and ate at Magma.

And we did get the reservation for Tuesday over WhatsApp. We were reminded to bring our own wine. I guess we might ask her on Tuesday what kind of wine we should bring.

Our Dinner at Amorinda Tutto Pasta

Dawn:
Amorinda Tutto Pasta was another recommendation from Veronica. The cooking is all done by women, pasta is homemade, and the cuisine is fabulous. I had spinach pasta with shrimp and another, yet different, light curried cream sauce. We had a serendipitous server, named Gloria. She was happy to speak English again as it reminded her of her dear, departed mother who came from New York and her Irish Grandpa. Her dad is Argentinian. We had been having trouble contacting taxis and other ride services. She said she would not only be happy to help us do that, but she also volunteered to drive us herself to the bus station Wednesday morning. So kind!

To make a long story a bit shorter, she was looking at my website and said she would love to do a movement piece on the dunes, and maybe she and I could make a piece together! She is not a trained dancer, but she is an actor who does physical theater. So tomorrow is our last day here , and we will try to do something together. Stephen is game to shoot whatever happens. I have been looking for a creative project on this trip, and Gloria appeared and got me going! So we shall see. It may not be a keeper, but I hope the process will be good for us all.

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Restaurant CasaBar

We did not take any pictures, but this was a great and unusual meal. We were instructed on WhatsApp after we made a reservation to bring our own wine, so I went out and bought a malbec rosé which we promptly left behind as began our walk to dinner. Dawn remembered and I went back for the bottle. The trip to CasaBar was a twenty minute or so walk on sand roads, the last fifteen minutes or so are in the dark, but not totally dark. There are the occasional dim street lights, lights from people`s houses and the. infrequent passing car. And, of course, we have our cell phones. We arived simultaneously with a large pickup truck who is confused about where the driveway in is and where to park. I see the sign and forge forward up the stairs, telling Dawh that we are here. A large loud barkingdog adds to the chaos which melts away as we enter her dining space. As advertized, there are four tables, two are set for two and two set for three. The pickup truck are a couple and we decide where we will sit. We take the table next to the door.

Dawn called the cooking comfort food, and I agreed. But everything was a notch up. The focaccia was light and tender as was the hummus that it came wih. She said she used ice to make the hummus. We had know idea what she meant. My chocolate beef stew

Making Sueño

Dawn:
What a wonderful day! From the moment we started improvising together, it felt like we had been dancing together for a couple of years! She may not be a trained dancer, but Gloria has clearly had lots of experience moving in a theatrical context. She brought lots of potential colorful costumes, but we settled on black that worked well in the dunes. We shot many different sections in various dune environments. Some are probably a bit clichéd, but I think there is enough material for us to create something interesting. When we were done, Gloria made maté and shared it with us. This was very touching for Stephen and me as maté is a strong tradition in Argentina that is shared among family or close friends.

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Returning to Buenos Aires

We had made arrangements the day before via WhatsApp to contact Alameda Remise, a kind of local car service, a half an hour before we needed it. As Gloria had predicted, they sent a message back that they were not functioning today because of the rain. Stephen texted our host who said that Juan was using his Jeep and he could not fit us in to the bus station. I contacted Gloria and said what should we do? Five minutes later she got back to me to say that she and her dad would pick us up and take us to the bus station. Amazing. More and more, I feel Gloria is an old friend, maybe in a past life?

Her 82 year old dad drove the car, a 1985 red Fiat that he had recently driven 6,000 kilometers south to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world! Still I wondered if this little car could handle the weight of four people and our carryon bags, driving on dirt roads with huge puddles. Well, it did! Of course we wanted to give them some money for gas, but they wouldn’t think of it. He said you would do the same in your country. Yes, of course we would, but the economy is so bad here.

On the bus now, heading back to BA where they predict another two inches of rain today. We are passing semi-inundated fields on this long, flat ride back to the city, passing cows, horses and egrets edging around all the temporary ponds. The center aisle of the bus is taking on water and our backpacks are getting a little damp from moisture coming in somewhere. We are not sitting next to each other but in the single sears, one behind the othe. We are in the back and the air conditioning is making a racket. Ear plugs are necessary. Dawn does the crossword puzzle, Stephen sleeps and keeps Yoli aware of our progreaa. She will greet us at the apartment and show us how everything works.

