Recoleta

We went to the Jewish Museum on Libertad, but it was closed. So we took a cab to Cafe Tortoni. It has a distinctive interior, nice ambience (except for the smoking of course).

Then we took a cab to Recoleta. We saw the Nuestra church; beautiful decorations and art work. Then on to the Recoleta cemetary. The tombs are very impressive, with each one built like a house. We saw Evita's tomb.

Now, we're back at the Howard Johnson Plaza, just hanging out. We'll leave from here.

Tango Show and ...

We just heard about the tragic accident at a nightclub in the Once district here in Buenos Aires. It was reported that 175 people were killed and over 600 injured. Some flares were shot off inside the club causing a fire. And it appears that there was some negligence because emergency exit doors were tied shut so nobody could enter.

We've noticed that there is a general lack of regard for health and safety in Argentina. The most visible signs are the mass smoking and careless driving. Although accidents like the nightclub fire have happened in other countries (including the US), this is one other example of poor safety conditions in this country. ...


With that said, I'll talk about the Tango show we saw last night. First, when Diana called earlier and spoke to someone at the club, she was assured multiple times that smoking was not permitted in the club. Well, when we arrived, people were lighting up. We were ready to walk out when we spoke with the owner and he said they weren't allowing smoking near the stage area. So they didn't tell us the truth, but I guess some obfuscation of it.

The Tango show was in El Viejo Almacen club in San Telmo, the birthplace of the Tango. It's a nice, small & quaint club with a small balcony (reminds me of a smaller version of the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco), the most popular Tango club in the city according to Frommers. The show began with a 6-piece band playing some Latin pieces (2 violins, bass, 2 accordian players, and piano). Then the entire Tango troupe (4 couples) did some Tango.

Throughout the night, the various couples did their suave moves. They were great. There were classic twists & turns, crossovers, lifts, and dips; but the most impressive moves were the dead-drops where the female drops towards the floor and the male partner catches her just before she hits the floor. There were a couple of incredible dead-drops.

Interspersed throughout the show were singing by a couple of old-timer Latin crooners singing some Spanish pieces. It seemed like Buenos Aires' version of our lounge lizards. The most pleasant surprise was the appearance of a Peruvian quartet who played a few pieces. They really fired up the crowd. The music was great and they played with a lot of passion.

So as you can see, this wasn't a pure Tango show; however, it was a very good show. Our chief complaints were the false advertising about the non-smoking and the show was only 75 minutes (we were told 2 hours, and we paid $35 dollars each).

Surprisingly, we ran into the Israeli couple we met on the boat trip in Bariloche. It was good seeing them again.

Today is our last day in Argentina. We fly back at night. We hope to do something during the day (maybe go to another museum). I'll talk about it later. Ciao, for now.

Happy New Years, Feliz Ano Nuevo ...

Bellas Artes

Today we went to the Museum of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes) in Recoleta. It's the museum to visit if you wish to see the finest art from Buenos Aires (the 2nd floor, once again, is THE floor).

The 1st floor features several rooms covering modern, impressionist, post-Impressionist, French, Italian, Spanish & other European Classical art. The first room we visited featured the artwork of Jackson Pollock, Fernand Leger ("Marie"), Picasso (not his best work), Chagall ("Los Amantes"), Miro, Kandinsky, Modigliani, Rousseau, and Vuillard. The artist that caught my attention, who I had never heard of, is Franz Von Stuck from Alemania. His "Batsheva" is a beautiful work.

Another room features 19th century French works, including "Diana Surprise" by Jules Joseph Lefebure. There also were 2 statues by Rodin: "El Beso" and "La Tierra y la Luna" (The Earth and the Moon). Also, there were nice pieces by Courbet and especially by Corot.

The next room featured 18th century Italian and French pieces, including fine works by Escuela Ricci and Nattier. Then in another room, there are 16th century pieces, including a great piece by Belgium´s Jan Speckaert who depicted the Biblical scene of Moses transforming the rod into a serpent. Also, there's a large tapestry by Talleres de Leyniers y Gerard (Belgium) called "Celebracion del en lace de Maria Teresa con Luis VIX". Some nice pieces by Rubens as well.

