| January |
07 |
10 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 26 | 29 |
Google Map for 2010 |
Slideshow #1 Uploaded 01/28/10 |
Slideshow #2 Uploaded 02/01/10 |
Slideshow #3 Uploaded 02/09/10 |
Slideshow #4 Uploaded 02/25/10 |
Slideshow #5 Uploaded 03/03/10 |
Slideshow #6 Uploaded 03/07/10 |
Slideshow #7 Uploaded 03/14/10 |
| The
departure date for this year’s winter adventure is
somewhat in doubt
because of
the current hospital stay of my 95.5 year-old mother.
She seems to be
progressing nicely from the congestive heart failure and
very mild
heart attack
that caused her hospitalization 12 days ago and we hope
to take her
home on
Christmas Eve to resume life with my brother and sister
who have been
caring
for her for the past decade. I have been visiting the
hospital daily to
help
with her meals because she has trouble opening the
containers on the
meals
provided by the hospital and I don’t want to leave the
country if my
sister
needs help with her during the day. My brother is still
working and
helps in
the evening, but my sister provides care by herself
during the day.
That in a
nutshell is why the departure date is in doubt. I hold a ticket to depart Dulles AirportWashington, DC, on January 5th, but I will only depart if my mother’s health keeps progressing. My destination is Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the last temperature reading I obtained was 80° - my kind of winter temperature. I plan to explore Buenos Aires for a month or so, and then return by bus to beautiful Mendoza, home of the wonderful Malbec wines that I sampled during my last visit there. After that, I plan to bus to parts of Argentina that I haven’t traveled heretofore. I want to see Patagonia, the city of Bariloche in the foothills of the Andes, and perhaps even travel to the southernmost city in the world Ushuaia. I could even bus over the Andes again and swing through southern Chile, reputed to be breathtakingly gorgeous. As usual, my schedule is very flexible and I will adapt on the fly. There is a possibility that my old friend, Schim, will visit me again and that would be a blast. I’m certain that I will run into Crazy Larry from northern California whom I met in La Paz in Baja Mexico last winter, because Larry has been busing around Argentina since October in his annual six-month adventure. He has been writing a blog describing his travels and has communicated his intention to look me up in Buenos Aires. He visited that gorgeous city in October and wants to visit some of the neighborhoods he hasn’t visited when we meet. In the meantime he is traveling through northern Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, where he hopes to observe Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, a spectacular sight and one that will make his entire odyssey worthwhile. I look forward to spending at least a month in a furnished apartment in Buenos Aires, where the 4-1 currency advantage of the dollar will permit me to rent a more than acceptable place in a good location for somewhere between $600 and $700/month - a daily rate of from $20 to $25. I have scanned apartments on the internet, so I know that price range is possible, but I won’t rent an apartment until I arrive and can look at the place, the neighborhood, the proximity of restaurants, etc. I will spend the first couple of nights in an inexpensive hotel while I search for the apartment. I haven’t made reservations at a hotel, but will take a list of inexpensive hotels with me so that I have an address to give the taxi driver who transports me from the airport. If the first hotel I select has no vacancies or I don’t like the room or location, I will proceed to the next hotel on my list. I have all day to find a hotel, so I am not concerned about having to sleep on the street. I will begin posting my Harry’s Travel updates on January 6th or 7th, so stay tuned if you are interested in traveling with me vicariously. |
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JOURNAL ENTRIES |
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January 7, 2010 - From Buenos Aires, Argentina (BsAs) The flight into summertime took 11 hours portal to portal, which doesn't count the two-hour drive to A $32 cab ride took me to the front door of the Alcazar Hotel in downtown (Centro) BsAs where Crazy Larry from northern Almost immediately after removing my tee-shirt, brushing my teeth, and heading for a restaurant for lunch, I experienced another of the adventures that some have accused me of fictionalizing as Larry and I strolled down Calle A long stroll to Puerto Madero, a section of town along the Plata River and lined with restaurants, to an all-you-can-eat buffet, complete with grilled beef, pork, chicken, blood sausage, innards, etc. topped off our evening. The meal, with a luscious dessert of your choice, as much Malbec wine as you wanted, and a selection from the delicious salad bar was $15.00 each. Now that was a bargain. Hasta luego!  January 10, 2010 - from Buenos Aires The eMedicineHealth.com website describes it pretty clearly in its first few words: a nosebleed can be dramatic and frightening. Trust me, it is both! In all of my years, I have never experienced a nosebleed until I slowly recovered and Larry and I were able to maintain our schedule of apartment viewings. We were looking for a two or three-bedroom furnished apartment with at least two bathrooms and had scheduled a visit to three of them by selecting possibilities from the internet pictures of apartment brokers. The reason we looked for three bedroom places is that one of Larry's friends from home may visit him and I never know if somebody from home will take me up on my invitation to "come on down!" For a variety of reasons, none of the apartments were satisfactory and we headed home, thinking we had a short walk back to our $40/night hotel. After walking 39 blocks and missing a turn to get back home, we hailed a cab and rode the rest of the way. Neither Larry nor I wanted to be the first to concede that we were getting tired in the 85 degree heat and significant humidity, so we had kept on walking. After realizing that we had walked past our shortest route, we both conceded that we had been ready to ride a long time ago. I was pretty proud of having kept up with the youngster (Larry is 58), despite being down a quart or two of blood. I felt tired but pretty good after my second shower of the day. I celebrated by eating a modest portion of rice with rabbit at a Spanish ( Then came Saturday morning! Again at The ambulance arrived 15 minutes later and a young, handsome (think Antonio Banderas, ladies) doctor approached me as I sat in the hotel lobby. He took my blood pressure and pulse and I noticed that the flow had begun to abate. He said my blood pressure was high (140), although his English was weak and I couldn't obtain the diastolic number (the lower one) from him. He said that my pressure was probably even higher earlier and that the rise in blood pressure probably caused the bleeding, although my pressure has been higher than 140 in the past (I take medication) and I’ve never had a nosebleed. He said there was no emergency, however, and I didn't need to be taken by ambulance to the state-run hospital. He told me that I should go to the I went to the It is now Sunday morning and I went to sleep last night with towels by my bedside, prepared to fight the bloody battle once more. The good news is that this morning was flow-free and I am feeling much relieved. Now, perhaps I can get on with the acquisition of an apartment. Larry and I are beginning to think that two studio apartments in the same neighborhood might be a better option, since there are more of those available. We will pursue that direction on Monday. I may even squeeze in a visit to the Otolaryngologist. This is the first time I have ever had to use that term in an update and I certainly hope it is the last. Stay tuned. The weekend was spent surviving the heat and humidity, enjoying the slow pace of a weekend in the big, foreign city, and looking at apartments. Monday, Larry and I looked at four more apartments and settled on one located in an exclusive section of town in what might be the best building in I didn't mention the ground level work-out room, sauna, large swimming pool, tennis court, and patio available to all residents of this gated, 24-hour, security-patrolled building, but I think you are starting to get the picture. The next month will be spent in the most luxurious surroundings I have ever experienced in my travels. I wouldn't have paid the discounted $2,500/month rent if I was alone, but splitting the cost with Larry made it more palatable. I was already paying $40/night at the hotel, so the apartment is only a few cents more per day with many, many more amenities. Each of the bathrooms has a shower curtain which is the amenity Larry and I will enjoy most, since our hotel showers had no curtains - only a long-handled squeegee with which one mopped the floor after every shower. Larry loved the apartment's full kitchen, since he loves to cook, so it might save me considerable money on food. Here's hoping he is a good cook. He is already planning to roast a stuffed chicken and how bad can that be messed up? We move in at The health news continues to be good: three consecutive days without the nosebleeds that scared me to death. Perhaps, it was a sinus infection, described in the internet link as a distinct possibility. Overnight, a nor'easter, here called a temporal with winds probably from the so' west, swept through the town, clearing out the hot, humid air under which we have been suffering. Unfortunately, the temporal had 70 mph winds that damaged 130 trees in the city. I heard a little rain overnight, but the storm passed while I was sleeping and I wasn't as impacted as the man in the news who had a street lamp pole fall on him during the gale. This morning brought brisk breezes and temps chilling the locals. Significant shivering and goose bumps were evident on the workforce as they headed toward their offices. I