We know it is raining but are mostly unaware of what is going on around us. During this storm we were in Mar de las Pampas, five hours away by bus. We had rain and lighting, but nothing like what BA had.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD
MARCH 20, 2024
Updated at 2:30 p.m.

An intense storm blew across Buenos Aires late on Tuesday, disrupting flights, flooding houses and streets, and ripping roofs off buildings.

This kind of storm is known as a "supercell," according to the Argentine weather services, an unusual and potentially dangerous kind of storm characterized by ravaging winds.

In Recoleta, a 74-year-old woman died after being hit by a railing torn loose from a ninth-floor balcony by the wind.

Several flights to and from Buenos Aires were canceled, delayed or diverted on Wednesday morning. Red alerts were issued for Ministro Pistarini airport in Ezeiza and for Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires during the morning, but they were lifted by 11 a.m.

"Both airports are currently operating normally," a spokesperson for airport operating company Aeropuertos Aerolíneas 2000 said Wednesday at 2 p.m. The status of all flights can be checked on the company`ks website.

Rainstorms in Buenos Aires hit transport services hard last week, with severe flooding all over Greater Buenos Aires. It began raining again on Monday, and the weather forecast shows the downpour will continue throughout Wednesday. Hail is also expected.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN by its Spanish initials) issued an orange alert for Wednesday for Buenos Aires city, Entre Rios and most of Buenos Aires province and Santa Fe because of the thunderstorm. This means they expect weather conditions that could be dangerous.

The orange alert means around 50 to 90 millimeters of rain are expected, with winds of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

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Buenos Aires, Second 2 weeks

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I have decided make dinner our cut off between the beach and back to town. We are now in Buenos Aires. We went out and got a Neapolitana pizza at a place 2 blocks away. Just a hole in the wall, with people both eating there or ordering take out. There were two kids eating at the counter where they were taking orders and then the dad helped clean up theit stuff when they were done. We got the pizza home and it was great, Not the thin crust pizza that we usually get but a thick tasty crust covered with thinly sliced tomatoes rather than a tomato sauce. When he asked what size, Dawn replied for two people. He said small and he was right. We washed it down with a bottle of Argentine bubbly that was a gift from our AirBnb host. Great meal. Afterwards, we watch the Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks on The NBA on Wednesdays and then went to bed, all in precelebration of Dawn`s birthday.

We also watched the news on TV and saw the flooding that surrounded us, but did not effect where we were very much. We continue to live in a bubble.

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Stephen:
Dawn got a wonderful gift for her birthday from Gloria, which she opened on her birthday. She thought it was going to be olive oil but instead it was a bottle of wonderful lemoncello from the restaurant Amorinda. We had already tasted it at dinner so we know how special it was. I was planning on flowers but Dawn didn`t see anything she liked. We are going out to eat (in a few minutes) to Trattoria Olivetti, which she did approve when we went over and checked it out.

The Tratoria Olivetti turned out to be a nice place. We had two dishes after starting with a carpaccio. I had the fish special and Dawn had a mushroom risotto. Both were very good. We had two glasses of wine because we had had cocktails at the corner bar earlier where they seemed to have forgotten the tonic in the gin and tonic. When it came time to pay the bill they seemed to have no knowlege of the "Happy Hour, 2 x 1 " sign they had out front. We paid the bill but decided we would not need to come back. That we stood around for awhile before they paid any attention to us kind of firmed up our decision. To be fair, some places need more Spanish than we have.

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Ecoparque of Buenos Aires

We live a block from the park in the front of the mass of buildings.
From their Website:
The historic Buenos Aires Zoo has re-opened as an interactive 21st century eco-park, improving animals' standards of living, and offering visitors a more educational and fulfilling experience for all the family.

In June 2016, the Buenos Aires City Government took the decision to close the 140-year-old Buenos Aires Zoo and release about 2,500 animals (the majority of the zoo's population) into the wild. The site has bow been transformed into a more modern, interactive Eco-park that aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and the importance of protecting animals' natural habitats both in Argentina and internationally.

