Mamie and Pappie Visit
Trip Start
Jul 10, 2007
1
39
46
Trip End
Mar 11, 2008
Where I stayed
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sunday, January 27, 2008
35,000 taxis in Buenos Aires...all of which are on holidays December 31st or the 1st of January. This is a very odd affair for four Canadians who are trying to celebrate New Year's Eve in South America. Another strange custom here is for all businesses to toss the year's paper work out of the window on the 31st of December. It was an eerie feeling to see paper falling from the sky as it brought back raw and sinister memories of Sept. 11th. Our adventure in South America had begun!
Dec. 31st, 8:00 PM, Ty, and I both donned our new South American leather shoes purchased the same day. The four of us were ready to face the cobbled stone streets of the Argentinean capital to look for a good restaurant and celebrate the Eve of 2008 Latin style! Much to our dismay, this pointless walking quest became a great frustration; Buenos Areans do not celebrate this evening as much as we thought. Most restaurants are closed! We ended up eating dinner at the Sofitel Hotel at a price that could have easily subsidize the economy of a small country in the Pacific. It killed our budget but by now, new high heels, no transportation, cobbled stones, no opened restaurants in sight...could no longer walk distances. Irony was well defined as the theme to this wonderful "little shin dig" was celebrating the New Year "in Asia". Oh well, more souvenirs from Asia to pack!
Buenos Aires is a large city of 13 million and has a European flair. Funny how the dogs "decorate" the sidewalks the same way they do in Paris. B.A. has its very posh districts contrasted by extremely poor areas. Life here takes on its own beat; lazy start in the morning, very late ending; dinner is at 10:00PM. On weekends, the streets are empty, most stores are closed. Here, very little English is spoken so we had fun learning Spanish. We also invented words by adding a vowel ending to French words or using an Italian word here and there. It was quite useful and brought much laughter to the BA population. It is not a particularly child friendly city which was very difficult for the two boys. The summer temperatures in Buenos Aires can be extremely HOT and humid. Evenings are entertaining when the sound of the thunder storms bounce and echo between the tall buildings.
Happily, during our stay in the Argentinean capital, Mamie and Pappie, my parents came to visit us. It certainly does not matter how old I am, it is always such a great comfort to know that my parents are close by. Being away from my family for 7 months, it was a reassuring to have visitors from home. The boys were ecstatic to see them. Life couldn't get better then the evening when Mamie pulled out her spices to prepare the only spaghetti to please the X Dude's pallet! What a way to celebrate his birthday month!
We had chosen sites to visit; the Fine Arts and Evita museums, the Recoleta neighbourhood and Cemetery, San Telmo market, a Tango Evening ...well worth it. We had chosen restaurants where we could savour the Italian cuisine and the Argentinean beef. Note: the food in Buenos Aires tends to be a bit bland and very sweet. The beef is good but you know, so is our "Triple Grade A" beef from Alberta ;the best.
Iguaçu Falls
As a Christmas gift, Pappie and Mamie paid us three days at a lovely Bed and Breakfast (La Sorgente) near Iguaçu Falls, nature's widest shower bordering Brazil and Argentina. The word "spectacular" does not do justice to describe the vista. We rode in a helicopter on the Brazilian side...had to overlook the falls from high above. We rode the boat on the falls (felt more like under) to experience a fish's view point. When we saw the tour guide slip on the thickest rain pants and coat, we realized that the ride would be eventful. Holding on to XDude to stop him from being catapulted off the boat, we flipped and flew over the waves and into the curtains of water. Contrary to what people said...that water was refreshingly COLD! Mamie and Pappie loved the ride and no one fell overboard!
