Buenos Aires -- last two days

Thursday featured a trip to the Recoleta Cemetery. On the way there I stopped at a corner flower stand to pick up a little tribute to Evita.

Plaza San Martin has a war memorial for the Islas Malvinas and a British clocktower. We played tennis on a nearby court before dinner.

At Plaza Mayor the mothers of the disappeared continue weekly protests that have been going on since April, 1977.  The student flag is labeled "no one left behind." Also notice the handkerchief the woman below is wearing. Blue embroidery tells the name of her missing child.

Friday was at a nice, slow pace. The Niza Petit Cafe at the corner of Alvear and San Martin had my favorite lunch of the whole trip! The manager was exceptionally friendly; he is so proud of his business and genuinely likes his customers.

In addition to the fantastic banana shake I enjoyed, he also sent over complimentary ice wine in champagne classes. I signed his guest book, he shared how he's been in business for two years since redecorating (notice the fine English, imported wallpaper.) and highly recommend you go there if you ever get the chance! This was a very lucky way to end the week.

Tango!

http://www.viejoalmacen.com/esp/cenashow.html

NOT some place I ever thought I´d go

Uruguay turns out to be gorgeous! The town of Colonia is a one-hour boat ride from B.A. Founded in 1680, this city as a small but very important battleground between Spain and Portugal. The scenery is picturesque, including many building from the 18th century and a beautiful mix of trees. 

 

Below: Playing cards over a pitcher of Uruguayan beer.

Uruguay had a variety of cars, ranging from Chevettes to old classics. For the record, the street below is NOT brought to you by the letter E!

 

 The evening wrapped up with stargazing along the waterfront. Amidst the Milky Way I was able to spot the Southern Cross. It´s incredible how a simple pair of binoculars increated the visible number of stars and nebulae despite the nearly full moon.

Walking Around the City

It´s rewarding to be on vacation. After a couple of good workouts and two nights of sleep I´m more anxious to explore Buenos Aires neighborhoods. Yesterday there was good antiquing at the Feria de San Telmo.  The street band below played tango music across from a church.

We spotted the exterior of the Casa Rosada at dusk, and I enjoyed Chateaubriand and 650 mL of Quilermo Cristal for dinner. Today I could´ve shopped and eaten virtually everywhere Ricoleta had to offer. (Dropping a grand at Ralph Lauren alone would have been no problem!) 

I Want To Be, I Want To Be, In Buenos Aires, Big Apple

Sitting at a little cafe, eating a veal panini and drinking coffee, it became immediately obvious why I felt right at home here within 30 minutes of walking around the city. The marina had some red brick construction along the way, and some mirrored glass buildings in the background. Isn´t that really called Grant Park?

Walking along Avendia Corrientes I noticed the lettered subway routes, some narrow-ish restaurants where Andy and I will inevitably play some cards over pizza and soda, The Sound of Music (in Spanish) at the Citi Opera, and the parody show of Musicals playing across the street. Avenida Florida is densely packed with tourists and touristy sales along the street. Isn´t that really called Manhattan?

To top that all off, I noticed some replica statue of the Washington Monument a few blocks away. Honestly if it weren´t for being surrounded by Spanish, and the occasional reference to Peronistas, I would not know that I am in Buenos Aires. That said, I also saw a couple of nice sweaters and suit jackets for reasonable prices along Calle Florida... so maybe I´ll buy an extra duffle bag to bring back some clothes and souveneirs.

I think Andy will enjoy it here as well. That´s right, think so. His flight from Chicago yesterday was delayed due to weather, so he will be arriving tomorrow morning. He may be also be able to verify or reject whether my belief that calles and avenidas have the reverse orientation from the roads in Colombia. 


Randomly, check out this street light. Crossing the street I feel more like I'm in a silent movie!