The park has shorter opening hours than the old zoo and entrance is limited to 2,000 people per day. Feeding animals is not permitted. Work on the creation of the of the park is ongoing, but two areas are already open to the public for visits. Close to the entrance in Plaza Italia is an area with ducks, maras, peacocks and other species that wander freely in an area that recreates a natural habitat of ponds and pasture.

The second space located on Avenida del Libertador is named "El Estanque" or the pond, and has more than 2,000 examples of trees and shrubs and 200 native species. Here new paths have been created and artwork from the former zoo has been restored, including fountains and sculptures Buenos Aires zoo was opened in 1888 and functioned until 2016. Although today it is in the process of being transformed into the modern eco-park, visitors can still appreciate its original Victorian-era architecture. The pavillions, which have been declared national historic monuments, reflect the traditional architecture of the countries that the different animals came from - with Moorish, Indian, Chinese and Greek/Roman-style buildings. The former zoo also boasts numerous pieces of art including work by Argentine scultress Lola Mora.

Dawn:
Buenos Aires is filled with parks and green spaces. We spent some time at the Eco Parque. The small mammal, pictured here, looks like a cross between a rabbit and a miniature kangaroo. We know it is a mammal because we saw one nursing its young. With no predators, they are multiplying like crazy. There are also scores of peacocks and black and white ducks that wander around the park. There is an island with a couple of small monkeys. Since it used to be a zoo, it is fascinating to see the grand buildings that once housed lions and tigers and many other non-native species. Not all the animals they had were strong enough to be sent back into their natural habitat. We went by a very large enclosure with three old American bison lying down, looking pretty tired. A sign cautioned us to be quiet so as not to disturb them. It was a kind of nursing home for old bison. They will meet their natural end here with good care along the way

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La Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur

Looking over the lake/wetlands to the downtown area of Buenos Aries. We had to keep moving and stay in the sun to avoid the mosquitos that are very happy here.
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Dawn relaxing at the picnic area complete with super clean bathrooms. Stephen looking out over the Rio Plata, The widest river in the world.



We started at the lower left and went along the shore to the junction at the top center. We to a break and then came down the diagonal to the lower right. I could not find a snack place I liked so we took a cab home.

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Lunch and After Lunch
I will fix these videos when I get home

Dawn:
It's pretty easy to be generous here, albeit in small ways. At lunch today, A musician set up on the street corner, (the above video) playing his melodeon with recorded backup. He played some familiar tunes nicely, so of course we contributed.



An old woman came by selling various things, including AA batteries which we needed for our kitchen clock. Stephen bought a package of four.

My sandwich at the VoulezBar was more than I could eat so our kind server packed it up for me to take out. After lunch, as we were walking to the market to pick up a few things, a couple of men on the sidewalk were selling tissue packs, we did not buy any because we did not need any. One pointed to my takeout bag so I said Tienes hambre? Are you hungry? Yes, he was, so I gave it to him and hope he enjoyed the rest of my lunch!

The first table of people in the above video were Canadians whom we spoke to about Japan because of the T-shirt. It say "Hankyu/Platform Assistant". It was a gift from a friend who, wearing white gloves, worked gently to push people into the commuter trains. I took the video because I liked the sound that the people were making as they had lunch or drinks together. The place had good energy. Although he is not in the video, our waiter had complete control of his space, even calling a waiter from inside to take the order of the English speaking Canadians.

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A Word or Two About Taxis

Dawn:
Stephen and I take lots of buses and subways wherever we can. However, sometimes we just need a taxi, like after five miles walking in the city and in the bio reserve, or after the wonderful tango show that ended after 11:30 p.m. way downtown. The cabs are inexpensive, and the drivers are all interesting..

Stephen:
With the driver after the show, we struggled to have a conversation. He had little english, but kept on. He told us that he had been driving a cab for eight years and really loved the work. Once he was in his cb, he just felt relaxed and he loved being independent. We had been saying that we had loved our work when we were active so we did not just do it to get to retirement.

Dawn:
Coming from the Reseva, our driver had very loud talk show on the car radio. Stephen got that they were talking about the Beatles! Then they started playing Beatles songs, and we all sang along! The driver was clearly our generation and a big Beatles fan. He was also a pretty wild driver. As he darted in and out of lanes, stalled, started up again, the Beatles and I were singing Help, I need somebody, louder and louder! We got back to our place alive, and I noticed him looking under the hood as we went inside our building.

