last days in B . A.

Another botanical garden, this time Japanese. You could be in Japan with its little fish ponds and bridges. Another museum..Eva Peron's private museum full of her propaganda.

Dinner at a neighbourhood restaurant. Finally some cooler air. It feels refreshing.

I spend all night looking at my watch because we have no alarm clock and Michael's flight is an early one.

I finally have the bed (it's a double) to myself. Then I treat myself to breakfast including cafe con leche (it's frothed) which I have come to love, at the cafe restaurant at the corner. I feel like a local reading the Spanish paper and watching the ladies walking their dogs. A person could get really fat having a breakfast like this one...toast with marmelade and real cream, freshly squeezed orange juice and those wonderful buttery medialunas (croissants). Lots of calories, but I'll be hungry in a short time.

Although the people could be from Toronto, since they all come from European roots, they seem to take their time lingering at cafes and the pace of life seems less frantic here.

I pack my bags and head to the airport 3 hours before my flight is to leave.

The adventures of flying to different airports at this time in light of the increased security is enough to fill another blog at another time.

Hasta la vista Argentina

swimming

Since the weather is stiflingly hot again, we head to a giant sports complex. There are soccer fields, tennis, and several swimming pools at Parque Norte. You have to be examined by a medical doctor before entering and paying for your lounge chairs and umbrella and entrance fee.

People come with picnics and sit in the sun all day. I thought tanning was passe. Not here.

Women of all ages wear bikini thongs. Why don't men?

I sit by the side of the pool for 5 minutes and get completely sunburnt. Apparently, there is a hole in the ozone layer here.

We decide to splurge again for dinner at a fancy restaurant recommended by Daniel. He is the guru of gourmet. This one, however, is awful. The steaks are tough and they charge heavily for a few slices of not great bread and olive oil. It looks great, but looks are deceiving.

End up at another milonga place recommended by the waitress. It's a funky environment in a remodelled church. Very crowded, and very very hot.

I really don't do well with hot stuffy places.

Tigre

We decided to take a trip out of town to Tigre, a small town on Rio de la Plata about an hour from B.A. At the confluence of 5 rivers, Tigre is a mix of grassland, forest, swamp. A 2-hour boat ride took us along the river to see campgrounds, hotels, individual cottages, wrecks of old boats. No one was swimming in the dirty brown water. But people have properties there surrounded by parklike grass. There are some neo-Gothic and Tudor style homes because British people were in charge of their construction.

I've never felt more uncomfortable in the 33- degree heat and humidity of the day. Then we had to go to the casino (not a smoke-free environment). It was definitely a 2 shower- day for me.

Michael, on the other hand, said he felt quite comfortable. Costa Rica is even hotter, he admitted.

museo

We had to go to B . A . to see an Andy Warhol show. It wasn't the show that we went to see. It was the Museo de Arte de Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of Latin American art in the world. A very popular place to be. There was a huge line to get in on an ordinary Sunday afternoon.

Not a lot is open on Sunday afternoons. So we got on a city bus and just said to the driver that we wanted to go to an area where there were restaurants. He didn't get it, so I couldn't pay because you pay for your destination.

We got dropped off in an unfamiliar barrio and found an empty restaurant(it was only 7:00 p.m.) and when we came out of the restaurant, the street was no longer empty and the stores had opened up.

There is a lot of garbage on the sidewalks in B.A. People , some sporting nice clothing and cell phones pick through the garbage and recycle what they want. Some guys haul it away in carts, others just carry it with them.

Friday night service

We went to Bet-El Synagogue in Belgrano barrio (suburb) where Eli and Ester Bard met and drew their inspiration from. I took an outside photo, but was stopped from taking any others by a guard. It's a very simple sanctuary with minimal decoration. The rabbi Dany Goldman came to introduce himself to us.

It's amazing to me that you can walk into a synagogue anywhere in the world and still know the liturgy and melodies of the service and consequently feel at home. The congregants did turn around when saying the Amidah prayer ( I don't know which direction the synagogue faces).

After the service, we met an older couple who accompanied us to a local restaurant and we spent the evening socializing and learning about Jewry in Argentina from them.

cemetery

One of the must-sees in B . A . is the Cemeterio de la Recoleta. The very fact that it is in Recoleta, an elegant and ritzy residential and shopping district speaks to illustriousness of the citizens buried there. Of course, everyone flocks to Eva Peron's tomb. It has fresh flowers and crowds around it. Hers is not the most over the top memorial by any means. As many as 18 graves can be laid on top of each other. A funeral was actually going on when we were there.

Around the cemetery area, there are many restaurants . Not a surprise! We had grilled vegetables, not the different parts of the cow that were being cooked over huge fires indoors.