opted to partake of my cafe con leche and media-lunas (mini-croissants) inside to protect me from the bone-chilling, mid-60's temperatures. Now Larry and I have had a continuing, finally finished, days-long saga with a pair of counterfeit 10 peso notes that has been quite entertaining. On my first night in town, I paid my bill at a very famous, all-you-can-eat parilla (BBQ grill) restaurant and pocketed my change. We cabbed home and when I went to pay the taxi fare with two tens ($2.50 each), the cabbie held them up to the interior light to check for a watermark for verification of the bills' authenticity and, lo and behold, they were counterfeit - the watermark of the historical figure seen only by holding the bill up to light was not there. Larry thought it hilarious, even though he got stuck paying for the taxi. The next morning, we had breakfast at the restaurant next door and I paid my bill with the counterfeit money. The cashier accepted them without a glance and I left the restaurant feeling great, while Larry paid his tab. You guessed it: Larry got my bills in change. We both roared when we got outside. After that, we went to the laundry to pick up the clothes we had taken after the spray-on, pickpocket incident. Larry paid first and I paid for mine a few seconds later with a large bill. Right again - I got the bills back. I spent several days trying to pass the currency again, but was turned down several times by people who checked, including the owner of this internet cafe. We have a lot of laughs with the cafe owner and we all check every bill that passes between us now. Finally, I got rid of one bill at a cafe, where I over-tipped so they didn't lose the entire amount and the other one was passed to a cabbie, along with another generous tip. I couldn't let them incur the full loss for the counterfeit currency, but they probably passed them on to unsuspecting people as well. Now, Larry and I even check the currency we get when we get money from the ATMs. I guess you had to be here to get as big a charge out of it as we did, but when one is spending three months with so little to do, we have to find entertainment somewhere. Stay tuned for the first reports from skyscraper apartment life in January 14, 2010 - From Buenos Aires Despite the concern that describing what follows will indicate that I approve of the behavior, I feel a need to share another exciting event that occurred a few nights back. I didn't describe it at the time because of the time spent packing, renting, and moving into the new apartment and I need to keep reiterating that I couldn't possibly make this stuff up: On Sunday evening, Tarak, the Australian that Crazy Larry introduced to me, was sitting with Larry outside the cafe next to our hotel, drinking the liter-sized As we approached the queue, and unbeknownst to me, Tarak extricated a marijuana joint from his cigarette pack and lit it, exhaling a huge cloud of THC-infused smoke. As soon as it hit my nostrils I recognized the odor, having spent eight years tracking the substance in the restrooms of schools where I served as disciplinarian. I dodged most of the cloud, but the queue and the Policia Federale who was standing nearby got a full dose of the stuff. Larry and Tarak had been occasionally taking puffs (hits) on the substance while drinking their beers over the past few days, so Tarak's behavior in this instance was not a complete shock. Larry possesses a medical marijuana prescription from Tarak must have felt the displeasure of the queue and the concern of the young policeman, because he immediately extinguished the joint and quickly discarded it along the curb. Not fast enough, however, because before we reached the corner only a few feet past Tortoni's, the policeman's voice rang out to stop and we quickly complied. He targeted Tarak, since several people in the queue had pointed him out and he immediately confronted him with the discarded joint, permitting Larry and me to continue walking, if we chose. We stopped a few feet away to help our friend as he was asked for identification and underwent some stern questioning, which was somewhat humorous because Tarak's Spanish was as nonexistent as the policeman's English. We refrained from laughter out of concern that our friend might be arrested, especially after the policeman gestured with crossed wrists that he would be cuffed and taken away and we began to assist with the translation between them. For twenty minutes there was some concern among us that he was going to be arrested, but finally, the policeman left him off with a warning. It turns out that it is legal to smoke marijuana in your apartment or in your hotel room, but NOT on the street. Larry and Tarak were both relieved with the warning, since I learned while standing there that Larry had also taken a hit on the street near the queue and he thought he was next in line for arrest. I tried to help by telling the policeman that in all of my years I had never smoked marijuana and that information might have been the deciding factor in Tarak's happy ending. At least, that is what I keep telling the two of them, both of whom learned a valuable lesson. Tarak has become a trifle paranoid, thinking the policemen who work a regular beat in the neighborhood keep an eye out for him and the experience has certainly altered his (and Larry's) behavior. I wouldn't want to spend much time in Tarak's apartment now, however, for fear of becoming THC-infused myself. Each day brings a new experience while traveling and, sometimes when they are happening, I shake my own head in amazement. Hasta luego! I had an interesting discussion with Franco, whom Larry also met in Saturday, we intended to visit As Larry slowly recovered from the Sunday broke hot and humid, but we braved the weather for the 30 cent train ride to Afterward, we visited a local casino to use the baño on the way to a huge market, where the heat and humidity was oppressive. We gave up shopping in about 10 minutes and hurriedly made our way back to the train station, taking the special, tourist train along the river through the most attractive of BsAs's suburbs. We couldn't wait to get home to our beautiful apartment with its conditioned air. We were exhausted from the heat and humidity. I made a salami and cheese sandwich with mayo and mustard at about Like Oscar Madison and Felix Unger of the "Odd Couple", Lorenzo and I are working to get accustomed to one another's idiosyncrasies. He drinks beer; I drink red wine. Wait, he drinks red wine, too, and rum and almost anything else that contains alcohol. He likes to stay up late and sleep in; I like to go to bed at a reasonable hour and arise early. In the morning, he enjoys lingering over homemade coffee until his mind clears enough to start the day, but rarely eats breakfast; I like to shower early, always eat breakfast, and take my coffee with toast or media-lunas in a nearby cafe while I read a copy of the Buenos Aires Herald (a local English daily). I interrupt my reading to watch the distaff side of the Porteño population head to work. He is almost obsessive-compulsive, writing down every expense, making notes about our activities, and endlessly reading his travel guide; I pretty much wing every day, never making notes, or writing down expenses. I only read my travel guide occasionally, mostly to see if we should head to a specific restaurant. We now share control of the TV remote on alternate days, and select the location of our evening meal the same way. I usually select a nice restaurant, whether in my guide or not, where I think a good meal is possible; Larry (oops, Lorenzo) selects restaurants based on the price of a litre of We are both tidy people, so the apartment is litter-free with beds made daily, tables and counters clean and orderly, and dishes regularly washed. The odd couple washed every pot, pan, and dish when we moved in and also wiped every kitchen cabinet. I dried while Lorenzo washed. After our dinner party, while Lorenzo battled his morning-after demons, I washed and dried all the pots, pans, and dinnerware used for our night of entertaining. In exchange, Lorenzo has been washing our few dishes on a daily basis. It has been a good relationship to date and he is very considerate about his horrendous, cigarette-smoking habit, adjourning to his precarious loft on the balcony to indulge. I have ceded the balcony to him, since the drop from there is a cliff-like 24 stories. The past few days have been spent with laundry, a great haircut, long walks to distant neighborhoods for dinner, and late evening (for me) television. We get several movie channels in English with Spanish sub-titles, helpful in advancing our Spanish vocabulary, but get no news channels in English. The headlines (titulos) that stream across the bottom of the screen also add to the growth of our vocabulary, but to really understand the news I rely on the "Herald" and the internet. Two nights ago, while we enjoyed a drink in a section of town called Palermo Viejo and sweated profusely after our 21-block walk to get there, another "temporal" rainstorm began with crashing thunder and lightning. We dashed into a nearby parilla (grill) for dinner and for protection from the rain. It was my night to choose restaurants and I got lucky, because the dinner was excellent. As the storm persisted, we shared a rib-roast of lamb for two, creamed spinach, and mashed potatoes. I accepted full credit for the choice of an excellent restaurant, despite the serendipity of its selection. Last night, Lorenzo's turn for restaurant selection, we headed on a 17-block walk to a neighborhood called Barrio Norte to a restaurant he selected from his ever-present travel guide. It was one of those nights when the price of beer intersected with a quality meal. We enjoyed two completely different cazuelas (stews), advertised as being from the countryside. His, called locro, had corn, beans, pork sausage, and a couple pieces of beef and reminded him of the bean soup he makes at home. Mine was a delicious shepherd's pie, with much chopped