Stephen:
There is more to the story. I tried to flag him down at a bus station. I had just given up on a route that would take three different buses, so I was trying to flag him down through a bunch of people and the bus that had just pulled in. Then I saw that his "Libre" sign wasn't lit. so I gave up and I started walking away from the stop. I didn't know what the short car horn sound meant. But when I turned around some seconds later, I saw him backing up through the intersection toward us. He was tracking us down!



Dawn:
Another taxi ride turned out to be a big laugh on me! We were returning from the bus station after the beach trip. We noticed some damage to a huge, contemporary public sculpture. The driver said it was temporal. Thinking that meant temporary, I said Todos es temporal. Nosotros somos temporal. Everything is temporary. We are temporary, thinking I was being so philosophical. Well, temporal is another word for storm! So the damage to the sculpture was from the recent storm. I have no idea what the cab driver thought of the crazy American who said We are all storm!


Named "Floralis Genérica" in homage to all flowers, this 20m-high, 18-tonne aluminium and stainless steel sculpture dominates the Plaza de las Naciones Unidas. Unveiled in the year 2002, it was probably the world's first mobile public sculpture to be controlled by hydraulics and photoelectric sensors..

/> It was damaged in December, 2023 in a heavy windstorm and one of the petals is on the ground and one is damaged.

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A Tango Show at El Querandí
Sol Salute, a really helpful blog
Website in English of El Querandí

Dawn and Stephen are ready to go out on the town. Stephen pulls out his tie for the second time. We used the mirror in the apartment


This was the scene when we walked in about twenty minutes to ten. They had arrived and were finishing up their dinner and desserts. We had elected to not have dinner but instead had a salad at home. We also elected to get ourselves there and home, so we took the SUBTE and walked for ten minutes or so to the club. We got there a few minues early. I thought we should wait outside, But Dawn was ready to sit so we inquired. They found our name on the list and led us to our table, a round table at the back with good sight lines with plenty of room

I thought we should wait outside, But Dawn was ready to sit so we inquired. They found our name on the list and led us to our table, a round table at the back with could sight lines with plenty of room. The waiter soon appeared and asked us whether we were having dinner. We said no so he said we could have an appetizer or a dessert. Dawn got the dessert and I got the antipasto, which was just okay, but Dawn scored with her delicious dessert.

I ordered a glass of Malbec and Dawn got a white. He brought two bottles, poured our wines and left the bottles. The malbec he opned at the table. They had said open bar, bar this surprised me. When the house photographer came around to our table we politely declined. As Dawn describes below, it was a good show. One of the things I enjoyed was the dancers crossing in front of our table in the dark to go change costumes between segments. Though not a performance, we could feel the warmth and energy from what they had just done on stage coming off their bodies. Also, we could give them our own private bravos and bravas. I want to repeat what Dawn is about say that the violinist was great. The lighting was good also; I saw a light come on just to light a dancer's leg as it was extended over the edge of the stage for a second or two. Nice.
Dawn:
I was hesitant to go to a tango show because they tend to be so touristy with busloads of people attending. However, thanks to Stephen and his excellent research, we went to a smaller place, and the show was wonderful. I never saw the name of the choreographer, but it was so well put together, using the space and architecture inventively (just like Dance Collective!) The eight dancers and four musicians were equally skilled and talented. The show was a history of tango, starting with some funny old film clips of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Rudolph Valentino and some comics.

Beginning in the 1800's with immigrants in the slums, the dancing, music and costumes kept evolving through the golden age of tango, about 1935-1955 to the modernismo of today's milongas. The pianist and ensemble leader was excellent, and the violinist was amazing. The dancing became quite athletic, and in the end, all four couples managed to dance beautifully on that small stage in front of the musicians.

Although the show started at 10:15p.m., my usual bedtime, I was really glad I went and got to bed by 12:30!

