Springing into Action

 Spring is in the air!  Spring and all of her blessings and curses has arrived, and she could not arrive too soon for me.  After slogging through the dreary days of January into February I finally feel alive again.  Am I a plant?!  Sorry I missed you all in February.  I wish I could say it was because I was off in a remote part of the world with no internet connection or because I was just so busy living my life that there just wasn't a spare moment to write or because I was too busy writing my book, but alas, it was none of the above.  It was mostly because I didn't think I had much to say on the icky days of January and early February.  Hope your winter was better!  I did find myself wondering how I used to spend those dark damp January and February days when I noticed most of the "memories" photos to cross my screen were on ski slopes.  Ahhh, that explains it!  I think I need to find my new ski slopes during those weeks and I think they may be on a golf course somewhere in the southwest.  Hope I remember this next year!  Who is in?

If you can't find beautiful flowers outside, make one inside!

As I looked back through my photos of February...I did a lot of puzzles.  Then I got tired of doing puzzles and we decided to visit some of our grandchildren.  Nothing like young family dynamics to vault you out of the winter doldrums.  We hung out with Augie and Thomas in San Francisco for a long weekend.  They are growing and changing so fast I hate to miss out on all of those cute stages!  Then we went to Madison and hung out with Daniel, Christopher and John while their parents celebrated 20 years of marriage!  Well done!  They boys are now pretty easy to watch and a lot of fun/competition for Grampy on the cribbage board.  We got to see some basketball games and experience some real winter.  Love seeing all the kids grow up. 

Post church donut o'clock!
He earned the biggest and best donut!

So much happiness!!!

Those eyes!!!

Just me and the guys waiting for our pizza!
Celebrity guest, one of TJ's brothers!

In hindsight...which is perfect, I realize now how sluggish I was in those early months of the year.  Once the days got longer and warmer and everyone came out of the woodwork, this extrovert was a happy camper!  Plenty of sunshine, long walks and golf!  And as if two weekends away were not enough, we threw in a trip to the big apple to celebrate one of TJ's high school buddies 70th birthday.  Yikes...!  NYC was on our radar for a visit and with the birthday invitation we were all in.  We love the city and managed to see two plays, eat dinner and brunch with one of our nieces who lives there, walked many many miles, ate some excellent food, stumbled onto/into a great wine bar and had some delicious charcuterie and wine and totally enjoyed the city springing to life.  Perfect weather too!  The city felt very subdued this time, dare I say cleaner and safer?  Maybe it was just my rose colored glasses.  

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge has been checked off the list!

Highly recommend Cork Wine Bar in SoHo!

Last but not least... it's here!  Speaking of turning 70, one of us, is turning 70 next month and the other one thought it would be fun to take a celebratory trip to a place that has been on his radar.  Hopefully by tomorrow night, I will be sitting in a cafe with my head spinning, looking through bloodshot scratchy eyes in wonder while sipping a lovely glass of wine and savoring a delicious meal with my soon to be 70 year old husband and a couple of friends.  This is almost my favorite part of any trip...the part where my imagination runs wild with fantasies of the perfect travel experience.  So far, the trip has been perfect, hehe!

Stay tuned in April when you get to see and hear more than you want about the trip.  Arrivederci!

Groundhog Month

 January is a beast! Like so many Januarys before, this one seems like it has been at least 5 weeks long!  The first week of the month brought the inevitable post-holiday withdrawal from friends, family and wine. I put Christmas away and embraced at least two days of quiet before realizing I was going to be home for the entire month.  Then there was the adjustment to being home alone (TJ went skiing and I didn't, because I don't do that anymore, sigh) and had to entertain myself through a very cold and wet week with random cleaning, dragging all of my potted plants inside to protect them from the freezing temps, very little cooking, a jigsaw puzzle, a vast wasteland of streaming, and a book...or two.  Next came Snow-magedden 2025 week, which was actually a very nice change of pace here in Texas!  This brings me to yet another wet, dark week of what can only be classified as the fifth week of dry-January because I can swear each of the previous weeks was at least 10 days long!  