beef, onions, and a few diced tomatoes under the mashed potato covering. I swear that in one bite I tasted beef liver, so the chopped beef probably included many of the cheaper parts of the cow, but all was tender and delicious. With bread, a $3.00 carafe of the house wine, and Lorenzo's beer, the bill came to $10/each, including tip. I had to give him credit. He had found a hearty, delicious meal at an unbelievable price. One must give the devil his due. Hasta Luego! Plane, train, automobile, bus, subway, shoe leather, and taxi. We have used them all in getting here and around BsAs. Bus and subway fares run around 30 cents, so that is the most economical way to travel around the city, but we have walked miles each day to sight-see and reach the restaurant of the day. Taxi fares rarely reach $5.00 and fares are rounded up to the next peso, so there is little tipping. It is really economical to see the city, especially when taxi fares are divided among a pair of sightseers. But, to travel seven stops one way on the subway and walk five and a half blocks for a burrito is a little much. No, burritos are not regular fare here in Lorenzo just arrived at the internet center, freshly showered and unshaven, and right on schedule at Our trip to the zoo and famous Lorenzo informed me that the news channels are saying that I came out of my bedroom refreshed from my morning shower at Other than the window washers, the weekend was a pretty routine passage of life in the big city. We are getting to know the neighborhood and are beginning to be treated like locals by folks we see every day. The waiter at the cafe knows what I want for breakfast and welcomes me like family, although he doesn't yet kiss my cheek in greeting like he does other regulars. Single besos (kisses) in greeting and to say good-bye are common among men and women in Lorenzo, our designated shopper and a veteran of 30 years in the grocery business, visited the local supermarket several times over the weekend to replenish our supplies of water, ginger ale, beer, and bread. We have been eating lunch in the apartment and the rotisserie chicken we had for lunch last week has provided the contents of sandwiches for most of the weekend. I think a wing or two still survive deep in the recesses of our refrigerator. Evenings, we have been alternating the selection of restaurants with much enthusiasm. I love the restaurants I choose and Lorenzo loves his. If the restaurant is good and cheap, the selection is deemed a success by both of us. His $9.50 burrito dinner is the lowest priced meal to date, but the weekend saw us go head-to-head at the top end of our price range. Lorenzo selected a Vietnamese Restaurant where the food and ambiance were absolutely awesome. God, it hurt to admit that. The bill, however, was about $32/each, so there was plenty about which I could complain. On Sunday, I selected a restaurant that my travel book (a much-appreciated gift from a neighbor) lauded as inexpensive and consistently serving the best beef in Monday night, we ate his left-over spaghetti sauce on some refrigerated cheese ravioli he purchased on his trip to the supermarket, so we are eating at home a little more frequently to reduce our expenses. He will choose the restaurant tonight and it's my turn tomorrow, so we'll see what kind of turn the restaurant competition takes this week. Hasta luego. All TV channels have been announcing, "Alerta Naranja," (Orange Alert) daily for the past week or 10 days. Not a notice of terrorist threats, the alert is because of "La Ola de Calor" (the heat wave), that has gripped the country. There is only one higher alert - Roja. Here in the country's capital, temperatures have gotten to 95 degrees and the heat index approaches 100, with stifling humidity. It almost appears like Mother Nature is saying, "You wanted summer, Harry, take that!" I'm not looking for sympathy, since I realize that none will be forthcoming from those in the northern hemisphere suffering the throes of daily high temps below freezing; I'm just attempting to accurately report the conditions under which I am operating. Some parts of the country have daily highs of 105 degrees, including in The news channels help, advising us to drink plenty of water, eat fruits and vegetables, wear light-colored clothing, and to check on our neighbors - all of which I have done. Lorenzo is fine and he is the only neighbor to whom I have access. He should be fine in our great apartment, although he could be suffering from frostbite, since he keeps his bedroom air-conditioner set at 64 degrees. He doesn't appear too concerned that electrical demands are at an all-time high in This week, I introduced Lorenzo to an additional way to wait out the hottest part of the day. Previously, we had stayed in our air-conditioned, luxury digs and insulted each other for hours on end, but on Wednesday I convinced him to reluctantly accompany me to the movie theatre, only three blocks away. A modern theatre with eight viewing salons, it was a great respite during the hot, late afternoon. For a price of under five dollars, we watched "It's Complicated," with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin, although here it was called, "Still in Love with My Ex." The movie was hilarious in its original English with Spanish sub-titles, and we exited at Restaurant selection has taken an ugly turn. On one of his days to select this week, Lorenzo stole a restaurant from my travel guide and took credit for the interesting results. It was a very crowded bar/restaurant in a section of town called Palermo Hollywood, so named because of the films once made there. It is now the "in" part of town, full of exciting restaurants teeming with young people. We forced our way into "Bangalor," past the youngsters, some engaged in romantic endeavors like sucking on their partner's ear lobe or biting one another's lips (public displays of affection always embarrass me for some reason), and made our way to the second floor of the establishment where we were the first diners seated. The noise of "Happy Hour" and the heat of the bar area rose to our level, but we sat under the air conditioner in a very Indian room, complete with floor seating on pillows. We chose a small table for two, however, since it would take a crane to get me up from a floor pillow with my arthritic knees. Lorenzo ordered curried chicken and I tried the duck Last night, after frittering away the day attempting to see ALL of his more than 7,500 snapshots on CD's that were cut for him at the local Kodak shop and getting extremely frustrated because he couldn't find every one (identified by number), despite two trips back to the shop, it was Lorenzo's turn, once again, to select the location of our evening repast. We walked around the block in ever-increasing circles for about an hour, past several interesting possibilities until, perspiring heavily, we arrived at the large shopping center where Lorenzo selected (are you ready for this?) Benihana. Benihana!!!! Since he lives in the sticks of northern The previous evening, I had selected a "pulperia" without air-conditioning, but with a huge, corner fan, where I had an empanada, a humita (spiced, corn meal-stuffed corn leaves) and a small pitcher of wine, while Larry had locro (stew) and a large beer. Because of an error on the map in the travel book I had used to get the restaurant's location, we walked about 20 blocks out of the way to reach our destination. The tiny place with 10 tables turned out to be only three blocks from our apartment and Lorenzo crowed all night long about the error. The bill was $8.50/each, a new record low in my opinion. Lorenzo refuses to acknowledge the record because we secretly bought the meal of the two, indigenous, old ladies dining at the next table ($4.00/each) and took six empanadas home for lunch the next day. He claims that the entire bill is part of the expense and his record for low-priced meals ($9.50) remains intact. I only wish there were some place to appeal that decision. I have had thousands of requests (well, maybe two) for more photos of the apartment and some of the food we are served. I have not taken any pictures of food to date, but I will attempt to honor those requests in future scenes. First, I will send a few more of my current photos, especially those of some cute, Argentinean children I have captured on my malfunctioning camera. You can look for those sometime after this weekend. In the meantime, I will attempt to survive "La Ola de Calor." Hasta luego! February 1, 2010 - From Buenos Aires This morning, the waiter at the cafe I frequent greeted me with a firm handshake and a "Buen dia, amigo," and was genuinely glad to see me after his day off on Sunday, although I still haven't quite worked my way up to the more intimate kiss-on-the-cheek greeting that I see him bestow on other regulars. I took his photo this morning, so I will share that when I next send photos. Yesterday's rain refreshed the sidewalk where I sat enjoying my cafe con leche, but it apparently also refreshed the dog urine sprayed liberally on the trees and the pavement boxes in which they grow. There is nothing appetizing about the morning breeze wafting the sweet fragrance of uric acid into one's nostrils. The weekend was spent as most days have been spent, lazy mornings at the corner cafe with cafe and media-lunas, and an hour or two on the computer answering emails, writing updates, and sending photos. Another slideshow should appear today if my webmaster (mistress) is as efficient as usual. Afternoons are spent in the apartment, beating the heat, reading, watching the news in Spanish, and searching for movies on the English movie channel. Saturday, we went to another movie at the local Cineplex and it was Lorenzo's turn to choose the movie. Actually, it was his turn to choose, pay for the tickets, and to make all arrangements. He chose one starring Robin Williams and Alec Baldwin. I had no problem with his choice, although it turned out to be a Walt Disney children's production. I could have handled