October 9 - Visitors from Home

We had anticipated this day for seven months. We were going to see familiar faces from home and have a great weekend with them.

Our niece, Shalyse Kroff, arrived this morning on a confirmed flight. She was to be met by her parents, Paul and Denise, who were suppose to arrive two hours ahead of her. Then, the three would make their way to the Marriott Hotel in the Capital, take a nap and wait for us to be able to leave the office and meet them there. No such luck!! Since Denise works for Delta Airlines, they travel standby and as fate would have it, they couldn't get on a flight from Salt Lake to Atlanta in time to meet the overnight flight to Argentina. Delta only has one flight a day to Argentina, so they would have to wait until the next night to leave.

Shalyse, however, made it fine and had to wing her way solo in getting to the hotel. Not knowing Spanish and being a young single gal from the States, it didn't take long to experience getting "taken advantage of." The remise driver who drove her from the airport charged double what it should have been. Gees!! I'd like to get ahold of him!

Knowing that she was alone and in a foreign country, we were anxious to leave the office early to rescue her. So we worked until noon and went home to get our things together to leave for the Capital. Denise also works for Marriott in Salt Lake a couple days a month, so she gets benefits there also. She got us a discounted room and we planned to stay there for two nights with them.

Shalyse was glad to see us as she was starving, and she didn't dare go out alone searching for something to eat. I guess we put the fear of death into them to make them aware of pick pockets, and the possibility of being robbed on the street. So she waited for companionship.

The hotel is a hundred years old and the name then and now is Plaza Hotel, being bought out by Marriott at some place in time. It is beautiful and plush. The flowers on the table are real lilies. I had to touch them to see as they looked so perfect.

The street where the hotel is located is called Calle Florida. It is closed off to cars, and is just for foot traffic. Stores of all kind line the streets with employees standing out front luring people inside. Lots of leather goods are sold here, plus everything and anything a tourist would want.

There is also live entertainment to add to the atmosphere. The Tango is the national dance and is displayed on the street, at flea markets, in parks -- everywhere. It is quite a dramatic dance.

These two men each had female partners, but this time they demonstrate moves dancing together. Strange, I thought! There is always a "hat" passed around for donations.

At a certain time each evening, the street vendors or artisans can bring their wares and spread them out in the middle of the walking mall. Calle Florida is about ten blocks long, and it was filled from one end to the other with people selling things. Night life is big in Argentina so they probably stayed there until the crowd leaves which could be until way after midnight. Good prices at theses events, too.

It was a "must" to stop for an ice cream treat. The helado here is the best we have ever had. It is so smooth and creamy. It is to die for.

There is also an upscale shopping mall on this street -- very expensive stores. We were impressed with the dome shaped ceiling that had murals painted on it. Very impressive!! We just looked, didn't buy.

We ended the evening by strolling through the plaza right across the street from our hotel. We watched the night life and brightly lit up buildings. Cars, buses, taxis - you name it -were whizzing by every which way. We were hoping for a sound proof room.