The impressionists and post-Impressionists are on the right side of the 1st floor. This includes pieces by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissaro, Gaughin, Lautrec, and one of my favorites, "Retratode Diego Martelli" by Degas. There was one modernist piece I liked called "Immigrantes" by Lorenzo Gigi (1940).

The Medieval art wasn't all that impressive. There were a couple of nice pieces by Tintoretto (16th century Venice).

The Hirsh Collection room is very good, featuring works by Rembrandt , Aert de Gelder (we loved his "Esther and Mordechai Write letters to the Jews", from the story of Purim), and also El Greco ("Jesus ...")


And now, for the 2nd floor featuring some of finest of Buenos Aires and other South American artists.

First, there are 19th Century pieces by Carlos Pelligrini (Buenos Aires) and Jean Leon Palliere (Rio de Janeiro). Then, there are super 19th Century Realism works by Carlos Morel, Prilidiano Pueyrredon ("Un Aldo en el Campo"), Candido Lopez ("Vista interior de Curuzu"), and Pio Collivadino. Diana likes "Desnudo mujer oriental" by Severo Rodriquez Etchart. Great vivid works by these Buenos Aires artists, all of them.

Then, in another room, it really kicks into high gear (19th and 20th Century). First, a great work by Cesareo Bernaldo de Quires: Don Juan Sandoval" (1965); there are other nice pieces by him in the same area. Second, there are the works by B.A.´s Alfredo Gramajo Gutierrez, including "Retablo de Jesus" (1930). After that, there´s "Quietud" by Francisco Vidal from Cordoba, Argentina. This is followed by a collection of pieces depicting various scenes in the La Boca district. One of my favorite pieces in the museum is called "Elevadores a pleno sol" by Benito Quinquela Martin. This wonderful work depicts the stevadores moving cargo to and from the ships, with the colorful La Boca buildings in the background. But that's not all. There are fine pieces from Victor Cunsolo and Octavio Pinto (who's from Cordobo and lived in Montevideo).

Finally, we saw the Bemberg Collection in another room. This features the works of cubists Rafael Barradas (from Montevideo) and Xul Solar (from B.A., whose work we saw yesterday). Also, there are pieces by 2 other Uruguayian artists: Pedro Figari and Joaquin Torres Garcia.

This is certainly a larger museum with finer South American pieces.

On the ride home, we saw all the business folks throw all their papers out from their windows, signifying the end of the year ritual being celebrated all over the world.

At 7:30, we're going to see a Tango Show in San Telmo. I'll blog later about it.

Bye for now.

Palermo

Before describing what we did today, we want to pause for a moment to reflect upon the preciousness of life. We are greatly saddened by the tragic loss of life in Southeast Asia from the tsunami. Our hearts go out to victims and their families ...


We spent the greater part of the day in the Palermo district. We took the metro underground to Palermo. Our first stop was the zoo. Unfortunately, it started raining once we arrived! Oh well. We walked around and saw several of the animals including elephants, Bengali tigers, lions, zebras, monkeys, Himalayian camels, llamas, exotic birds, and a few others. The reptilian exhibit mainly featured all types of snakes. Some of the windows had fake animals! Who would have thought? The aquarium had a few small penguins and sharks. It wasn't all that eventful. Overall, however, it's a pretty nice zoo. I guess we're revving the engines for parenthood!

Afterwards, we went across the street to a restaurant for lunch. I don't remember the name, and it's a good thing for them. They get thumbs down from us. The food wasn't good, the service bad (the waitress started taking our order, and in the middle went to another table and picked up their plates and glasses). Anyway, after finishing up, we walked back across the street to the Jardin Botanica (Botanical Gardens). There are plenty of beautiful trees and plants there, plus some nice statues. Unfortunately, they don't have flowers. I would say this is Buenos Aires' version of Jardin du Luxenbourg.

Then, we took a taxi to the Malba Coleccion Constantini museum. It's a small but stylish museum of modern art featuring the art work of South American modernists. There is a sculpture of a human figure overhanging the escalator ascending from the lobby area.