that, but the fact that he didn't inquire about which language the film was to be shown in necessitated an early departure when it turned out to be in Spanish, here called Castellano. The last time for "It's Complicated," I had asked the cashier about the language when I purchased two tickets, but neglected to inform Lorenzo of that fact. He never thought of it and we only lasted 40 minutes in a child's movie in Castellano. I could hardly wait to lambaste him over his choice and his lack of research, though all in good nature. We have traveled to all sections of the city by subway, bus, and taxi, seen the highlights of the tourist destinations, such as the old section of Caminito in La Boca, the Sunday antique auction in San Telmo, walked along the revitalized port section in Puerto Madero, and strolled along the walls of Recoleta. We still need to visit the The heat wave was broken by yesterday's rain, but, with the sunshine this morning, the heat and humidity have returned. Rain is supposed to return for the next two days, so we will get a respite from the heat. The humidity here has surprised and reminded me of my winter in It happens that my Tarak has really thrived in This morning marks the third consecutive day of rain showers and they have provided a welcome relief to the heat wave that had the TV stations declaring that "the capital is an oven." Yesterday's impressive thunder, lightning, and evening long downpour culminated an off-and-on-again daylong rain event, unlike any we have experienced here. This morning began with overcast skies and showers with the forecast being that the rain will extend through the weekend. That is delightful! The heat and humidity were oppressive prior to the rain and even Tarak said that the conditions were some of the worst he has ever experienced and he lives in a tropical area of Lorenzo and I have visited BsAs' We have seen two movies, as well as the botched children's film in Spanish, with George Clooney's "Up in the Air" our last venture. We have purchased tickets for "Avatar" in 3-D for a showing tonight at We continue to alternate restaurant choices and I was pleased that Lorenzo chose to return to the Rio Alba to host Tarak's dinner last night, since that restaurant was a previous choice of mine. I'll be certain to remind him of that today. After another mixed grill, with the huge pile of beef that three of us couldn't devour, I am a little tired of red meat, a frequent problem here in the land of grass-fed beef. Tonight, I will probably choose Italian after the movie. Although my updates probably don't indicate it, I have survived a 36-hour-long fast to rid my body of the bacteria which have brought my first bout with traveler's diarrhea, a yearly companion on my trips. Whether the Hershey squirts (as Lorenzo colorfully names them) were caused by water or a food we ate, I suffered for two days and Lorenzo only one. He called his malady the sympathy squirts since they occurred a day later than mine. I feel much better after eating again yesterday, as does Lorenzo, so I assume that bout number one has passed. So ends the health update for today. Only a week remains of our time in The "Bella Italiana" was a beautiful, upscale restaurant that I selected from Lorenzo's book on Friday. Turnabout is fair play, right? After a quick dash from the taxi in one of the day's hardest downpours, I sat down at the white-linen-covered table and admired the textures of the gorgeous, ancient, brick walls cast in the flickering light of the table candles and absorbed the beautiful paintings hung from the walls. The owner approached, threw another table cloth over Lorenzo's jacket which was hung from one of the unoccupied chairs at our table, apparently to protect it from soiling, and spoke to us in perfect English. It turns out that her mother-in-law lives in The waiter approached, professionally took our order for red wine, and left to find the bottle of Escorihuela Gascon Malbec that we have grown to love. I continued to look about at the beautiful ambiance, and then turned to speak to Lorenzo only to find him looking back at me with the two, homemade breadsticks protruding from his nostrils. Lorenzo is a class act! I think one breadstick was sesame and the other cheese, but I never got to find out. Somehow, my taste for breadsticks had evaporated. I tolerate his sophomoric humor, Lord knows I have reheard every joke that I was ever told in elementary school, and I abide his smoking and alcohol consumption, but I must say that his presence has virtually eliminated the homesickness that always accompanies my initial separation from family in my first weeks on the road. I give him credit for that, despite petty annoyances like my arms becoming the target of his new-found, pinching expertise with chopsticks. He is always upbeat, except for the mornings after those rare, late-night adventures with Tarak and he is a considerate, tidy roommate. I keep telling him that he will make someone a fine wife, since he is constantly wiping tables, cleaning the kitchen, straightening chairs and tables, and emptying the trash can. That he is anal, taking notes and asking to see the menu after a meal so that he can obtain all the ingredients for his scribblings and tallying every expense in great detail, is little bother. And, if I ever have a question about a meal or a restaurant or wine identification, there are always his notes to fall back on. We have completed our tour of sites visited most often by tourists visiting It rained daily over the three-day weekend just passed, with sporadic thunderstorms pelting and cleaning the streets and regenerating the doggie urine around trees, but the rains have brought much more tolerable temperatures, though the humidity remains. Breakfast at corner cafes and dinner at outside tables are exceedingly pleasant and far better to deal with than the two feet of snow that has buried the northeastern The next three days will be full of travel preparations, a final trip to the laundry ($4.00 for a bag full), packing strategies, trips to the bus station to study departure options, and talks with the realtor to negotiate an early return of our apartment deposit, so that we can depart in the morning on the day we check-out for our six-hour ride to Mar del Plata. I will send my final photos from BsAs later today, so look for them in a few days. Hasta luego! Argentineans are passionate people and believe they must be heard about whatever opinion they hold. There have been daily protests here in the nation's capital since my arrival and I have witnessed several firsthand. The TV news channels broadcast protests from around the country and it seems there is a different one every day. This morning's news highlighted farmers driving tractors to block highways in protest of government programs about export taxes that have apparently cost them money and driven up the cost of beef. Beef has risen 40% since December and, last week, there were street protests about the higher prices. Milk costs are also rising and I guess I should expect to see milk protests soon. Even when they are not protesting, Argentineans are engaged in serious discussion about most everything. I have seen mothers and teen-aged sons in deep discussions over lunch, husbands and wives ardently discussing the banking crisis over coffee, and friends heatedly waving their arms and debating issues over happy hour drinks. It helps that the huge Italian immigration here has provided the hand gesturing and the musical, Italian lilt to the Spanish language. It is fun to behold. On Tuesday night, as Lorenzo and I finished a shared, sub-par paella in a restaurant where we had previously enjoyed a great meal, a couple of Argentineans engaged us in conversation. He leaned back to our table and asked where we were from, which started a lengthy conversation. Roger is a 63-year-old diplomat and a trained lawyer. His 66-year-old wife is also an attorney. I know she is 66 because Roger kept bragging about how beautiful she was and commented on her age. I'll share their photo the next time I send pictures. Roger is out-spoken and politically conservative, although he claims to be a libertarian, and the current government is liberal. The government has shelved Roger, though he says by this stage in his career he should be an ambassador, but the government continues to pay him. He and his wife believe the pay they receive is another indication of the country's fiscal irresponsibility under the Kirchner administration. In the first five minutes of our conversation he had referred to Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Roger and his wife spoke excellent English from his four-year, diplomatic tour in the Last night, we had a great, though expensive, meal (Lorenzo's choice) and were seated next to a handsome, young American couple from Chicago who were on their honeymoon. They were both graduates of the Our laundry is being done at this moment and we will pick it up this evening so we can pack for tomorrow morning's departure. We leave at My "Fodor's Guide to The bus ride here was almost exactly five hours on a divided, four-lane highway. I consumed the shrink-wrapped, four-pastry lunch we were issued upon boarding in fits and spurts along the way and even drifted off to never-never land a couple of times, which shortened the trip considerably. We were seated above the driver at the very front of the double-decker bus, a perch that really facilitates snapshots of billboards and road signs. It takes a little practice to zoom in and snap the shutter at exactly the right time. Lorenzo has it down perfectly. I'm still working on my technique, although it must be said that Lorenzo has a new, Sony camera with all the bells and whistles and I am operating with an older-model Nikon given to me a few years back when one of my sons decided to replace his camera. We walked miles yesterday, to the ocean and toward the center of town where Julio Iglesias performed last evening. Lorenzo stopped to visit two churches and photograph their windows and also