One of the bright spots in January.

Yes, I am here, whining without wine about January just like everyone else...again!  Note to self, I really need to plan something other than clean up after Christmas and hibernate in January next year.  I know this slower pace of life along with the dark days is supposed to be good for us somehow, but it is a hard pill for me to swallow this year!  The more I am forced inside the more I realize how much time I spend outdoors in my life!  I played golf yesterday in wet, muddy...but not freezing conditions just to get outside for an extended period of time.  Once again, my plan to stay home in January and work on my golf game has been hijacked by the beast.  When will I learn?

During the second week of waking up to gray skies, looking at the thermometer and seeing that my morning walk would again require bundling up and the rest of the day would drag on as if it were 30 hours long, I decided to plan for the future and dream about blue skies and crystal-clear waters.  Nothing like the hope of traveling to a perennially sunny location that has beautiful scenery, great food and wine and a lot of history to brighten even the dullest day in January.  I spent the better part of a week or more planning and dreaming.  Now we just need to survive until the end of March!

Another time killing activity I did this month was to add up all of our travel statistics from last year.  Well, probably not all of them, but the ones I could actually document.  I guess if I couldn't go away, I would just reminisce about going away.  I made a photo album, online, and sent it out to be printed.  An activity that I enjoy, and they give me great pleasure to browse through occasionally.  Then I made a couple of videos from the hundreds thousands of photos from last year.  It was very hard, since I am limited to only 50 photos per video this proved to be a real challenge!  I ended up going with one that was mostly people and places and another that was no people, only places and things.  Maybe I needed January to tie up last year and put things in perspective.  Those activities certainly opened my eyes. 

 Some notable statistics from last year...

Number of miles I walked - over 1300 miles 

Nights spent away from home -122 plus 95 in Nova Scotia for a total of 227 for Lisa 

                                                  140 plus 130 in Nova Scotia for a total of 270 for TJ

Number of different beds we slept in - 39...more for TJ!

Rounds of golf played - at least 58...fewer for TJ

Fights taken - 30, not including all connections

I guess I understand when people say we are never home!  I am pretty sure this January is the most consecutive nights I have spent at home in a long time.  Nova Scotia is a different situation all together because I consider it home and we did spend 3 months in the same house while we were there!  Adding up all these numbers might explain why I felt so restless in January.  I just don't know what to do when I am home, especially if the weather is cold and wet!

 The good news is that by the end of the week January will finally be over!  I feel the way my dog Sadie used to feel any time I put my running shoes on..."yipee, I just know we are going somewhere now!".  Hope springs eternal!  The sun will shine in February, the golf course will dry up and the wine will flow (just a bit slower) and all of the rain will provide us with many flowers.  Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel that is January.

A couple of videos of last year to enjoy.

                                                      The people who make life so good!

                                            Some of my favorite places and photos from 2024

Thanks for reading!  

A Blank Space

By now, you have probably seen and read many videos and memes bashing January.  If not, crawl out of that dark hole you are hibernating in and scroll mindlessly through the internet like the rest of us! This year, January nobody's favorite month got off to a slow start!  Blame it on those Wednesday holidays.  Thursday, January 2 was still a holiday if you are in school, or a half speed day for those who work, or just another holiday for us retired folks.  Then there was Friday the 3rd, and really...did anything get done that day? The engine of the new year had barely sputtered out of gate before the weekend happened and shut that engine down.  Back to holiday mode. Monday, January 6 marked the official beginning of the new year if you ask me, it was the day we could finally press the gas pedal and get moving into 2025.  The question is, where do we go?

This is a terrifying sight to me!
Life is better with a plan in sight!