The best floor is the 2nd one; this is where the action is! It features Frida Kahlo's "Self Portrait with Monkey and Parrot", the perfect follow-up from our trip to the zoo! The other artists who caught my attention were Alejandro Xul Solar (from Buenos Aires, cubist of sorts), Alfredo Guttero (Buenos Aires), Rafael Barradas (Montevideo), Roberto Matta (Santiago, surrealist), and especially Antonio Berni (Buenos Aires). His large painting called "Manifestacion" is very powerful with vivid depictions of the faces of the working class. I also liked his abstract paintings especially "La Gran Tentacion". Diana liked "Los Viudos" by Fernando Botero (from Medellin, Columbia), and so do I, and she liked Berni's pieces as well. See, more evidence that we're blissfully in love! ... The 3rd floor isn't that that impressive, but I liked the works from Pablo Suarez (Buenos Aires) and Antonio Segui (Cordoba, Argentina).

While reading in the museum book shop, we met a father and son from Virginia. They had taken a trip into the Amazon and were staying in B.A. before heading to Bariloche and Chile. His name is Cliff Krowne, a condensed-matter physicist. He recommended we check out the Jewish Museum (off Cordoba St) and Shoa Museum (on Montevideo) before leaving B.A.

Finally, we walked a few blocks to Persicco ice cream parlor. Thanks to Dawn for the recommendation. It was difficult figuring out what to order, since the signs weren't visible over the ice cream containers, but it's absolutely delicious helados.

We headed back to the hotel. We're thinking about checking out a couple more museums tomorrow and maybe a Tango show at night.

Back to B.A.

Flew back to B.A. today. On the flight over, we ran into the British couple we met on the boat ride in Bariloche (they're staying one more night before flying back to Venezuela where they're living). We're once again staying at the Howard Johnson Plaza Florida. A few problems happened, like the lights going out, the elevator not working, and internet access is verrrry sloooow. Par for the course!

Anyway, we went to the Puerto Madera area for dinner. Ate at the Puerto Cristal restaurant. Had Patagonian sea bass which I highly recommend. Very good dinner.

Tomorrow we'll probably go to some museum(s) since Wednesday is a free admission day.

Tronador

What a day. It featured the most compelling nature of the trip. It was more like a Sierra Club trip than a tourist excursion. Unfortunately, Diana didn't join me; she felt it would be too much for her. Most of the people on the trip were from South America, there was an Italian couple as well.

The trip began with the guide describing all the sites we were going to see. Her name is Maria Inez, a very friendly and informative Tai-Chi practicing, nature loving artist who just happens to be a tour guide! We drove by Lago Gutierez just to the south of Bariloche. It's near the Cathedrals where they ski in the winter. Then we drove by Lago Mascardi. This is a large lake with beautiful colors including blue-green which Maria explained is caused by glacier sediments.

We entered Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi where we paid our 12 pesos entrance fee. We saw more of Lake Mascardi, which Maria explained was named after the Mapuches, the Indians in the region. She mentioned they were related to the Incas and were killed off by the settlers (someone we recently met pointed out that the famous Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges claimed the whites killed all the Indians in the area).

Next, we stopped at Los Rapidos at around 10:45. This is a calm creek at one point, then once it passes under the bridge, it becomes the rapids. There wasn't too much of a slope, so I guess it just takes off due to a significant narrowing of the passageway (it didn't appear to narrow that much).

There were plenty of yellow retamas and purple lupinos along the drive (Maria said they were brought over by the Europeans). Parenthetically, we talked about other sites to see in Patagonia. She mentioned Fitz Roy, a place near Chalton which has mountains like the glacier carved Perros, mas o menos, in Chile's Torres del Paine national park.

After this, we saw the Rio Manso which looks very dirty (I'll explain in a minute). There is a nice Swiss style restaurant and some great views of Mt. Tronador, rising over 11,000 ft. above sea level. We were going to stop for lunch there, but they decided to go straight to the base of the mountain, eat there, and give us an extra hour to hike around.

We finally did stop at the mountain's base and had something to eat. Boy are the views incredible (you can see the white glacier overhanging a ledge of the mountain). Most people hiked up to get closer to the waterfalls. I'd say it was about 1 mile hike over trails and rocks from an avalanche.

The waterfalls are gorgeous. I counted about 15 not including those of the trickle down variety. I felt the mist of the far left waterfall even though I was a good 100 feet away from it.

Finally, we saw Ventisquero Negro, the Black Glacier. It actually extended out farther about 30 years ago, but that part broke off, during that time, to become ice bergs of sort. One can see the white glaciers above the black one. To the far left lies the moreno where the glacier passed by.