stopped at a seashell museum. To each his own, but I don't get his thing about stain-glassed windows and ALL small museums. I continued walking, stopping to wait for him at the end of the street on an overlook above the beach and sat on one of those beautiful stone walls to catch some rays. I waited an hour and got a little sun-burned, but figured that he either converted and joined a monastery adjoining the church or, as is his wont, turned the wrong way and I might run into him again late in the evening after he took a long, cab ride back to the hotel. I proceeded alone walking toward the center of town, stopping often to look for lithium batteries for my camera. After numerous attempts in stores that had Kodak signs pasted on their front windows, I finally found the batteries I needed and proceeded toward the pedestrian-only shopping street swarming with people. Three blocks in, while I was standing and waiting for traffic to slow so I could cross the street, Lorenzo tapped me on the shoulder and tried to panhandle some change. Drat!! I thought I was free of him for the day. There must be more than a million people here in the summer time and he found me among the throngs of shoppers and beachgoers. I'd take pretty big odds that that was an impossibility. In the center of the city, we had lunch at a seafood restaurant on a pier with views of the throngs of sunbathers on both sides. Lorenzo kept snapping photos of bathing beauties (for his buddies, he says), but there weren't many such beauties on these beaches. This seemed to a beach for large men and women and their equally-obese offspring. Somehow, though, Lorenzo found one or two shapely bikinis to focus upon. His buddies back home will be delighted. I focused on my meal. I ordered "Chernia," a species unknown to me. The English version of the menu called it "wreck fish" and I could only imagine that it was caught above a wrecked ship somewhere, like grouper, or sea bass. It was a big filet, perhaps five by eight inches in size and an inch and a half thick, so it must have come from a large fish. It was delicious and nary a bone challenged my consumption of the unknown creature. There is a challenge there for one of my readers: find a picture of a Chernia or wreck fish. * Although I whined and begged to hail a taxi, Lorenzo insisted that we walk the couple of miles home in the heat of the day. He had no idea which way to go, but my God-given sense of direction took us on the shortest route home and I was thrilled that I had lost the taxi argument. We probably put in five miles of walking during the day and the exercise was good for me. I stopped along the way to call my wife and wish her "Happy Valentine's Day," then readjusted the date on my watch when she informed me that I was a day early with the call. I volunteered to hang up and call tomorrow, but she thought it was close enough to the holiday to continue the conversation. It is great to hear her voice, but the information she shares about three feet of snow on the condominium roof and the worry about the roof collapsing makes me delighted to fight off the heat and humidity of When packing for the trip, my major concern was in the selection of shoes, since I had been experiencing pain on the ball of one of my feet. I chose carefully and brought one pair of SAS, brown, leather, "dress" shoes, a pair of Teva sandals, and a pair of Bass hiking shoes that I thought could reduce the pain during long days of walking. A metatarsal pad was installed in the hiking shoes by my shoe maker, as per the podiatrist, and the footwear has worked remarkably well. Choosing footwear is probably the most important decision a traveler can make and, so far, so good. The remainder of the clothing choices has worked out pretty well, too, although I could have used a cotton golf shirt and I should not have brought the black, short-sleeved, collared shirt I chose. I brought three golf shirts, three, short-sleeved, collared shirts, one, long-sleeved shirt (which I wore on the plane), and five, cotton tee shirts for the three month trip. I have already grown tired of the limited wardrobe, but I can get by and most people only see me one day. I also brought two pairs of khaki golf shorts and wish that I had brought a third. There were also two pairs of khaki slacks in my initial wardrobe, but one has already bit the dust in a bend-over, crotch rip-out that could not possibly be repaired. I made quite a sight walking home from the internet center in BsAs where the incident occurred. The wrinkle-free treatment on those khakis shortens their lifespan and that can be difficult with such a limited wardrobe. I also brought a black pair of untreated khakis and a pair of jeans, so the trouser portion of my wardrobe is quite sufficient. Two light sweaters and a Gore-tex, rain jacket complete my wardrobe and there is still the very chilly Bariloche in the Enough about packing and clothes selection. Today, Sunday, we plan to purchase our bus tickets for tomorrow, not yet knowing whether we will make a short, two-hour trip to the small town of *Webmaster
Note:
Harry's oldest
son, Gary, found
a
picture of a
Chernia. On the final evening in The restaurant was a local eatery and we were the only tourists in the place. We both ordered roast pork and it was absolutely delicious, arriving with a large, crispy piece of skin attached. Lorenzo had never eaten crisp pig skin before and he fell in love with the fattening stuff. It can't be much worse for one's health than all of the beef these folks eat, however. The next day, we departed the bus terminal at The four-hour trip to Viedma from Here is where the karma comes in: The three-month old was of breast-feeding age and minutes after Lorenzo assumed his place, the mother indiscreetly pulled up her blouse, exposing her very-ample breast and nipple and gave the little guy his lunch. Lorenzo didn't know where to look and cast his eyes out the window until Junior was finished dining. Then, as the mother burped the child, Lorenzo relaxed and began to take his first photos of the day. Moments later, mom switched breasts and Junior had his second course from the breast closest to Lorenzo. For a man who was only married for a couple of years and who has been a bachelor for 35 more, this was an uncomfortable situation. He was probably closer to a breast than he had been for years, and he finally experienced the warm feeling of fatherhood for the first time. My seatmate turned out to be a young lady who is studying to be a teacher of English, so while Lorenzo was experiencing the blessings of parenthood, I enjoyed a delightful conversation in English about the region's agriculture, the educational system, and her plans for the future. We had a lot of laughs at the end of the day about Lorenzo's choice of seatmates. He took my abuse quite nicely. The extremely-straight ribbon of highway that headed south toward and into Pategonia was narrow, but well-maintained and very lightly traveled. My seatmate answered many questions about the agriculture and I saw strawberries, onions, olives, what I thought were celery mounds covered in white plastic, and corn interspersed among the fields of grass where huge numbers of cattle grazed. The sunflowers and soy beans that seem to dominate the agriculture of the area were also very much in evidence. We passed through a number of small dust storms which made visibility very difficult during the latter part of the trip. My seatmate informed me that Viedma is very windy and the dust storms can sometimes last for days. My Fodor's guide doesn't have any information about Traveling by bus is very tiring and it was easy to convince Lorenzo to spend a second evening in Viedma, the capital of the My seat had sufficient leg room, but my seat mate, a nice, young father traveling only to San Antonio Oeste just two hours of the six-hour ride to Puerto Madryn, had a four-year old son on his lap. As we left the station the father handed the son a huge, dry, ham sandwich on a roll almost the size of a basketball and the lad proceeded to devour three-quarters of it in short order. Twenty minutes into the ride, father and son moved to the juice cooler and poured the boy a cup of orange juice which, along with the coffee, was the only food provided on the trip. You have to be able to see this coming: the father sat down on his seat next to mine first, then the little guy followed, hit his father's leg with the white, foam cup and the orange juice drenched his father's leg and mine, soaking my leg and derriere with the sticky solution. Fortunately, I had five hours to dry, but Lorenzo's karma will get him. The ride through the scrub brush of the Patagonian desert was uneventful, except for the sharing of our sandwiches with other passengers. I had purchased two, large, ham and cheese sandwiches which were each cut into four, flat, six-by-six inch squares (no crust) and placed in a box at a corner cafe while Lorenzo ate a late breakfast. We had been informed that there would be no food served on the trip, but were not informed that there would be a 30-minute lunch stop along the way, which made the sandwiches unnecessary. We each ate two of the four pieces of our sandwiches while stopped at the lunch stop in San Antonio Oeste and many people, including the drivers, ate lunch in the small bus station. As we got on the road for the final four hours of the trip, the now-empty seat next to me was occupied by an older man who had been seated across the aisle from Lorenzo, because the woman next to the friendly, old, talkative guy (all Spanish) also had a seven or eight-year old child on her lap and the move made everybody more comfortable. After a short while, I asked the old guy to get my remaining sandwich from the overhead and offered it to him. He quickly accepted and shared it with his granddaughter who had been sitting next to Lorenzo for the entire trip. I told Lorenzo about sharing my sandwich and he quickly offered his two, remaining sections to the granddaughter and the woman with the eight year-old. They hungrily