What El Querandí says about itself

Located in the historic city centre, in San Telmo neighborhood, El Querandí has the best tango dinner show in Buenos Aires. This old mansion of 1920, carefully restored in 1992 after being closed for 12 years, is characterized by having respected with absolute devotion the atmosphere it had at the beginning of the last century; adding, a service of excellence, an exquisite gastronomic menu with typical Argentinean regional dishes and a tango show that shines for its quality and authenticity.

All this, of course, is possible thanks to the sincere respect that El Querandí has for its past; seeking at all times to keep alive the soul of tanguería, also conserving a warm, pleasant and intimate space, where the client is attended to in every detail so that he can experience a night that will be forever impressed in his memory.

Museo Arte Popular José Hernádez

Dawn:
The Museo del Arte Popular turned out to be a folk art museum. Unfortunately half of it was closed, but the exhibit of indigenous work with feathers was stunning. Many pieces are created for wearing during ceremonies or use by Shamans, but some appeared to be highly detailed pieces of art, made just for the beauty of the work.



These pieces are made totally from bird feathers.

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A Monday in Buenos Aries

Stephen:
Dawn is drying her hair and we are about to go off to the Club Bebop to finish off the day that started with coffee and then Stephen's search for a Western Union where we could get some more cash.

I was so pleased with myself that at one minute to ten I was first in line at the Western Union shop just a block from our apartment. I should have been suspicious. After she open the door and went into her booth, she informed me that she had no pesos to hand out. No problem, I had a back up. A couple of blocks away, there was another one. This one had a line. When I got the the agent, I was again told that she had no pesos and pointed in a new diection and said, "Cinco cuadras". The third try was a charm. Five blocks away, a young gentleman took my passport and my tranfer number and magically typed in things, counted the money with his machine and I was off. Maybe three minutes. My search had led me twenty minutes from the apartment, but it was a pleasant walk that led me past the Japanese Garden and a number of people who were swatting or spraying the mosquitos who had returned, some carrying Dengue Fever. A little more of that later.

The rest of the morning was taken up with organizing the visit from our host`s agent to fix the slightly running toilet and maybe the dying kitchen clock. The TV remote which had died the night before had resurrected itself and I finally figured out how to use the induction cooking surface, so they didn't have to be reported. I had reported a drip from the ceiling light fixture which we took care of with a yellow rag laid down on the coffe table. I had finally remembered how to close and open the heavy wooden slats that darkened our bedroom. I had last seen them in Cortina, Italy, staying with Elena and Michaeli. That could have been twenty-five years ago.The last thing I did was find a museum that was open on Monday and learn that it had a place for lunch.

Dawn:
The Museum of Enrique Laretta was quite stunning. He was a renowned writer who lived and worked in this building until the early1960's. Somehow he amassed a large collection of Spanish art from the 14th-18th centuries. Much of the religious art was carved wood relief with polychrome and gold. As you can see in the pictures, the art was highly expressive. Whether or not you're a Christian, the Lamentation nearly had me weeping. Being a mother, or a woman, or a human being is enough to feel Mary's pain at the loss of her son. In Laretta's private chapel, a familiar sound recording was playing, over and over again! I recognized it as O Magnum Mysterium, a medieval piece I used to sing in A Capella Choir in high school!

The entire house and garden were beautiful. His most famous work was The Glory of Don Ramiro, A Life in the Times of Phillip II. He became something of a cultural icon in Buenos Aires before his death in 1961. At some point he also served as a diplomat to France. Dawn:
Walking through the garden, we came upon a sign for a café called Croque Madame, reminding us of France, of course. With your museum ticket, you are offered two coffees for the price of one! We had our two coffees, but not until after we enjoyed such a copious late lunch that we had no need for dinner. Meanwhile, a barely one-year old boy entertained us with his open, fearless curiosity about everything. I think his name was Anzo. His lovely mom turned out to be Danish, his papa Argentinian. We had a nice chat with her, in English, Stephen recounting his Brain Opera escapades in Copenhagen. I mentioned that I was a grandmother, and although a cliché about old people, Stephen and I both enjoy all the young children we have encountered here.

She felt so comfortable with us that she asked us to keep an eye on her boy while she went to the restroom! Anzo's dad was not there. It was a sweet time.

