FUN WITH WARD AND JANE

It´s hard to believe that it´s already January 26, I only have a few more days in Buenos Aires, and that my last posting was more 10 days ago. But WHAT a ten days.

WARD AND JANE
Ward and Jane arrived a little later than scheduled, which was around 9:30AM on the morning of the 15th after an overnight flight that took them from Atlanta via Lima, Peru. As I recall, we mostly relaxed most of the rest of that day, after I showed them the neighborhood, restaurants, parks and shopping.

On the following day, we took the ill-fated City Tour, by bus. The bus was to pick us up at the Hotel Wilton, so we took the subway to the closest stop and waited at the hotel. The bus was more than a half hour late, and then seemed to drive us around aimlessly. The guide finally started some narrative, but her English was not good, and I couldn´t understand her. They had three stops scheduled. At the second one which was the soccer stadium, which I´m sure was of interest to fans, but in a seedy part of town, we opted out, flagged a cab and returned home, having learned little or nothing from the experience.

The next day, we went to Gallieries Pacifica on Florida Street for some window shopping, and found a travel Agency called MaWa, and a helpful agent named Marcia. She arranged trips for us to an Estancia, and to a Tango dinner event later on in the week.

THE ESTANCIA
Estancia means "station". It also means "parking". That´s what they call ranches hereabouts, and the ranches raise the cattle that make up the wonderful steaks served in the country. After an hour´s ride in yet another bus, we arrived at the Don Silvia Estancia. It was a pretty place and quite compared to downtown. However, the three of us being from rural areas were already familiar with horses and cows and other ranch critters, so it held little interest for us. Many more buses and cars had arrived, and most of the crowd was very interested in the demonstration of milking the cow, and a good majority rode the horses in groups of a dozen or so, or rode in a horse drawn carriage.

We were beginning to wonder whatever we would do until the bus left at 4PM; when the dinner bell rang. We were assigned to table number 36, and their must have been at least 150 people, or more in the dining room.
The brought salads and bread and wine, and then started bringing trays of various kinds of meats and you could choose which piece and how many pieces you wanted. Things were starting to get interesting. Ward and I drank most of the bottle of Argentinian wine, as Jane perhaps felt it was a little early. We ordered another bottle of wine, which was promptly delivered, and we finished it off with yet more meat. Then a third, and more meat.

Most of the time we were eating, there were two entertainers dancing and doing various routines on the stage, most of which seemed not extraordinary to me.....but as their various costume changes and acts progressed, they demonstrated many talents and were very entertaining.

Finally, the MC, who was a large man with a busy mustache, goucho pants and high boots, ask for people to come up to the stage and sing a song representing their country. A little Asian lady got up and sang a little Asian song and everybody clapped.

He asked for more countries, by name, but nobody volunteered. Finally, he asked for the United States, and of course we (our table and the next) volunteered Ward, who by that time had consumed the lion´s share of the three bottles of wine. He got up, ambled to the stage, using his cane, and belted out one stanza of "American the Beautiful". The crowd went wild--well, actually not wild, but clapped loudly at his performance as he left the stage.

My camera`s battery had just died, but I made sure Ward´s was within reach. I reached for it and aimed, but nothing happened. It wasn´t on, and I didn´t know how to turn it on. I gave it to Jane, and she did not know how to turn it on, so we have no pictural evidence of my brother representing the United States of America before a crowd of foreigners in the Argentinian countryside. You´ll just have to take my word for it.

EVITA
Jane´s list of "Things To Do" directed us the the Evita Peron Museum, a nice walk from my apartment, and past the Botanical Gardens. We finally came upon a restaurant and on a sign outside, it said "Museum". On finishing our tour of the Museum, we found that we had come in the back entrance, as we exited from the real entrance. I´m not big on museums; however, I was impressed with two floors of Evita memorabilia, and translations to English of all of the important exhibits. They were very well done, interesting and complete.

We then took a cab to the Recoleta Cemetary in the heart of Recoleta, which is a very good district. Jane bought a single red rose from a vendor, and we went in search of her tomb. I guess that´s what you call it. The cemetary is totally surrounded by a high brick wall, with only one entry and exit point, and is like a "City of the Dead" arranged in streets. All of the tombs or shrines, if you prefer, are above ground. There are no extraordinery marking on Evita Duartes shrine, and we had a little trouble finding it. When we did, there was a small crowd, which eventually died away, and Jane placed her rose in the wrought iron door, while Ward and I took pictures.

Enough of death and musuems! We walked to Avenue Vincente Lopez on the opposite side of the cemetary where there are many shops and restaurants, and stopped for refreshments at an outdoor cafe.

URUGUAY
Our travel agent arranged a day trip for us to Colonia, Uruguay. We took a cab to the North Dock, and went through customs and immigration and boarded the large hydrofoil for the trip, which took about an hour to cross the River Plata, which will give you an idea of the size of this river. The slow boat takes three hours to cross it. I was disappointed that there was no deck so that I could let the breeze blow through my hair, but that´s the way hydrofoils are constructed. They did serve sandwiches and soft drinks. No cerveza.

Colonia is a pleasantly small city West of Montevideo perhaps 100 miles. It has an "old town" which is the major attraction, and was a fun place to visit. Eventually, we tired of walking, and rented a golf cart to continue our sight seeing.

TANGO
Sadly, Jane took ill on the day we were scheduled for the Tango evening entertainment, and having spent five hours in the emergency room of a German Hospital, we were to spent to do anything. Ward called and cancelled our reservations, and I subsequently checked with Marcia, and she said they would only refund half of the amount.

Jane was diagnosed with a bacterial disorder, was prescribed antibotics, and returned to the apartment to rest for the next couple of days. Ward and Jane then returned to the USA, as scheduled, except that all of their flights were three hours late.

It was great that they could visit, and it immensely improved the quality of my visit, as some of these things I would not have persued on my own.