devoured the food and the eight-year old later ate the remainder of my lunch. It was obvious that they couldn't afford to buy lunch during the lunch stop. The old man next to me jumped up, got a plastic bag from the overhead on the opposite side of the bus, and offered me sealed, wrapped cookies from the box inside. They were the famous cookies made in Yesterday, we rented a car after getting three quotations and settling on a stick-shift, Chevy Corsa with a 400 km. allowance. Extra mileage (kilometers) would be charged at half a peso per km. In a seemingly impossible coincidence, we left at About 250 km. of the ride was on heavily-graveled road, with puddles of water from the previous day's rare thunderstorm sometimes completely crossing the road. There wasn't much traffic on the washboard road, but what there was always generated large clouds of dust that also complicated the driving. Of course, I drove the entire way, with Lorenzo giving constant instructions about staying (or not staying) in the ruts, despite my offer to let him drive. He rode like a king in the passenger's seat, constantly scanning the scrub brush for the animals that he wanted to see. The karma has got to get him. But, see animals we did! Even with all of the driving responsibilities, I saw many, wild animals in the national park, a UNESCO site. Sea lions... check! - must have seen 500 of the creatures, lying on the beach. There were many calves, most lying inside a protective circle of females who were also sunning themselves. One little calf was roaming the beach, either following or avoiding his loudly-braying mother, an entertaining sight to watch and photograph. Elephant seals... check! - only saw three of these two or three-ton creatures lounging on the beach, but at such a great distance that I couldn't really identify them except by word-of-mouth from other tourists with long lenses. Guanaco... check! - saw from 25-30 of these wild, brown, llama-like creatures; one group of eight crossed the road not 30 yards ahead of our car. Fox... check! - saw two, native, gray fox, one tame enough to roam a parking lot only a few feet from our car at one of the ocean overlooks. Armadillos... check! - saw three, two of them not more than a couple feet away at two, different locations. Hawks... check! - saw many soaring and swooping over the desert landscape. Seabirds... check! - saw many gulls and birds, some different than those seen in the northern hemisphere. Partridges... check! - saw three pairs of partridges very close along side the road, with their long necks and ribboned head; for the first pair, we stopped and they flew, reminding me of a pheasant's initial flight. And, finally, Magellanic penguins... check! - saw at least a hundred, some from no further away than five or six feet, but behind a fence installed by park authorities. The fence was probably to protect the tourists from the little birds who tolerate people, but who will bite if you get inside their comfort zone of five or six feet. These formally-dressed, black and white creatures were in and around the ground-hog-like holes (called caves in Spanish) they dug into the mud for rearing their off-spring. It was very entertaining to watch the birds, which mate for life, preening one another's feathers and sunning themselves. Some of these little creatures travel as far as 250 miles out to sea to feed, which is quite amazing. The day at Peninsula Valez was a long and arduous one and we decided to take today to lounge, recover, and update. Tomorrow, we will probably rent a car again, weather permitting, for a trip to Punto Tombo, another reserve where larger numbers of penguins (think 13,000), elephant seals, and sea lions are located. We will also visit Trelew and Guiman, two small cities where Welsh settlers have located and brought much of the Welsh culture, including unique Welsh teas and pastries that the travel guides extol. We have decided to return to the windy, dusty, rather-unpleasant city of Before I begin today's update, I would like to note the passing of one of my most ardent readers, one who thoroughly enjoyed traveling vicariously with me. Luke passed away just a few days ago and will be laid to rest today. With maps close at hand, he followed every day's adventures over the past 11 years and communicated often with me, asking questions and solving my own, most recently about my meal of Chernia, a fish of which I had never heard. Luke often asked me to increase my updates when he felt he wasn't informed well enough and there aren't many folks that interested in my adventures. I will miss his electronic presence. Vaya con Dios, Luke. Rest in Peace. The rental car was delivered to the hotel with a partially-flat, front tire which was probably the only thing that didn't go according to the hastily-devised plan of the day, yesterday. By the time we got to the gas station on the outskirts of town, it looked even flatter, so we asked the attendant if he could repair it. They didn't even have an air compressor at the station, but he directed us to a place that he thought could solve our problem. That garage didn't repair tires, either, but additional directions and a fortuitous spotting by Lorenzo of a pink air hose hanging on the side of a tiny, dilapidated building took us to a man who could do the job. Though the word for tire in Spanish is a very logical "pneumatico," the hand-lettered sign on the little building read "Gomeria," so I reckon there is another word meaning tires - probably "gomer," who knows? The owner knew exactly what he was doing, located three leaks, and 20 pesos (a little more than $5) later, we were on our way with the repaired pneumatico to Punto Tombo, the nesting place for 500,000 Magellanic penguins. I know that I said 13,000 in a previous update, but I recently read another source that declared that there were 500,000 of the little creatures nesting there. Makes one wonder if the first guy miscounted or the second guy over-estimated. The drive took a little more than two hours, but the last 50 miles were a deja-vu experience over the dangerous, river-rock gravel that had driven me nuts on the drive to the Peninsula Valdez a couple of days back. This was only 50 miles or so, not the 250 of We left Punto Tombo in a rush, after partially filling the window-washing reservoir with a bottle of my warm, drinking water. I had hit a puddle on the washboard road on the way into the park - it couldn't be avoided - and used the last of the liquid to get the worst of the mud off the windshield. They hadn't really prepped this rental car the way one has come to expect in the We took our time with the meal, although we were both ravenous; perhaps it was dealing with the visiting menagerie that lengthened the process, but the extremely friendly waitress assured us that the teahouse was open all day for tea, so we relaxed and enjoyed the time in the sun. After lunch, we went to a small museum, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest museum of recycled exhibits. The dirty, dusty, desert town housed a dirty, dusty, desert museum that has brought many a smile to people's faces, including ours. A grandfather, who died only a month ago at 90 years of age, started making exhibits to teach his grandchildren about the world, and about life in general. Many humorous, philosophical, Spanish sayings decorate the exhibits of dinosaurs, a whale, birds and other animals, cars, the Taj Mahal, and too many others to mention. He created the exhibits out of trash: bottles, cans, plastic flowers, and about every container known to man. His house was completely covered in the tops of beer and soda cans, for example. I'll bet his neighbors just loved the process, but it grew and grew and he became famous. Numerous newspaper articles from around the world describing his "museum" were displayed. His entire yard was covered in the displays and they have weathered, their colors have started to fade, and with the colors, what little glitz the kitschy exhibits once possessed has also faded. The photos we took and later reviewed unfortunately made most of the exhibits look like the products from which they were made - trash. After leaving the museum, we headed to the largest of the teahouses, one visited by Princess Di, who is memorialized in photos throughout the large dining room and in a sign on the porch. The dusty, gravel street led to a dusty, gravel parking lot beside a gorgeous, exquisitely-manicured home along a run leading into the Rio Chubut which also curved around the property. It was, indeed, an oasis. We took many photos, including one of the working water wheel, and many of the beautiful flowers that decorated the yard of the teahouse. Then, we went inside and I attempted, in vain, to give Lorenzo some culture. We ordered the full tea, which came with sandwiches (I told him we shouldn't have eaten lunch first), buttered, homemade bread with marmalade, shortbreads, samples of cakes and, quite simply, much more food than either of us could eat after just finishing our lunch. We tried, though, we tried. The waitress appeared with the pastry plates, and then returned with the large teapot, decorated with a knitted sweater (the pot, not the waitress). When we finished eating what we could, pinky fingers raised the entire time, we got the remainder packaged to go and eventually gave it to the hotel clerk when we returned to the hotel. It was a very successful day in The heat wave in the entire country has dissipated. We have enjoyed pleasant days, chilly evenings requiring a sweater or windbreaker, especially with the stiff winds of I believe there will be more interesting adventures ahead, especially the overnight ride on the rickety, old train across the land made famous by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who emigrated to Terremoto!! Terremoto!! That word is Spanish for earthquake and the Chileans suffered a major blow yesterday with the quake that registered 8.8 on the Richter scale. Lorenzo and I were in a tiny, train compartment attempting to sleep through