Once the year finally got going, I found myself eerily "caught up".  After over two weeks of holiday festivities surrounded by family and friends and many planned activities, I am starting the year home alone, with a short "to do" list.  This is not a good thing for me!  I really need a full "to do" list!  Yes, I realize there are some of you reading this thinking, "what I wouldn't do to have nothing on my "to do" list", I have been there, just not this year.  Today is like a blank space on the calendar taunting me to mark it up with chores, activities, appointments, short- and long-term plans and at least one trip...somewhere.  The possibilities are endless except for the ones that involve skiing or running marathons, then I'm out. 

I still miss spending January here!

 While TJ is gliding down the snowy white trails I planned to stay home and work on my golf game, join the many who participate in dry January and combat my holiday cookie habit.  All these well intended activities have been more difficult than expected, except for the dry part (I feel so much better!).  I continue to forget that January is a winter month, even in Texas, and golf is a hit or miss (literally and figuratively) activity available to only the heartiest of souls.  I have already broken my 50-degree temperature limit rule once and probably will again...if the sun is shining.  

The arrival of the January polar vortex has forced me inside.  With dreary cold days and no trips on the books there was only one thing to do.  Plan a trip and get the heck out of here!  Alas, here I am.  But there may be some travel on the horizon.  All I needed was a little motivation to guide my internet scrolling and find the next great place to visit.  Not a reality yet, so stay tuned.  I just needed a place to escape to, even if it is virtually.

To close, I will try to list a few good things about January.  It is probably getting a real complex with all the bashing...and here I thought I was the only one all these years!  Just check EVERY early January post on the blog!  Yikes!  At least I am consistent.

Things to like about January-

Plenty of time to read all those books you got for Christmas.

Ample opportunities to snuggle up with a cozy blanket by the fire.

Soup!

We all need some time to recharge after the holidays and there are not many distractions in January.

College Football Playoffs...Go Irish!

I get to wear those cold weather clothes that feel so neglected in my closet.

Boot weather!

After-Christmas sales to spend all that money we are saving by not buying booze!

Dreaming about the endless possibilities that lie ahead.

Like Taylor Swift, "we've got a blank space"...we can write whatever we want!

Only 40 more days in January!

Hang in there!

Happy New Year!

Crusty Bread

 I recently finished the book, Sandwich, by Catherine Newman.  It was mostly enjoyable and while I can definitely relate to some of it, I did not relate to all of it.  One of my daughters mentioned it and I asked her if it was about Sandwich the place or Sandwich the generation. She replied, "both".  Ok...so I listened to it while I walked this month.  It was coincidental that we visited Cape Cod the first week in December and it happens to be the setting of the book. The book made me think of all kinds of things I would rather push under a rug and forget about!  It also opened my eyes to a few more things that I have considered over the past year.

On Cape Cod...not Sandwich, but close enough.

Being of a "certain age", I find myself no longer in the middle of the sandwich of life.  I really liked being the inside of the sandwich.  The part that gives the sandwich its unique flavor.  The part that defines the sandwich.  The part that sticks the two outside layers together.  It has been a long time since I was that fresh bread layer of the outside of the sandwich.  That layer that is tender and delicate.  The one that bruises or crushes at the lightest touch.  Nope...I have graduated to the bread at the back of the loaf that has been out for a while.  That slice that is a bit stale and dry.  Not quite the end of the bread loaf but one of the slices toward the end.  Not quite crusty or moldy, but these are debatable on any given day.  