The homeless and the wealthy are side by side in this area. B.A's most expensive hotels surround a park where homeless people live under plastic wraps.

We spent New Year's Eve watching people strolling along the waterfront of the man-made canal. All the women were dressed to the nines, but the guys were wearing jeans and T-shirts. Probably designer jeans and T's. But what a contrast!

Michael was upset because the taxi driver who drove us home didn't want to speak to him, saying he didn't understand English. Except Michael was actually speaking Spanish at the time!

shopping in B.A.

People eat out all the time in B.A. The sidewalk cafes are overflowing. One of the oldest areas to eat and shop is Galerias Pacifico. It's an upscale mall with wonderful murals, skylighted dome. It's adjacent to the pedestrian shopping street of Calle Florida. Here one can see street performers and shop in regular stores filled with shoes and leather goods. I didn't really see anything to buy. So I saved a lot of cash.

We took a guided tour to the Boca area and San Telmo areas where European immigrants first came to live in colorful corrugated houses and started the melancholy dance known as the tango.

Puerto Madero is the recreated waterfront where you have American style restaurants and high-end condo buildings. It used to be where ships docked, now it is man -made canal with artwork that looks like ships.

Ended the day with Daniel's suggestion of a Swedish restaurant where we lied about dinner reservations (which you must have)and they accommodated us at a low coffee table in the garden for dinner. But it was worth it!

A cultural note...everyone smokes. The six women who were sitting near us in the garden of the restaurant were smoking non-stop. (at least it was outdoors). And, everyone sports tattoos, lots of them, and rings in every imaginable place on the face and body. Also, the women I just mentioned were all talking and texting on their individual phones. I don't think they spoke to one another the whole night.

I guess that just shows my age.

Buenos Aires

Our rental apartment in Palermo (a district) of B.A. was in a great location. Close to the subte (subway), near shops, restaurants and parks. Michael was in heaven, because he lives on a secluded beach in Costa Rica.

For a city of 17 million, B.A. doesn't feel crowded. The feeling you get is no where close to the number of people in Asian cities of that size.

It feels like a European city with its wide avenues and white stone buildings and ornamental balconies. It was built by Spanish and Italian immigrants and certainly has their influence as well as the French.

Our first day was spent exploring the Avenida Santa Fe with its clothing shops and restaurants in the rain with a humidity and heat index of very high value. Then we took the subway to the Plaza de Mayo (central square in B.A .) This is where there are the government buildings including the pink house from where Eva Peron rallied the workers. Of course, there was a staged demonstration as there is on most days, apparently.

Dinner was at a Frommer's recommended restaurant which had a huge line outside before the dinner hour of 8:30 p.m. We had incredible steaks and a good selection of about 8-10 veggie dishes which were excellent. All this for about $35 (no wine).

We finished the night off at an Armenian dance club (milonga). They teach you to dance the tango, then you practice, and then there is the show. Every night we aimed for the show, but because it started after midnight, we never made it. Didn't really make the dancing lessons, either.

It's best not to go to American style restaurants in foreign places. However, S. Americans dine after 9:00 p.m. and I need to eat a lot sooner than that. The only open place was Ruby Tuesday's in the upscale restaurant district which was close to our hotel. What a mistake! I guess the fact that there were no customers except us (OK. it was early) might have been a clue.

Our conception of 2 for 1 when explained in Spanish didn't end up being what we thought. Because Michael ordered a liquor drink, we thought mine would be free. NO! Each of us had to order one and then the second was free. I couldn't even stand up after the first drink.

However, the bathrooms were fine! That brings me to another specialty of mine. I am a connoisseur of "banos". To toss or not to toss. The garbage cans were not overflowing with discarded toilet paper the way they are in the rest of Latin America. There was toilet paper supplied in most places and they were very obliging when I asked to use the restroom. Lots of rope pulling flushers, but also very modern trendy looking sinks.

On to Buenos Aires and the tango!

Chile's national parks are really low-key. It was hard to find the Reserva Nacional Rio de los Cipreses. About 40 km. east of Rancagua, this little -visited park contains a variety of "volcanic landforms, hanging glacial valleys, waterfalls and fluvial landscapes. It has forests of fragrant cypress, olivillo, and other native trees. Among the animals living here are pumas, foxes, condors, and Chile's largest native parrots." You had to register with the forest rangers and then you went along a dirt road.

Our rented car had problems with stalling and did not have great shocks. Going over huge boulders, river beds and steep mountain paths was not good for it. We didn't see any animals except some cows which got in our way. Maybe we did see a condor, but didn't know it. Such rough "roads" and heat (it might have been in the mid-30's) without seeing another soul were not enticing enough for Michael and me. He need his bottle of Coke and I was running out of water.