a very rough train ride across the Patagonian desert when the quake hit. I had drawn the top bunk and Lorenzo the bottom and the rough track had both of us bouncing back and forth all night. In the top bunk, the sideways motion is somewhat greater than on the bottom, so I was having a roller coaster night of it. In retrospect, I awoke shortly after About an hour and a half into the trip from Viedma, the train came to a smoky halt in the middle of the desert. A full moon shined brightly before dusk, but the train was going nowhere. I had left Lorenzo with a bottle of Much to my surprise and pleasure, there were a couple of mechanics on the train and they worked on repairs for about an hour, under my supervision, of course, and we started rolling once again. Rolling is a generous description of the train's performance. The expected clickety-clack, clickety-clack, was more like thump, bump, and wobble. Then came the terremoto at To the thousands who wrote, inquiring about my well-being, I thank you for your concern. To those who inquired of my wife about whether I was in Today, we went to the world-famous Llao Llao Hotel and Resort for Sunday Brunch. Pronounce the name Ziaow, Ziaow, and get here when you can. Rooms run $549/night for a Tomorrow will take us on two tours, lasting all day, around several of the lakes in this lake district and will eventually take us to the Chilean border. My heart goes out to the warm, friendly Chilean people who have suffered this terrible earthquake. Though they have the most robust economy in The weather in Bariloche has been a pleasant surprise. While Monday, we went on an all-day tour of the Bariloche area, including visits to six or seven of the 27 lakes in this area that is accurately called the The afternoon saw us skirting the edges of huge Lake Nahuel Huapi on whose shores Bariloche sits. This Andes-fed lake covers several hundred square miles of area and is part of Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi which stretches all the way to the Chilean border. Views of the lakes and surrounding mountains, oft-times dusted with snow on their peaks, were spectacular. Many times the views were so pristine that you could be certain that your photos would look like postcards. The guide pointed out the changing plant life, from the arid steppe climate areas to the more moist slopes where conifers were in abundance. Argentineans, like people from most of the other countries I have visited, are much impressed by nature. Waterfalls, plant and animal life, geology, and protection of the environment seem to be more important to these folks than most people in the We have checked prices for both bus transportation and air travel to There are a couple of golf courses here in Bariloche and, when Lorenzo returns from the museum where he is probably taking another 100 photos, we may taxi there to hit a bucket of balls. On another day, we might just tee it up for a round, even though Lorenzo hasn't struck a ball in anger in more than 30 years. Should be interesting. Stay tuned. Hasta luego. Fore!! I played seven holes of golf two days ago and had another adventure, getting there and back to Bariloche. I hailed a cab and inquired about the driver's knowledge as to the location of a golf course that a Canadian tourist told me about, located on the way to Llao Llao, but closer to town so the cab fare wouldn't be sky high. The cabbie hadn't heard of the course, but made three phone calls for help in locating a destination. It ended up costing $14 for the cab fare (a huge tab here) and I wound up at a different course, probably the worst course I have played since my pre-teen days, but I had a great time. The poorly-maintained course only cost $5 for the greens fee and wasn't worth a penny more. The course had five bumpy greens and eleven dirt tees, but was all I needed to stretch muscles that I hadn't used since the end of October. I rented clubs, balls, and tees for $7.50 and they were something to behold. The clubs were a mismatched set with a metal driver, a two iron, several other clubs that proved unnecessary on the executive-length holes that I played, but no putter. No problem, the attendant (he couldn't have been a club professional) took one from a bag containing the only other clubs in the little building and gave it to me. The putter that he loaned me didn't appear to be his own, but, no matter, I was golfing. The rental package included two, plastic, broken tees no taller than an inch and broken off square at the bottom. Classic. The balls took the cake, however: there were three of the worst balls I have ever hit in my life. Washing had worn them almost smooth and I could barely make out the Slazenger name or the range-ball ring painted sometime before the war on the little, almost-white spheres, which had, remarkably, maintained most of their original shape. But, play I did, hitting the ball much better than I could have possibly hoped and losing only one of the balls and both of the tees. The attendant was not in sight when I finished and I left the clubs by the door of the little building and hurried off, afraid that he would catch me and require reimbursement for the loss of his valuable equipment. As I left the course, the bus back to Bariloche was only 50 yards ahead of me across the road, but I couldn't catch it before it pulled away from the bus stop. At least, I now knew the location of the bus stop and I waited for the next one. While I was waiting, however, I noticed another man, heading in the other direction, hitch-hiking toward Llao Llao. He was successful in short order, so I stuck out my thumb and unsuccessfully tried to catch a ride back to town for 10 minutes or so before other passengers started to accumulate at the bus stop. I boarded the next bus along with the other five passengers who had gathered and headed back to town. The bus was a regular city-type bus with a seating capacity of 35 passengers or so, but, by the time we reached town, more than 100 passengers had crammed on board. It was great for people watching and I was thrilled that I got on in time to get a seat, because the trip took 40 minutes on a windy road with many stops, but I felt bad for those who had to stand in the aisle crammed like olives in a jar. Yesterday, Lorenzo decided that he was going to travel up a chair lift to a revolving restaurant for the view of the lake and surrounding area. A ride up a chair lift is not exactly my cup of tea. I would have paid double the lift fee just to remain on the ground, so I boarded the bus toward Llao Llao once more, headed to Puerto Pinero, the departure point for boat tours to Isla Victoria and another unique, forested island in huge, gorgeous, Lago Nahuel Huapi. The tour was spent among some of the most picturesque views on the face of the earth! I take far fewer pictures than mi amigo, Lorenzo, but even I snapped 71 pictures during the six-hour tour. Had Lorenzo been aboard, he would have easily taken 250 photos. Views that contained mountains plunging into the deep blue waters of the 350 square mile lake, huge redwood trees planted from seed transported from California, ponderosa pine, also imported from the USA and now used for lumber in the chalets that are everywhere, Douglas Fir, cypress, and other exotic trees planted in experimental plots on Victoria Island that was once laid bare from the over-harvesting of indigenous trees. The redwoods have grown as big in 85 years here as they do in California in 300 years, so perfect are the conditions for the giant sequoia. The pines are being harvested and will be cleared from the island so that conservationists can replant indigenous species of the hardwoods that once thrived there. The redwoods will remain, however, and they are as beautiful to behold as are ours in We have purchased bus tickets to depart San Carlos de Bariloche tomorrow morning. I leave at It will be very difficult to leave this spectacular location, certainly one of the most picturesque spots on the face of the earth and easily one of the five most beautiful locations I have visited in my travels. The weather in March is as perfect as the views of mountain and lake, with brisk mornings and evenings and warm afternoons. It doesn't get much better than this, but we have been here for more than a week and the Malbec wine of Neuquen is a dusty, dirty, desert town that reminds me of Mexican cities. That said, it was particularly fortuitous that we didn't fly from Bariloche to Interestingly, in retrospect, one of the most surprising things about the lakes and streams in I awoke yesterday morning after a fitful night of sleep with excruciating pain in my right knee. Not that I haven't had years of knee pain, but prior to this, only after an injury I could remember. This felt exactly like the athletic injuries that preceded it, but I couldn't remember any incident that could have caused it. I started taking ibuprofen and the pain was bearable during the day, although I walked painfully with a noticeable limp to the laundry four blocks away in the morning before the ibuprofen kicked in. With nothing to do for two days, using the time to have laundry washed seemed an efficient use of time. With clean clothing, I should have more time to enjoy the famous Malbec that Last night, I took the pillow from the other single bed in my room and used it to elevate my knee during the night. That, plus the magic of a full day's worth of ibuprofen, led to a great night's sleep with little pain. I awoke this morning with a more swollen knee, but much less pain. I still limp when I walk, there is occasional pain, and I must keep moving my knee while writing to avoid stiffness, but I think I will survive to make the overnight, eleven and three-quarter hour bus trip to Mendoza tonight. The seat on the bus trip to Neuquen was exceedingly comfortable, with an almost fully recline-able back and a calf support that tilted back from the back of the seat in front of me. I don't think there will be a problem getting a decent night's sleep on the way through the desert to I