There is something about losing both of your parents and many members of their generation.  Suddenly, but more likely gradually, you look in the mirror and realize you are them.  You are the ones on the outside of the sandwich.  We used to be the ones setting the trends, then we were the ones keeping up with the trends and now we really don't give a crap about the trends (most of the time).  What even are the trends?!  There is something liberating about this place.  I find myself saying things, out loud, that I never would have let out of my head before.  My filter is loosening up.  I have more confidence to just say what I mean, until one of my kids calls me out and I think to myself...damn, I am not the person they look up to or listen to anymore.  I am becoming the person they hear and sometimes shake their heads at as if to say, "Mom!" and discount my words which leaves me feeling irrelevant.  I am, one day, going to be the person who has to listen to them.  Crap!  Of course, I may be like my parents and just choose not to listen.  We have all vowed to listen when they say things like "you can't drive anymore", "you need to move out of the house" and so on.  I am not near that stage yet...but when you are the crusty outside layer of the sandwich...it is a place you can see off in the distance.  I, for one, am still not quite embracing being the elder at the family gatherings.   

Bring on Christmas with the kids and grandkids!  I will be the one trying not to act my age!

I still can't decide if I liked the book or not.  It brought me to some dark places, but it made me laugh and it made me think.  Even if I didn't like all the thoughts.  Maybe in the end, that is what makes a good book.

Argentina, The Final Chapter

I have milked this topic for long enough, time to finish.

Our final destination was Patagonia.  One more Aerolineas flight, well two, from Mendoza to El Calafate.  I had so many mixed emotions about going to Patagonia.  I was very excited but I also had some doubts or questions.  This entire trip was full of exploring new territory and in my mind I expected El Calafate and El Chalten to be something like Alaska, remote, a bit backward, uncommercial and rugged.   I questioned whether our accommodations would be dated and simple or "as depicted on the photos".  Maybe my mid-trip anxiety was raring its ugly head, that and the scary review I read about one of our accommodations that had my head spinning.  

If the drive from the airport was an indicator of
how things were going to be, we were in luck!

I was very surprised!  El Calafate reminded me of so many ski towns out west that we have visited!  Shops with hiking, camping and ski outfitters, souvenir shops and restaurants.  The streets were full of tourists!  This had not been our experience up to this point.  Sure, there were tourists, but not streets full of them/us.  I guess when you are the only town within 100 km of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, you get a lot of tourists.  Bus loads as a matter of fact.  We enjoyed our accommodations in both stops, they were very small and personal.  I especially loved the breakfast with the ever present absolutely delicious fruit cup and the medialuna pastries.  I justified my pastry habit by hiking during the day and walking around town in the evenings.  

Flaky pastry with a glazed top...yum!

I don't know why this is so delicious, when
it looks so simple...but it is!

The glacier was huge, amazing, and beautiful.  We managed to see it twice because the first day we went the weather was lousy!  Rain and very chilly!  We did not do all the trails and only saw about half of what was available.  The park was surprisingly crowded that day though.  I guess if you are on a tour and that is the day to see the glacier, then that is the day you get.  Luckily, we had another day to go back.  A day that was clear and beautiful!  We rode all the rides that day.  Walked all the trails and did a boat tour.  Gorgeous!!!

Rain

And shine!

 

Glacier Perito Merino
One of the few in the world that is still growing.
I loved the "whale" iceberg in the lower right corner!

From El Calafate and the glacier, we drove to El Chalten, about 210 km northwest.  The drive was gorgeous!!!  There is only one small settlement between the two towns.  I equated the drive to the one heading to Great Basin National Park along Rt. 50 in Utah, only prettier.  I was awed by the color of the glacial lake we traveled along, only nature could make something that beautiful.  As we got closer and closer to the park entry and El Chalten, the mountains in the distance got bigger and bigger!  We would stop for photos only to find an even better view a few miles up the road, only to find another even better view the closer we got and on and on.  I was definitely charmed by the snowcapped Andes.  The town has and estimated permanent population around 1200 people.  Some businesses close down in the off season and those people leave the town, which I can't blame them!  I found it to be a charming place.  Rustic and yet very civilized.  Everyone was kind and accommodating.  It has been named the trekking capitol of Argentina.  Being a trekking town, it was also an early town.  Early, as in breakfast was early so you could get a jump on the trekking and dinner was early, by Argentinean standards, because everyone was tired from hiking up and down a mountain all day!  We embraced the early!  