As we paid the bill, I told the server, again in my mediocre Spanish, how much we liked the cushions on the metal chairs. Most of the café chairs in BA are pretty uncomfortable. He smiled and said he would tell the owner as I think the cushions were a recent acquisition.

Stephen:
The reason that her partner was not with her was that he was recovering from dengue fever. That he got it was chilling, but the fact that he was recovering was good news to us. We have been wearing repellant, but this will probably be our last luncheon in a garden. The first I was aware of the boy's presence is when I felt a small hand on my pants pocket and turned to see his beguiling smile.

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Going back to the SUBTE we stopped into a large round church on an edge of a park. Right away I knew that the church was "live". First a man in a pew looked around at us sharply, also the candle in the red glass was lit, the tabernacle was open revealing the host and lastly the singing we heard was not recorded but coming from a group of women in the pews in front of the small side altar with the host. This was an Adoration, usualy performed once a week in Catholic Churches. We slid into a pew quietly and listened to the singing. When they were done, we left quietly. The man in the pew did not pay us attention. We were at the beginning of Holy Week, the beginning of thousands of religious rituals here in BA and millions around the world.

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We sat at the table in front of the piano. As I said to the piano player after the show, I am not used to sitting as close as the page turner in a classical concert. The show was great, full of the great music of Duke Ellington and great humor from the band that we could feel rather than understand since it was in Spanish. Here is a video I took from my seat of Manuel's wonderful piano playing.

After the show we spoke to Manuel a little, thanked the other two players, played for our drinks and walked through our old neighborhood to find a bus, but got defeated by another bus stop that wasn't there or a bus that stopped running, and grabbed a taxi to home and bed to end a long and wonderful day in Buenos Aires.

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Return to Belles Artes Museum

We went up the the second floor which housed their more modern work.


The title of this painting is "The Loss of the Son". To me it felt like a secular Pietá

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This self portrait reminded me of a good friend.

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A Rothko for my brother Johnny. Amidst the plethora of excellent works by Argentine artists, there were also a Jackson Pollack, a Picasso, a Miro, the Rothko pictured here, and other international artist of the Twentieth century.

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A Man on a Wall with a Jackhammer

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Return to the Eco Park

We found this time the remains of the zoo. These animals, like the old bison, were too vulnerable to be sent back into their natural, wild habitat. There was also some signage that said, I think, that the giraffes were too tall to be moved!

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Tango Class

Stephen:
We didn't take any pictures, it wasn't that kind of event. Of course, the teacher, Janet, was beautiful and the essence of a tango dancer, but she talked about the love of tango and she mentioned the word meditation once. For her, stillness, waiting, connection, balance were important words. She said that you never stand on two legs so you never worry about right or left foot because you always step on your free leg. We practiced weight shift by ourselves, following with our eyes closed. Everyone did an equal amount of leading and following. We changed partners often and quickly. Near the end, we switched to the ballroom embrace and then the class was over. Some people were getting into cars off to a milonga for more dancing. We found the 95 bus to take us home.

Yoga with Friends

Dawn:
My weekly zoom yoga group from home and I actually found one time on this trip when we could all get together online. It was great to see everyone and catch up on their lives. This apartment is very small so I don't know how much of the practice they could actually see. However, we have done a fairly regular practice for years now, so I am sure they know it as well as I do

Cello Festival

Dawn:
We read online about a week of free cello concerts. We chose to go Thursday because the program was most appealing to us: the second Bach unaccompanied cello suite, Ginastera and Schubert. The concert started at 8:00, and there was a line waiting to get in at about 6:45. We could not handle waiting in line that long after a day of walking so we went to sit down and got a red fruit smoothie at a Havanna. Getting back in line at 7:30, we found out that there were only 250 seats in the Salon Dorado. We were lucky to be let in eventually to a standing room only situation in the back of the house. We found a wall to lean on for twenty minutes before the concert started. Just before the performance started, a generous man insisted that I take his seat. It was very kind and a relief for my back. However, the seating was totally flat so unless you were seated up front, it was impossible to see the performers. I was happy to listen. The Bach cello suites are the quintessential test for cellists. The young man who played the second one, maybe the longest, did a credible job, but if you have heard Yo Yo Ma or Laurence Loesser, or a recording of Casals, you could tell this was still an inexperienced cellist. Being much less familiar with the Argentinian composer Ginastera, we just listened and enjoyed its more modern, experimental sounds. For the Schubert piano and cello piece, I told the kind man who gave me his seat that I wanted to stand so I could see the musicians. I could see the pianist and the head and left hand of the cellist, a young woman whose playing was so articulate and so expressive that I was blown away. She and the pianist worked together beautifully. Bravos and bravas abounded! we thought it was the end and left only to find that a large ensemble of cello was getting to go on, but Stephen had enough standing.