already miss the fondue and variety of foods offered in Bariloche, because there is clearly a paucity of decent restaurants in Neuquen. I am ready to escape this city and head to the more tourist-friendly environs of The seats were disappointingly less comfortable than the first class bus from Bariloche to Neuquen and the overnight ride took all of twelve hours, but I managed to get five or six hours of sleep before we arrived at During the ride, I had time while drifting off to never-never land to reminisce about the time spent in Bariloche, by far the most beautiful city in I also had time to watch Lorenzo across the bus aisle where he had drawn a handsome, young military man in civilian clothes as his seat mate - so much for his dream of another encounter with a breast-feeding mother. He enjoyed what seemed like a long, pleasant conversation with the young man, then opened his backpack to extricate the down pillow he carries with him when he travels. I yelled across, asking if he was going to put on his "jammies," too, and he laughed, but he drifted off into sleep rather quickly. I was delighted that he hadn't also tucked his teddy bear under his arm while he slept. Upon arrival in It was enjoyable, strolling through the streets and around the central plaza where Schim and I stayed three years ago. I wrote him, saying that I got a tear in my eye when I saw the hotel where we stayed and shared a room on our previous visit, although I certainly stretched the truth. Schim has stayed in touch and followed my adventures, envious of the new experiences and regretting that he chose not to participate this year. Yesterday, we took a city tour that was unenlightening since it was all in Spanish and I remembered having visited most of the sites the last time I was in town, which means that I probably had talked Schim into spending a few bucks ($10) to take the tour back then. The tour did travel the tree-lined streets and into the big park on the city's outskirts, so I did get another overview of the city. Actually, I even understood most of the guide's explanations about the tour's highlights. Lorenzo and I disembarked the air-conditioned van at a sushi restaurant, because both of us have been craving sushi that has been unavailable since we left This city has a delightful, three-city-block-long, pedestrian-only street ("peatonal") with several wisteria-covered arbors that is the center of life for inhabitants, day or night. I have long championed a pedestrian-only street in my home town and The last night of our stay in Lorenzo couldn't afford a meal either, or, more likely, it was because of the lateness of the hour and the acid reflux that has continued to bother him when he dines at regular Argentine dinner hours, customarily beginning at 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. He just shared the great bottle of wine with me, while I enjoyed the cabrito Chef Mallman made famous. Lorenzo had one taste of the tender meat, but simply enjoyed the environment and the young ladies who waited on us. The great Miguel Escorihuela Gascon wine made the night complete. We were as ready as we could be to leave We boarded the bus at the bus station and, like magic, three and a half hours later, we arrived in San Luis, only a stopover to prevent an even longer bus ride to Seven hours later to the minute, we arrived in the large city of During the dreadfully long ride, made without my hearing aid that should have been in the ear facing my seatmate, the lady also communicated her love for Barack Obama, her dislike of Christina Kirchner, Argentina's president, and her dissatisfaction with the $250 pension that retirees get from the government. Wait, perhaps I understood more than I thought during the conversation. I was happy to provide an ear for the lady's woes, even though that ear should have been aided for improved comprehension. On second thought, perhaps it was better that the good ear didn't face the lady, she might have talked another deaf ear on me. We stood in the bus station while Lorenzo had the tourist office call what seemed like a million hotels to check on availability, price, and location. We ended up staying in none of them, finally settling on a hotel on a peatonal (pedestrian-only street) we found in Lorenzo's guide book while we sat with our suitcases enjoying a much-needed beverage - Lorenzo's a coke and mine a bottle of agua con gas (carbonated mineral water), something for which I have only recently acquired a taste. It is very hot and humid here and it will take a few days to adapt. Like most cities in the hot and humid interior of the country, inhabitants empty the streets, the stores close, and a siesta is enjoyed during the hottest hours. Things start to hum again around six, after the sun descends, when locals (and the two of us) exit our rooms and take to the streets once more. Thank goodness the old hotel, currently undergoing extensive renovation, has CNN in English and several English language stations to help wile the late afternoon away. We may extend our stay in The weekend in Cordoba generated a few tales that need to be told and the first night back in BsAs last evening served up another: Saturday afternoon in Cordoba, Lorenzo and I had lunch in a corner cafe, because we had permitted the lunch period to pass us by while walking to and from the bus terminal to purchase tickets to go to Rosario the next day. Once the lunch period ends, between The point being that we had just finished a late lunch and headed back to our hotel with full stomachs. At the corner of the block before our hotel, we observed a group of men grilling something in a parking place between cars on the street. They had placed a piece of fiber board (like plywood) on the street to protect the asphalt, placed charcoal on top, then placed a simple, small grill over the charcoal. We couldn't see what they were grilling, so we walked a few steps up the street on the opposite side to see what was up. They yelled at us across the street and eventually waved us to join them at their barbecue. There were six men in the group, at least three of them cab drivers and one the owner of the locutorio (small corner grocery and snack store) in front of which the grill was set up. They shared their grilled beef and it was the best meat we have eaten in this friendly country. We only ate a bite or two, shared on a common knife and fork, because we were so full from lunch. But, the conversation that lasted fifteen minutes or so was fantastic. They asked about our jobs, then how much retirees get in government pensions (social security) in the On Friday night in Olga, a twice-divorced friend who had recently acquired a new boyfriend stationed in At the second meal, held in a shopping mall restaurant outside the center of town and costing five dollars (a huge sum) in cab fare for us to reach, the budding romance continued. Lorenzo and Graciela seemed to enjoy one another's company (there is no accounting for a woman's taste) and they talked about Graciela visiting Lorenzo in May or June, after she visits her brother who lives in The bus ride from I napped beyond the time when I was to meet Lorenzo, maybe it was the 2/3 bottle of wine I had with my late, pizza lunch, but I didn't get to our meeting place, where Lorenzo was headed for a beer, until a full two hours after our scheduled meeting time. I had a banana and peach licuado (like a smoothie, but with milk) and enjoyed the cool evening air while watching several children energetically run around the peatonal (pedestrian street) while their parents enjoyed a drink or meal, effectively ignoring them. Soon a young woman, later I found out that she was 39, sat at the table next to mine and ordered a gaseosa (carbonated soft drink). After the children and their parents departed, the young lady, whose name I cannot recall, began talking with me far too rapidly to understand. I explained that I didn't speak much Spanish and asked her to speak slowly, to no avail. She chattered on and I attempted to make sense of what she said. I got that it was her birthday, that she was alone in the world, that her parents had died, maybe recently, in an automobile crash in We headed around the corner toward my hotel which overlooked the central plaza and suddenly I realized that the woman was coming with me. I tried to tell her that I didn't want her in my hotel, but she persisted over the few steps remaining and was in my hotel lobby. It was Last night finally back in Yesterday was Memorial Day in BsAs, a national holiday, and the Argentineans certainly know how to remember their war veterans. I'm sure that there was some remembrance of the people who served in past wars, but the event was really a huge protest to remind citizens of the time, 34 years ago, when the military seized control of the government and exacted a terrible civil rights tragedy on the populace. More than 30,000 people disappeared during that horrendous regime, some thrown out of planes to their death, if the charges recently brought against a pilot now living and flying commercial jets in I headed down Avenida My irregular path through the center of town took me past a nice leather shop that displayed the kind of leather sport jacket for which I was looking. I went inside, talked at length to the owner of the shop and to a couple of other customers, one who had previously worked for Neiman Marcus in I returned this morning for the fitting, settled on the type of stitching and the leather color, and felt very confident about the expertise of the Bolivian employee, termed her best employee by the beautiful, 20-year-old daughter of the store's female owner. I need to return on April 2 for a fitting, hopefully allowing time for any last second adjustments to the garment before I return home. I have received many compliments about the last coat I purchased here, labeled the "goat coat" by fellow traveler, Schim, three years ago, and I am looking forward to adding another leather sport coat to my wardrobe. When I sauntered off to bed last evening around |