The ride back was nice. Enjoyed the views of the lake. Had a nice chat with Maria who talked about life in Argentina. She described some of the horrors during the military dictatorship. Thousands of people were killed, many of whom simply "disappeared". She also talked about how difficult it is being an artist.

I returned to the hotel around 6:30, and as soon as I walked off the bus, Diana was arriving at the hotel! Perfect timing -- another sign of simpatico. At night, we ate at the Family Weiss restaurant which is one of the more popular in the city.

This is our last night in Bariloche. Tomorrow we return to Buenos Aires. We bid farewell to a lovely, beautiful region of the country.

Patagonian Bliss

Well, not exactly. The scenery was certainly beautiful, but the tour we took today was lacking in many respects. First, the operations weren't coordinated too well. We were left hanging at several spots without anyone giving us direction where to go. Second, there was virtually no English translation (well I guess us Americans are being given a taste of our own medicine). Third, the tour bus came almost 45 minutes late.

We started out at around 9:45. We drove in a westernly direction along Nahuel Huapi lake. There are beautiful mountains everywhere and it's a very scenic drive. We arrived at the disembarkation port within an hour. Nearby is the famous Llao Llao hotel (I took a photo).

We had to wait in line with what seemed like 200 0ther people. We paid an entrance fee to the Nahuel Huapi National Park. Then we waited about 1-2 hour for the boat to arrive (it was a catamaran). Like I said before, it wasn't a smoothly run operation.

While waiting on line, we met an Israeli and English couple (I thought the British chap was actually Australian because of the hat he was wearing. Can you imagine that?). We chatted with them throughout the trip.

The boat ride is very scenic and one can clearly see how this lake appears to be endless. At the very least, it's one island and lake segment after the other. After about 1 1/2 hour on the lake, we arrived at Puerto Blest at 12:20. We ate at the restaurant there (salads and desert). Afterwards, we waited for another bus, while Diana was attacked by what she thought were bees (I kept telling her they were large flies impersonating bees, and that she should relax. Hey, remember she's pregnant; I have to keep her calm!).

Fortunately, the bus ride to Puerto Alegro was short. From there, we took a smaller boat across Lago Frias. It's a small lake somewhat akin to Lake Louise in Canada, although not quite as picturesque. The main attraction is the snow-covered volcano Trondanor majestically raising its head just beyond the lake.

We stopped at a ¨rain forest" for 15 minutes. Again, can you imagine that?! That was a disappointment. We returned by boat and then by bus back to Puerto Blest. From there, it was another boat ride to the "waterfalls" (they are really cascades). The trek up the pathway is beautiful. Here was the rain forest we were expecting to see. There are several types of trees here, and one could hear the sporatic sounds of some type of koo-koo bird. About half-way up the trail, one could hear the first rumblings of the cascades. Then without warning, the cascades come into view. It's a picturesque site and we took advantage of it, while Diana kept fighting off the "bees".

I continued upward for the final half of the trail. Diana stayed at the half-way point. It's a bit more strenuous for the last part. At the top is a small lake (Lago Cantaros) with large granite formations as its backdrop (this and some other granite mountains reminds me of Yosemite). Nearby is one of the oldest trees in the world (1500 years old?). I'll have to read up more about it.

So the trip ended with a nice touch. It's beautiful there, but there were too many people on tours to enjoy the nature.

We returned by boat and arrived back just after 6:00.

Bariloche and Seven Lakes drive

After having an excellent breakfast in the morning (the best we've had on our trip so far), we walked around downtown Bariloche. It's Christmas Day, so many places were closed, but a few restaurants were open. We tried to book a couple of tours, but all the tour places were closed. The only one open is the one who picked us up at the airport. We decided to cancel going to Tronador tomorrow. Diana doesn't want to deal with the windy roads and the long day. Instead, we booked a boat ride and tour for Puerto Blest, the rain forest, and waterfalls. The day after that, I booked for Tronador.

Bariloche is a hodgepodge of Swiss architecture, apartments, run-down buildings, and so forth. Some say it's an Alpine village. I don't think it measures up to Switzerland. Nothing does. It still retains some of the charm it once must have had in abundance, but it needs a good rennovation. The views are great, the lakeside serene and picturesque. I like the Town Plaza area, and some of the side streets are nice. There are a ton of teenages in town for the holidays. Noisy, rowdy, boisterous teens. It's the same all over the world!