Good Friday - Amilia de Lacroze Fortabat Museum

A woman with enough juice to comission a portrait by Andy Warhol. Her small collection astounds in its quality and breadth. But is was the top gallery at the museo that got our attention where we saw the work of Emilio Renart. We did not take many pictures, I think you had too be there. Every was strong and beautifully created. Sometimes Dawn and I play the game in a museum gallery of what piece would we like to take home for a year. Here, any piece that would fit would be welcome.

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Berni

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According to popular legend, the husband of Deolinda Correa was forcibly recruited around the year 1840, during the Argentine civil wars. When he became sick, he was abandoned by the Montoneras [partisans]. In an attempt to reach her sick husband, Deolinda took her baby and followed the tracks of the Montoneras through the desert of San Juan Province. When her supplies ran out, she died. Her body was found days later by gauchos who were driving cattle through. They were astonished when they saw the dead woman's baby was still alive, feeding from her "miraculously" ever-full breast. The men buried her body in present-day Vallecito in the Caucete Department of San Juan, and took her baby with them.

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Museo Moderno

An Exposition of Modern Dance in the sixties in Argentina
Dawn:
There were two museums right next to each other, one contemporaneo and the other moderno. Looking for the exhibit on Argentine modern dance in the sixties, a woman at the first museum told us to go next door. Having been marginally involved in the NY modern dance scene in the sixties, it was fascinating to see the parallels of experimentation and expression. Unfortunately there was very little video. Camcorders really came into wider use in the 70's. There was one piece made in a bathtub that had clearly been created for film and later transferred to video. For me the most stunning aspect of the show were very large black and white photos of dancers from that era. They were printed on slowly rotating panels, about 6' high x 4' wide. We have included several examples here.

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San Telmo Fair

Stephen:
This was supposed to be the Recoleta Market, but it turned out that the Market in San Telmo was a couple of blocks from the museum so we walked up to it. Unfortunately, the temperature was reaching its highest point of the trip, around 90 debrees Fahrenheit. This combined with the crowds, the fight for your path on the sidewalk kind of crowds, led us to escape to a ice cream parlor for respite. We share a quarter kilogram of two kinds of chocolate ice cream which settled our nerves. Once back on the bus headed for the second market, we decided to skip it and head for home. It turns out that although good and interesting things can be popular for good reasons, their popularity and the crowds that are present make them difficult for us.

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Easter Sunday

A few days before, we were walking by the Trattoria Olivetti $and decided to see if they had space for us on Easter. They said yes and I asked for the same table. So here we are back at the same one and I guess this is the same picture and it was the same nice experience. Some things were different. I had the beef instead of fish and Dawn had fish instead of mushroom risotto. I had a glass of wine that was not a malbec, thinking about it , it might have been Italian. He brought the bottle to show me which is rare and then he poured half my portion. He said just to signal to him when I wanted the rest. This was the first time it was done and I have no idea why.

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An Over-Friendly Parrakeet and Being Out of the Bubble

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He flew into our sliding glass door this morning and then did it again. Then he hung out, posing for his pictures before he left. We have a mirror on the the wall facing the window. Our apartment might have looked like a tunnel through to the other side of the building.

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Dawn:
We tried to go to the museum of water, a huge ornate building from 1887 that housed the waterworks for the city. The building takes up an entire city block, and we walked all round it looking for an open entrance. Finally a door opened as someone was leaving the building. I asked the woman at the door if the museum was a abierto. The answer was no, cerrado. It was closed because of a labor action protesting massive layoffs of government workers. See the photo of the banner hung outside the museum, protesting the layoffs.
Stephen:
So our bubble is penetrated by people struggling for their jobs. We lose the opportunity to see this amazing building. As tourists, we usually breeze through these kinds of things. Paris always has its strikes. Here we were a day late arriving in the country, because the airport employees stood on the runway the whole day before so our plane could not return to Atlanta to be there for us. So, we spent some time in the real world this trip.