The road between El Calafate and El Chalten!

Mt. Fitz Roy in the distance.
One of the best drives ever!

We hiked, we got lucky on day one to clearly see Fitz Roy, which was stuck in a cloud for the rest of our visit.  Glad we jumped out of the car and onto the trail on our first day.  We hiked up to see condors one day.  On our last day we hiked up to see yet another scenic mountain face.  We could have stayed another day, especially if the weather had been like day one...but alas, the fickle mountain weather turned cloudy and wet.  It was time to head back to the big city.  We really did enjoy our time in Patagonia and in nature much more than our time in the big city.  

Our last two days were spent in Buenos Aires.  By this time, we were both running out of gas.  After breathing the fresh mountain air and feeling safer than we had felt anywhere else on the trip, going back to busy Buenos Aires was an unwelcome mood change.  We did get to see a real live "football" game.  I kept waiting for Roy Kent or Jamie Tart to run onto the field.  I must say I loved the almost constant singing and chanting by the fans.  What a great atmosphere, I hear we should be glad the game did not get as rowdy as many do.  I thought to myself, "I have gone to many LSU football games, how much rowdier can it get?!".  Glad we did not have to find out.

By the time we left, we were ready.  We had such a great time, but it was time to go home.  It was the adventure we both hoped it would be, and we count ourselves very lucky.  And yes, the water in the toilet goes down the opposite direction.

Argentinian Adventures Part 2, Water and Wine

 We're back and it took a surprisingly long time, almost a week, to get over the effects of the two-hour time difference plus the additional hour of the clocks falling back.  Argentina does not observe daylight savings time, so it was a two-hour difference when we arrived there and a three-hour difference when we got home.  Not to mention the abrupt change going from the long spring days in Patagonia to the short dark days of autumn in standard time!  We found ourselves nodding off at 8 p.m. for a few days but couldn't sleep past 6 a.m. (and for me, you know that is something!).  I am certain I have caught up on my sleep, I am not certain I have caught up on my life yet though.  All good and the trip was absolutely worth it!  

We spent 3 nights in Buenos Aires and 
headed north to Iguazu Falls.

Learning to navigate Argentinian airports and Aerolineas protocol was a process.  Areolineas served us well throughout the country.  We took 6 in-country flights over the course of 3 weeks and all flights were on time, within 30 minutes, and all luggage arrived safe and sound at its destination.  Figuring out our last-minute gate assignments, boarding process (herd style) and baggage weight limits presented us with a new way to think.  "This is not United Premiere!"  By the time we flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires at the end of our trip, we felt like Aerolineas frequent fliers.  Thank you for providing us with a quick and easy way to see your country!

Iguazu Falls did not disappoint.  We had heard how spectacular it was from others.  We hired a guide to show us both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides in one day.  Worth it!  The day was surprisingly hot and humid...and we are from Texas.  I believe the high was 95F/35C degrees with 70-80% humidity.  We consumed so much water!  Our guide sought the shade whenever he could, he's seen all this before.  The town of Iguazu was nice enough, small and very manageable with some good restaurants.  Our hotel had a great pool area, I imagine this place is crazy busy in the summer! We oohed and aahhhed at the falls and I said, "Wow!" a lot!  The power of all that water is mesmerizing!

Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls
Devil's Throat

Beautiful bird!

These coati were all around!  One got on our shuttle train,
one of us freaked out....wasn't me.

From a distance

And from Brazil!

Towards the end of our visit to the falls, 
this is all I could think of!  A cold beer and a dip in this pool!!!
Bathing suit earned its spot in the luggage when we got back to the hotel!

We spent two nights in Iguazu and headed back to our friends at Aerolineas and on to Mendoza.  Mendoza has been a place TJ wanted to visit ever since he had his first taste of Argentinian red wine!  That was many moons ago!  It was one of several reasons we decided to make this country our first South American destination.  