So we went back to our boutique hotel and swam and read and drank and ate and looked at the Andes from there.

I had decided to minimize the amount of travel we did in Chile and so decided on the wine country just an hour or so south of Santiago. Termas de Cauquenes, a spa hotel kept re-appearing in guide books and so we were heading there for a few days.

However, we were lured by the sign for Il Giardino, a boutique hotel, on the way to the spa. It was lovely..hopefully I can show you the photos.

We still went to see the spa but were appalled at the dingy rooms, the individual spa baths, and the peacocks meandering in and out of the bath area leaving their residue.

So back to hotel number one via the Jumbo supermercado which could have been a mall anywhere in the world. But once at the Il Giardino hotel, we saw the Andes on the horizon with a bit of snow at their peaks. Not a bad sight to look at while eating dinner.


Then a wine tasting tour, our raison d'etre for the trip. Got to see the different grape varieties and beautiful roses which are grown around the vines because if there is an infestation, roses will be the first plants to suffer. So they are a tipoff.

Our guide was a young woman who was going to be married in a couple of months. Of course, Michael asked her if she were living with her boyfriend. She said it was unacceptable to do that in Chile before marriage.

Everything closed down early on Dec. 24 and we hurried to the town of Rancagua to check it out for Xmas eve. People still rushing around buying gifts, and jugglers still continued performing at stop lights trying to eke out a few more pesos.

Then my knee buckled as we walked back to our car and there was no more activity for me.

Just as well, since everything was closed for Christmas.

The photo on the Valparaiso blog is really Vina del Mar (I am still working out the bugs), a clean, orderly manicured town on the Pacifico about 20 minutes up the road from Valparaiso. It's a popular weekend and summer destination for wealthy Santiaguinos even though the Humboldt Current causes the waters to be chilly enough to put off most swimmers.

Saw not only pelicans, but sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. Ate a fish called "Reina" freshly caught (a delicious white fish) and served with pureed potatoes. Delicioso!

We weren't impressed with the botanical gardens, but at the Fonck museo, we saw some gruesome artifacts, including shrunken skulls of the Inca peoples' enemies and a 2 headed llama which I have now deleted from my photos because it was too jarring.

Spent the evening relaxing at our hotel without TV, without pool, just a balcony overlooking the hills of Valparaiso . Sounds of a person sawing, roosters crowing, rock music blasting away , as well as the usual barking dogs.

Valparaiso

After picking up the rental car, we head to Valparaiso. The car experience takes up an inordinate amount of time and creates no end of hassles. Valparaiso is 120 km. northwest of Santiago. As the guide book says, it is a cultural capital and vital port.

Our hotel is on a cerro(hill) and takes us hours to find because we don't have a detailed map, there are lots of one-way streets and everyone keeps saying "derecho" (straight ahead) and that doesn't exist as we wind our way up 90 degree angle streets.

When we get there, it isn't what I saw on the web. Yes, there is a view of the bay, but the room doesn't even have enough space for our suitcases to be opened up.

New hotel is found in a few minutes, thanks to internet. It's an architectural feat, has a loft and great views of vineyards, laundry, multi-coloured funky houses clinging to hills. The owners are exceptionally friendly and the restaurant they recommend for dinner is amazing. I have a salmon steak encrusted in ingredients I can't name. It's a winner!

However, Valparaiso is difficult to manoeuvre by car and worse by foot. Especially for my compromised knees. I can't really walk up and down the hundreds of steps or do the cobblestoned streets which are not well-lit at night and populated by stray dogs at every turn. But it stays light until 9:30 p.m. since it is summer, so that is a big bonus.

Day 1 Santiago

After an 11.5 hour bumpy flight from NYC, the Andes' jagged peaks appeared as we landed in Santiago. I had opted for Chile because Michael and I wanted to "do S. America" and you don't just do one country when you fly to the other side of the globe.

What did we do to the Chileans that made us have to pay the most outrageous and highest entrance fee of anyone in the world to enjoy this country?

I found Michael already at his computer in the hotel room, blogging away. He and his camera and the computer have a huge relationship which takes up almost more time than sightseeing.

A quick overview of Santiago's downtown reveals a bohemian area known as Bellavista which has cafes spilling out onto the street. The Centro has the a pedestrian mall area with very ordinary clothing stores and fast food joints.

Not in the mood to view churches or museums, we head back to our lovely hotel for a swim and rest.

Now I know why I chose Chile. It does really cool down in the evenings to a very pleasant temperature for me. Of course, Michael wears a sweater because he's from sweltering Costa Rica and finds it too chilly.