We hired a private remise driver to take us around the Seven Lakes area. We started at 3:00. First we drove around the eastern side of the Nahuel Huapi lake. It's beautiful of course. The terrain is arid, semi-desert of sorts. Then we drove along the north side (entering Nahuel Huapi National Park). The roadside is decorated with beautiful retamas (yellow flowers) and lupinos (long-stem purple flowers that occassionally have shades of white, pink, and yellow). There are all types of trees including pine, cypress, and Douglas Fir.

The driver (Julio) stopped along the way so we could enjoy the scenery and take pictures. He was very friendly and explained a great deal about the area. We stopped to take a picture of Bosque de Arrayanes trees with their reddish bark, then continued on to an Alpine-like village called Bahia Manzano. It has a nice lodge and port. There are a few hosterias (lodges) and houses with Swiss architecture.

Next, we stopped in a town called Villa La Angustura. It also has Swiss style buildings. We got some ice cream there and headed towards some more picturesque sites.

Another lake we saw is called Lago Correntoso. There is a small river separating it from Napuel Huapi. We had a beautiful view of both lakes from a bridge towering over them.

After that, we headed close to the Argentinian-Chilean border (we got with 3 kilometers). We saw Lago Espejo (Mirror Lake), so named because it's easy to see reflections in it. To the left are some of the snow-covered Andes peaks in Chile; to the right are some gorgeous Argentinian mountains.

Finally, we drove down to the beach area of Lago Espejo. I swam for a few minutes in what I thought was going to be very cold water. It was just right! Very refreshing in a beautiful spot. Diana dipped her feet for a few minutes.

The weather was great today. It was warm and the sky was clear.

For those of you who celebrate it, we wish you Feliz Navidad!

Bienvenidos de Bariloche

Well we made it! Almost got stuck in a stop over called Neuquen. We didn't know there was a stop over, so we got off the plane. As we waited for our luggage, a gentleman came into the area and asked who was going to Bariloche. When we replied, he said we weren't supposed to leave the plane. Well, we got back on after putting our hand bags through the X-ray machines (they require exiting passengers to do that in Argentina).

But we're here now. We're staying at the Panamericano which is rated a 5-star hotel, but it's not quite a 5-star by our standards. The room is nice, but not top rated. The view, however, is spectacular. We're overlooking the lake! My first impression is it looks like Lake Tahoe. The lake is surrounded by snow-covered mountains. There's an island in the middle.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, so we say Feliz Navidad from San Carlos de Bariloche. We're thinking of taking a tour of Trounador tomorrow (the black glacier). I'll certainly write about any day tours we take. One of the receptionists recommended Cerro Campanario; it has great views of the area.

Montevideo

Or is it Monte's Video? Never can seem to get that one right!

The bus ride from Punta to Montevideo is very scenic. It's very green, idyllic at parts, plenty of trees, and featuring nice views of the coast at times (at points, it reminds me of the coastal ride in Israel and parts of Northern California). There are several farms and small villages to see along the way. One sees both nice homes and poverty.

We arrived in Montevideo at about 1:00. From the bus terminal, we took a cab to Independence Plaza located in the city's center. We went inside the Radisson (where my father-in-law Murray stayed) and stayed for a short time. Then we sojourned outside and spent a few minutes in the Plaza, took pictures of the buildings (i.e. the impressive tall Palacio Salvo), and the statue monument of a man on a horse. Nearby is the Teatro Solis which is the main cultural center of the city.

Prior to this day trip, Diana and I looked up some information on the web about Montevideo's Jewish community. We obtained a list of synagogues to visit. One of them was nearby the city's center. We walked to Canelones St. in a not-so-nice area of the city. At 828 Canelones is the Vaad Hair synagogue. It's easy to miss if one is not specifically looking for it. Diana spoke on the intercom and a man came down to meet us. His name is Shlomo Lerner, a very friendly person who showed us around the synagogue. He is the Shamas of the temple and has lived there with his wife for 25 years. The Shamas is the caretaker of the Temple, traditionally attending to the upkeep of the synagogue, it's sanctuary, even Torah and prayer books. You don't see too many left who live in the Temple's premises and are Jewish. It was a treat to meet him.