Frank Gonzalez

Weds 4/6: BOG -> ATL -> ORD
A Botero figure became my latest souvenir purchase to bring home. Landing 15 min early at O'Hare enabled a smooth connection to Metra. Booking 303 Taxi online had a cab waiting for me in Buffalo Grove. The funny thing is the cab ride to Walnut Ave cost the same leaving El Dorado Airport for my apartment in Bogota!
Thurs 4/7: LOYOLA & CUBBY BEAR
The spinach deep dish pizza was the best part of the buffet lunch at Carmen's. Thanks to Alison, I met for over an hour with her friend who works in university level educational administration. My next couple months will include researching student/ academic affairs career paths. Dad and I hung out and saw the Bulls beat up on the Celtics over a rib eye!
Fri 4/8: TOYOTA AND LINCOLN
Guess which one is a car? My Matrix XR was serviced for a recall while we went to see the latest Matthew McCounaghey film.
Sat 4/9: AUDITION & MEXICAN FOOD
To my delight Todd Bulmash and Aaron Stash were both at callbacks for Forever Plaid. I hope they get cast! I'll be playing Smudge again. After a trip to the barber I went to dinner with my theater friend, Sarah. Movie night took a twist when we watched Aladdin instead of some classic older movies.
Sun 4/10: BUBBE'S BIRTHDAY
This was a special party all around. I finally met Casey and was excited to see Shawn and Abigail. I'm working on posting a speech that Bubbe gave after we had cake.
Mon 4/11: WALKER BROTHERS & SHOELESS JOE'S
It turns out that some high school jobs were posted over the weekend, but I didn't see them until later this week. After returning my car I had an apple pancake a la mode with Mom. In the evening Andy, Ryan, and I grabbed some food.
Tues 4/12: ORD -> ATL -> BOG
The Hartsfield-Jackson airport decided it would be a good day for runway construction. So, although I was at my gate over an hour before the boarding time, the and weather was all clear, the first flight left 90 minutes late. Hustling to the connecting flight, they reopened the gate for be to board. I stopped to talk with the agent at the desk, who apparently was in Spanish mode, asking "Ha llegado mi equipaje?" Any guesses? That means, "Has my luggage arrived?" She frantically referenced the luggage receipts I was holding amongst my other documents. Feeling she had missed my point, I rephrased my question a bit. "Han llegado mis maletas?" (Have my suitcases arrived? Thanks again, high school Spanish!) When she continued to usher me on board, I decided it would only be with good luck that my bags would possibly be in Bogota from our flight. Sure enough, they weren't. A Delta agent gave me a receipt for the bags, along with his name and phone number, and I confirmed that I was supposed to return to the airport near a restaurant on Thursday morning. Oh well. At least I had a nice conversation about Chicago and Buenos Aires with three flight attendants while taking a tram from the runway to the gate.
Weds 4/13: BACK TO IT
My first block of teaching was lousy, though the rest of the day was much smoother. I was ready to sleep a lot by the end of the day. Pizza = dinner. Bulls = 62 wins.
Thurs 4/14: DELTA, DELTA, DELTA, MAY I HELP YA, HELP YA, HELP YA?
8:30 AM  Arjadis, a receptionist, kindly called the agent; my bags can be delivered.
10:20 AM  Luckily done with classes for the day, I signed out to wait at home.
12:45 PM One correct bag (including the banana bread) arrived. The second bag belonged to Frank Gonzalez. I know that sometimes people think I'm Hispanic (or Italian, which I prefer), but not only am I not Frank Gonzalez, I don't even know Frank Gonzalez. I don't know whether he's the Frank Gonzalez who, according to the Internet, got a PhD at UW-Madison and works at their Center for Cancer Research, the painter of abstract landscapes who makes birds and figurative works, the guy who investigates tsunamis for the NOAA, or just some random guy. However I am now most grateful to know that he lives over 50 blocks from me... so sometime this afternoon he will be discussing with a Delta employee why he received the red bag with black trim instead of the black bag with red trim (that I received.) Anyway it could've been worse. Neither of us is Gaylord Fokker.
2:45 PM Done and done. Woo-hoo!