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Wrap Up

Wrap-up Thoughts from Dawn

Tuesday, April 2
Dawn:
In this wrap up I was going to say that I would be really happy to get out of five weeks in Argentina without getting Covid or Dengue. Well in my last two days here, I am pretty sure I have Dengue. Although I used repellent, I still got mosquito bites. The body aches with Dengue are even worse than with Covid because the virus actually gets into the bones. Last night I had chills and fever, although not a terribly high fever.There's no treatment for it other than pain killers. I omust say that Naproxen Sodium is a wonder drug and is allowing me to function today. We have made a reservation to go sailing on the Rio Plata this afternoon, our last full day here. Not sure if I will be up to it. This river is the widest river in the world!

Buenos Aires is a diverse and fascinating city. The number of parks, museums, restaurants, cultural events and varied neighborhoods is impressive. It is sad to see that the economy is pretty hard on some folks, with homeless people camped on street corners, mostly in the less affluent sections. I think most Porteños tip 10%. We always tip 20% as we do at home, and try to give away 1000 peso bills ($1) to street people when it feels appropriate. I know that American cities face the same issue which is why we support Pine Street Inn and Rosie's Place in Boston.

For me, people are always the highlight of trips. I wish my Spanish had gotten better, but I did the best I could. The whole interaction with Gloria in Mar de las Pampas was very moving for me. For some reason, the video clip in the travelogue is not working right. When we are home, we will work with all the material we shot, dancing in the dunes, and publish the result on my website. Dinner and coffee with Martin was also a highlight as he is a thoughtful, artistic person. In general, people we have interacted with here have been kind and generous.

Five weeks is a long time to be away. I had more fatigue on this trip than other trips, partly the nature of walking 3-5 miles every day, catching buses and subways, in a big city where my language skills are mediocre. The week at the beach was a welcome break. For those of you who read our thoughts here, thank you so much for taking the time to take the journey along with us.

Wrap-up Thoughts from Stephen

Wednesday, April 3
Stephen:
I was going to go first and let Dawn have the last word, but she fired away yesterday. Firstly, Dawn is feeling much better this morning. She is talking about going out for a coffee and a bite after we do a little packing. Secondly, we will be dealing with some rain here as we Uber our way to the airport this afternoon, and hen some wind and rain as we land at Logan in Boston. Thirdly, we need to remember to use our MobilePassportControl app when we get to the Atlanta airport airport on the way home.

We did go sailing yesterday. It was kind of a gentle foresail only kind of sail. It was quite relaxing and there were no mosquitoes out there. We had fun talking to our fellow sailor who is a young vlogger from Michigan.

We had two contrasting taxi rides as part of this adventure. The first one couldn't remember the address we had given him. He really believed that we were going to one of the tourist stops that we passed as we went to tne marina. The second just picked us up and quietly drove us home, which was good as Dawn was feeling chilled and slept a little on the trip.

We stayed in and ate most of the rest of the food. The day of the flight was organized and finished most of our writing. And ordered an Uber. It all worked smoothly and took exactly the hour that it predicted. We got rid of the rest of our pesos at the Faustino Bar with an Aperol Spritz and a GinTonic. They were out of ice so our prospects looked dim until one of the bartenders went off with an empty bucket looking for ice. Her success was also ours. Dawn found two thousand pesos in her pocket which she found a service person in the woman's room to give it to.

I took the picture below in the stairwell near our gate and I thought it was going to be our sign off somehow representing the spirit of Argentina.


But we are going to finish with out trip to Newport, VT to be in the totality of the Solar Eclipse. We are showing no pictures because they do not tell the experience. We had great weather and we will never be the same. The eight hour trip back, instead of the normal three and a half, | just made it more special. One more addendum; Dawn got tested and did not have dengue fever. I guess we will never know what she had.

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Stephen and Dawn:
Thanks everyone for reading and looking. Next time we will send more reminders that new stuff has been added.

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