The Temple is 60 years old, Orthodox, and Ashkenazi (it's founding members were from Russia). Like the Sephardic temple we saw in Buenos Aires, the Bimah is located in the middle of the sanctuary. It's a beautiful sanctuary. Shlomo explained it used to be a Jewish area.

Would you believe he drove us to the Lubavich site several miles away, in the Posido district?! That's a good example of the hospitality we received in this city.

At the Lubavich center (Beit Chabad), we were given a tour of the premises by a woman who worked there. She showed us the Study area, kitchen (oh did it smell good there), the Mikveh (the ritual baths), and the school for the yeladeem (children). We met the Rabino, Rabbi Shem Tov. He's originally from the French Hill section in Jerusalem. It was good practicing my Hebrew again ("Shachachtee kol ha Ivreet Sheli" for those of you who understand Hebrew).

Nearby is Yavneh. We walked the few blocks to get there. After a short security check (similar to entry in Buenos Aires synagogues where we were required to show our passports), we were allowed inside. Yavneh is actually an Ashkenazi Beit Knesset (synagogue) and school. It isn't orthodox, but more of an amalgem of Conservative (Masorti) and liberal Orthodox. The synagogue is small and more modern. It features a library and study area in the back.

As we were walking out, a man asked us if we "had any questions about the place". He must have seen we were tourists. We struck up a conversation with him, and that formed the basis of the rest of our stay in Montevideo. His name is Ricardo and is the owner of Vitrilan, a heating, insulation and materials company. He was picking up his boy at the school. He offered to drive us to the Sephardic Temple (which he said was the nicest looking temple in the city), but he essentially became our tour guide for the remainder of the afternoon. We dropped his son off at his home which is located in a nice area of the city.

Ricardo is a very interesting person who speaks good English (he explained that's not too common in Uruguay). He drove us along the Ocean boulevard. First, we saw the old lighthouse at Punta Carretas (which means "Wagon Point"). It's in a restricted Navy area so we couldn't go inside, but there are nice views from there. Then we drove by an old jail that was converted into a pedestrian mall. Pretty unusual. As we were driving around, Diana noticed that there are no lanes on the streets. Good catch, honey!

We continued driving along the waterfront, which for me is the nicest part of the city. Along the way, we stopped at the Holocaust memorial. It's not visually impressive, but we were touched the city had allotted space for this memorial.

We finally made it to the Israeli Sephardim temple in the Old Downtown area. We went inside, and while it's not as old as some of the other synagogues we've seen on this trip, it's true it has a beautiful sanctuary. It has a large balcony, nice stained glass, a huppa, and chandeliers with Menorahs anchored with a Magen David (star of David) on the bottoms.

Ricardo mentioned there is one Reform synagogue in the city at NCI.

After the temple visit, Ricardo drove us around parts of the city. We saw a couple of plazas, some government buildings, the old Metropolitan and Anglican churches, and some other sites. Then we went to the Mercado del Puerto. I invited him to join us for dinner. We had a sumptious dinner there. Afterwards, he drove us to the bus terminal. Thank you Ricardo for being our guide and friend for most of the afternoon. It was the high moment of hospitality on our trip.

Overall, we found the Jewish community of Montevideo to be very friendly and pretty well adjusted to life there. There isn't too much anti-Semitism and they practice their Judaism openly.

The city of Montevideo has several poor, run-down sections. The tourist should see these as well as the popular sites. It gives him-her a truer perspective of life in the city. And parts of it are conjested and noisy. However, from what we saw, Montevideo has some buildings with interesting architecture from the Colonial period. We didn't get a chance to see any of the museums -- that might have given us a different "view". But we certainly had an unusual time.

Some of the towns between Montevideo & Punta del Este: Solymar, El Pinar, Pando (off the main route), Pinamar, Salinas, and Atlantica. Well, I fell asleep for most of the ride, so I didn't track the other cities. Oh well. More later.

Boat Ride and the Beach

We took a boat ride from the Punta del Este port to Isla de Lobos. This supposedly has the largest concentration of sea lions in the world. The ride was 45 minutes to the island. We didn't disembark there, but came close to several schools of sea lions. It was amazing to see so many of them. Because they are amphibious creatures, several were crawling on the island shores. Others came close to the boat and performed breeches out of the water. I felt a little sea sick on the ride back. The water was a bit choppy further out. Still, we enjoyed the experience.

