Argentina Day 15 &16 – Buenos Aires

Day 15 & 16: January 19 & 20, 2006

We woke up today in a calm manner since we were in no rush to go anywhere. First for the day, we took the bus into town and returned the rental cell we’d gotten and barely used. Then we went to the leather store to get fitted for jackets. Mom, moshe and I all wanted jackets, so we made sure to go with a few days to spare since sometimes they make them special for you. Originally, I wasn’t going to get one, but I liked the one I’d picked out for mom so much, I decided to get one too. Orders have been placed.

In the afternoon, we went to Palermo – the greenest part of this city, and often nicknamed “SoHo”. The botanical gardens, Japenses Garden, and the Rose Garden are all in this barrio of town. All three were lovely. The Japanese and Rose gardens were my favorites though.

We headed back and showered and got ready to go to shul for Friday evening services. After shul, we went to the house of Enrique “Kiko” for dinner. Kiko is 72, and was married for the first time 10 years ago, and now has a son age 8. his wife is 20 years younger than he, and already has grown children as well. Imagine, your dad is 82 years old when you graduate High School! Anyway, the dinner was nice, and the food delicious. We were there until 2:00 in the morning! We fell asleep easily that night, and I awoke grudgingly the next morning to go to Saturday morning services. They went by quickly, and we went over to Jaime “Miko” and Marta’s for lunch. They are the same people we went to the play with last week. Miko cooked an exquisite Chinese themed lunch, and we all sat and talked for a while afterwards.

In the evening, Dad and I walked around Puerto Madero – the old port where most of the buildings now have been converted into fancy lofts and restaurants. After that, we went to pick up the jackets. Er, they made the jackets too big. I felt bad, but I made them fix them once again, and we’d be back in the AM to pick them up again. I hope they get it right!

At 8:15, we were due to be at Café Tortonni – the oldest café in the city for a Tango show. We’d made reservations a week ago to ensure we got good seats, but once we got inside, we realized the place was nice and cozy and you could actually see from pretty much everywhere, but out seats were still some of the best. The show was really well done, with 3 couples dancing, and a live band with a great Tango singer. It was well worth the money, and I’d recommend the show to anyone coming to BA – a lot of places try to rip you off, but this was inexpensive and impressive. Then we went home for my last night of sleep in Buenos Aires.