Mendoza is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  Planning a trip like ours, having never visited the country, you just research...a lot (my favorite part), decide where to go and what to do and try your best to give each place enough time but not too much.  It is a leap of faith.  If I did it again, I would spend even more time in Mendoza.  As they say, "hindsight is 20/20" and looking back at my photos and remembering what we saw and what we did, there was so much more to see and do!  Even if it only involved looking out over grapevines at the Andes.  

Maybe just sit on a patio here and look out in awe.

The city of Mendoza is way larger than I expected!  I thought it was going to be like Napa or Sonoma, a small town surrounded by vineyards.  It is a large city of 2 million people!  We really enjoyed learning the history of the city and its many settlers.  My favorite part was learning about the plazas that represented different groups who settled the area.  There was the Italian Plaza, the Chilean Plaza, The Plaza San Martin ( and fyi, Jose de San Martin is a rock star in Argentina!  Every city or town has a San Martin Ave and/or plaza!)and the Spanish Plaza.  These four plazas surrounded the Plaza Independencia.  They celebrated their history in each plaza.  Plus, they were beautiful gathering spaces.  

We passed through the Plaza Independencia at night
and it was full of families and all of the fountains were dancing to music! 
I called it Bellagio Mendoza
 Plus, these two, with the ever present "football", who were happy to smile for the photo.

We took a bike tour through the wine country and that is the way to go!  We just followed our guide.  He was great!  He totally reminded me of a younger Anthony Bourdain, which made me like him even more.  We visited three wineries on the bike tour, Nieto Senetiner, a high-end winery, Kaiken, a mass production winery and Viamonte, a smaller boutique winery.  They were all lovely in their own ways. Riding a bike through small towns, looking at the Andes qualifies as a "pinch me" moment in my life.  It wasn't about the wine for me... it was all about those mountains!  We were so lucky to be there in the Spring when the mountains were still covered in snow, but the vineyards and the trees were bright green.  

Artsy photo of the day!

Our guide, "Anthony Bourdain".

By the end of our time in Mendoza I am pretty sure I had consumed more red wine than I have consumed cumulatively in my life!  I told TJ at one point during our trip, "I have had enough red wine and beef to last me the rest of my life".  Argentina is VERY red wine focused... the whites are very nice, but not nearly as popular.  

We treated ourselves to one indulgent night at The Vines.  A beautiful resort/vineyard/spa/restaurant in the Uco Valley, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by vines. It was lovely and definitely the best accommodations of our entire trip (possibly our entire life).  We also experienced the Siete Fuegos (seven fires) dinner.  All of the food was cooked over one of the seven types of fire.  It is Francis Mallman's restaurant.  We rode all the rides!  

Our villa at The Vines...too bad we couldn't stay longer!

Dinner, cooking on one of the seven fires.
This same sight can be seen all over Argentina.
Without the amazing view though.

The view!!!

The gym!
No exercise was done here, unless gazing out with your
mouth open in awe is exercise!

We did ride bikes around the expansive property. 

The rest of our time in Mendoza was spent driving from the Uco Valley back to Mendoza city.  Admiring the view at every curve in the road.  Stopped for lunch at one place but they were fully booked, instead they gave us a free glass of wine.  Found another lunch place, with an outdoor table for a leisurely lunch.  Sunday is the day for long, multi course lunches apparently!  Families together, young and old.  It was just so nice to witness.  We also got to witness the resident dog herding the geese back into the water if they got too close to the edge and tried to come bother the patrons.  

Just doing his job!

On our last night in Mendoza we did something we have never done before.  We had spent the day driving, tasting wine, eating a big lunch plus all the snacks they serve at the wine tastings, drove some more and checked into our hotel around 7 p.m..  We never left the room once we checked in!  We were full and tired and just needed a rest! The next morning w flew to El Calafate in Patagonia.  The farthest south either of us has ever traveled!  And that is material for yet another post, lest you, dear reader, are tiring of reading about what we did in Argentina.  I guess if you have made it this far, you aren't too tired yet.