We ate at a restaurant at the port. Had a good fish lunch. Afterwards, we walked along the beach front and rested our feet and buttocks at Playa Mansa (the premier beach in Punta). The sun is deceptively sharp here, so we got a little sun burned. It's about the same latitude from the equator as Santa Barbara, CA; but it seems to have the solar intensity as Hawaii.

Then we went back to Pesca's which serves rich gelato ice cream. I had the Pannacota again (creamy flan flavor). Yum. Then we walked by the large hand in the sand. While taking some photos there, we met a nice couple from Argentina (Peter and Mary). He actually is living in Dallas, while she's trying to obtain her visa to live in the US. They want to get married but have faced the great bureaucratic headache of obtaining entry into the country.

Later at night, we met Peter and Mary at a restaurant in Punta. We had a nice dinner together. It's a treat meeting people while traveling.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Montevideo. I'll make sure to blog again tomorrow.

One funny note about the cab ride back to the hotel. They keep the cabs very dark even when you arrive at your destination. Well, this cabbie saw I had trouble recognizing the bills I was taking out of my wallet. When he turned on the light, I couldn't resist saying "mucho gusto" (nice to meet you).

(note to self: Peter suggested we take tours of the 7 lakes and the Black Glacier (Tronador)

Arrived in Punta del Este ... finally

Well, we had quite an ordeal boarding the plane from Buenos Aires. We arrived early enough. The problem was the good people of Pluna (the Uruguayian airlines) didn't have their act together with the tickets. I had 2 copies of e-ticket printouts and I showed them to the agent, but he said we had to go to the ticket purchase window. "But I already purchased our tickets," said I. "It's not in our system. Go over there," replied he. When we spoke to the gentleman at the ticket window, he checked our reservation on the computer. We had a reservation, but he said we hadn't made payment yet. "What?!" exclaimed I. ... Well, you get the point. Even though I made a reservation from their website, and gave my credit card number, and the e-ticket confirmation states the dollar and peso amount, apparently they didn't bill me for it. Go figure. Sometimes life is a little difficult to figure out, but it's multiplied ever-more-so when you're in a foreign country.

Anyway, we made the payment. Then with about 1-2 hour before our flight, we received our boarding passes. But needless to say, we didn't get our reserved seats or specially ordered meals. We rushed upstairs where we paid our airport tax, then through the metal detector (Diana got a hand search because she's pregnant and doesn't want to pass through those detectors). Finally got our passports stamped and on to the plane. But every step of the way was an ordeal!

Fortunately it was a very short flight, only 35-40 minutes. We got a remise (reliable cab service) and he took us to the hotel. It was a very scenic drive. The water looks great here. The driver took us through a very posh neighborhood which is called "The Beverly Hills".

We're staying at the La Capilla which is a couple blocks from the beach. It's in the San Rafael area and is near a residential area. We went to check out the nearby pool which now is co-located with a brand new restaurant. It has a very posh look with white couches and seats in semi-enclosed sun protected areas.

We took a nice walk and the neighborhood and found it to be very nice. I would say most of the houses were middle to upper-middle class. Some houses have a South Pacific motif with rooftops made of straw (or some type of related material) making it look like Fijian huts!

Later in the afternoon, we went across the street and laid on the beach for a couple hours. The sun was nice, but the water was cold. Probably need to get there earlier in the day to get more of the warmth. Believe me, we'll try again!

We're talking about a taking a day trip to Montevideo (Uraguay's capital). Maybe a boat trip to see the sea lions. We'll see.

City Tour of Buenos Aires

Earlier today we took a half-day city tour of B.A. by bus. We started around 10:00 am near the hotel at the end of Florida St. (we´re staying at the Howard Johnson Plaza Florida).

The first place we passed by is referred to as the "Big Ben" Tower. This was given by England to Argentina in commemoration of their independence from Spain. Nearby is San Martin Square named after the famed Argentinian general.

The north area of the city is more spacious, green, and features more of the city's cultural sites. The two major districts are Palermo and Recoleta. Palermo is one of the more affluent areas of the city. We drove by Park Carlos Thays, a classical building in the Roman style that is part of U.B.A. (University of Buenos Aires), and a mechanical flower monument that is one of the largest in the world. Nearby is the museum in Palermo, the Japanese Gardens, Planetarium, Rose Garden, zoo, and Botanical Gardens.

Then we drove through the Recoleta where we passed by the church and cemetary. We stopped in the Recoleta. There are some large trees with twisted trunks (don't know what they're called). Diana and I walked through a small crafts fair near the Cultural Center. There are some photographic shots from there.

We then drove by some of the embassies. On the ride to the center of the city, our tour guide explained that B.A. was founded in 1536 by Mendoza. We drove down the widest avenue in the world: Julio Nueve. It's 144 meters wide.

Nearby is the Teatro Colon where we were last night for the opera. It was built in 1906 and houses about 3500 people. There's also the prominent La Bandera monument (the Obelisk) built in 1936. Nearby is Correntas Ave, where there are many theatres and restaurants.

June 9th is Argentina's independence day. As she was talking about this, we stopped in Plaza de Mayo. This is where there are government buildings, churches, etc. Very historical spot. The Pink House is where the president lives. This is where Evita Peron spoke to the people (from a low balcony). There´s also the Cathedral Metropolitana, a large church where General San Martin (the liberator of Chile and Peru) is buried. There was a Sunday mass going on inside.

Then, we drove passed San Telmo, Evita Peron square, and a Russian Orthodox church. Then we stopped at a Soccer Stadium. We paid 5 pesos each to go inside. Took some photos. A game was just getting under way.

The guide explained that San Telmo used to be where the high society lived until 1870 when there was a Yellow Fever epidemic. They then moved to Palermo.

Finally, we stopped in the La Boca district. This is the poorest area of the city, but certainly the liveliest and most colorful. All of these dwellings and shops, on Caminito Street, were painted in such bright colors. We drove around and saw some of the poverty in that area. While this was sad to see, Diana and I both thought La Boca was the most authentic area we had seen so far.

Enroute back to Florida Street, we passed by the river and the newest neighborhood of the city: Puerto Madero. This is where there are many fine shops and restaurants.

In the afternoon, we ate on a restaurant on Florida St. Then we returned to the hotel for our daily siesta! At night, we ate at the nearby Marriot Hotel. Had a nice buffet topped off with sumptious Torta de Manzana for dessert.

Well, so much for now. We head off to Punta del Este tomorrow. Hopefully will get a chance to blog from there. For now, good night.

Greetings from Buenos Aires

Hi all,

Welcome to Buenos Aires! We arrived on the 17th, but it has been a fast paced 2 days, so it has taken me a while to get to the blog. Generally the weather has been pretty good (warm) except there were thunder showers last night. I don't think I have ever seen such lightning in my life.

On Saturday the 18th, we went to 3 of the city's synagogues, 2 in the morning and one at night. In the morning, went to services in the Once district, first at the Yesod Hadat, a Sephardic Orthodox temple (founded by Jews from Aleppo Syria) with its bimah situated in the center, then at the Gran Templo de Paso (Conservative). Both were fascinating. The Sephardic service featured Arabesque melodies; it was enchanting. Despite obvious differences, what the 2 services have in common is fast tempo and a lot of prayers in Hebrew.

After the service at the Gran, there was a Torah study session in Spanish. We stayed and listened. Of course I didn't understand most of the Spanish, but the discussion was about Joseph and his brothers, so I had some idea what was being discussed. We met a nice woman there who took us to the Libertad, one of the oldest temples in the city. We tried going in, but nobody was there.

At night we dropped by Libertad for a segment of a night service. Another beautiful Temple with some nice Jewish gospel singing of sorts! (like at the Gran, there was an organist and some musicians with microphones, singing away). I even went upstairs in the balcony for a great view. Then on to the Teatro Colon for a masterful operatic performance of Puccini's Manon Lescaut. Bravo! That is one incredible theatre. It has 3 faux balconies with 3 balconies above those.

Well, it certainly is a lively city, but we are dodging the smokers, wild drivers, and noise. It's a little dirtier than we had thought. Today we took a city tour which was fun. I'll write about that later.

Ciao for now!

Leaving on our trip

We're leaving for Argentina in a few hours. We'll be away for 2 weeks. We look forward to sharing our experiences when we return.