We were both thrilled with the trip so far and looking forward to our time in Patagonia.  Still, at this point I was growing a bit tired of all the thinking in a different language.  Not that I can think in Spanish, but constantly translating and trying our best to communicate was wearing me out.  Not to mention always being surrounded by people speaking in a different language. ( It really limits the eavesdropping!)  There were not that many English speaking tourists where we went.  We were very grateful for our English speaking guides.  Believe me, I did try my best, which isn't great, to speak Spanish...but  Si, gracias, esta muy bueno and chow (strong Italian influence in Argentina!) were my "go to" phrases.  Google translate was much more effective at communicating!  Every night I would study my Spanish and arm myself with words and phrases I thought I needed to know.  

See you in Patagonia!

Argentinian Adventures Part 1

 An observation on the eve of our departure for our next adventure.  This is the last night for 3 weeks that I will eat in my kitchen, sit on my sofa and watch tv, shower in my own bathroom, drive my car and just live my life as I know it.  Tomorrow it all changes.  Beginning tomorrow, for 3 weeks, my mind will be expanding, my experience bank will grow, I will be communicating in a new language, eating and drinking new things, I will go places I have never been before, see things I have only seen in movies, books and videos, and visit a new continent.  I sit here excited, anxious, optimistic, almost completely packed and as prepared as I get for a trip.  We planned the whole thing ourselves; we don't usually do group tours or cruises....yet.  That day will come. 

One of the best parts of any trip is the anticipation and all of the expectations. 

The above was written more than a week ago with the best intentions of actually...finally...publishing a post! I realized, relaxing here at siesta time, October is almost over! So you will get my best effort from my phone. If you are reading this, you probably follow me on other socials and have seen the photos. Good thing, because I am not able to attach any to the blog on my phone! 

Early observations from our trip to Argentinian so far. 

Buenos Aires is big! Not what I would call walkable except for small areas at a time. We put in many miles! Stayed at what might be the best hotel of the trip as far as amenities but not a location ideal for us. We plan to stay in a different area when we return for 2 days at the end of our trip. 

We did have a few memorable experiences.  Not all good.

We took a couple of tours. One of the Recoleta Cemetery which was good and the cemetery is unique and historic. Yes, we saw Evita's mosaleum. We took a bike tour of the south part of town. An area we thought we might not otherwise have visited but the older and more historic area. Glad we did! Great tour! 4 hours with a very good guide and only one other person. Just when we were feeling good about the city after we had lunch on our way back to our hotel we were sprayed with some icky stuff from behind. An attempt to distract us and pick our pocket. We were not pick pocketed, we had a very good idea who had done it and our belongings were secure. I also had my "spidey sense" on alert on that street. Sadly, my faith in people was shaken.  I swore not to walk that street again.

The splatter...icky! 
It did wash out...whew!

The next morning was Sunday and the closest beautiful basilica was on that street. Turned out it was Argentinian Mother's day. The service was beautiful, the music amazing and at the end we were treated to a beautiful violin solo that brought me to tears.  My faith in people was coming back. 

That night we went to a Tango show and dinner and it was great! The tango is such a beautiful dance!  

I would say Buenos Aires both lived up to my expectations and disappointed me in a few ways. 

I think after a few days in the city dealing with a different language(my limited Spanish is getting a workout!), different currency that we never seem to have enough of because who uses cash any more, and navigating such a large and varied city, we are ready for some smaller places.

That is about all my fingers can manage for now.  Thanks for checking in! Sorry the crickets have been managing the blog for the last couple of months, I will try to update sooner rather than later!

Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento

El Ateno Grand Splendid bookstore

The Obilesc 

Figured out how to do pictures! Learn something new every day!