Heat Wave- Saturday, July 3, 2010

I couldn't believe it when we opened our eyes and it was 8:00. We rarely stay in bed that long --ever! But our day's activities were not going to start until the afternoon anyway, so no big deal. And, the temperature outside was unseasonably warm. It was warm last night, and today it reached the low 70's. And they call this winter?

The Argentina vs. Germany World Cup game was starting at 11:00 and we wanted to watch it before we left the house. The streets were again empty and we are sure deep depression was settling in on most Argentines today. Their futbol team not only got beat, they got whupped!! It was painful to see them lose 4 to 0. We were a little discouraged too, as we enjoyed all the hype and anticipation associated with having Argentina in the games. Now we will have to root for Uruguay, as Paraguay got beat too, by the Spaniards. Those darn European countries!!

Last year on the 4th of July, we celebrated with the other seniors at Bonpland having a planned pot luck dinner in the party room at the Area Offices. Decorations were all red, white, and blue and it was a festive time. Last year there were about eight senior couples working at the Area Offices, and now they are down to three for the time being. A couple more are on their way. So no get together event was planned -- or at least non that we heard of.

So to celebrate on our own, Rich and I decided to explore an area we have read about up in the Capital. Actually, we have been there twice to eat at our favorite steak house, but we haven't looked around much. So off to San Telmo we went.

We left at 2:00 by train and there weren't as many people home mourning the loss as I thought there would be. We had to stand up for our 35 to 40 minute ride. We are used to it as some days seats are hard to come by. However, I must say that the Argentine young people are respectful of their elders and especially older women, so sometimes they jump up and offer me their seat. This happens on buses too.

Right at the Retiro train station where we got off is a subte line, and we could see that it went close to the area we were going, so we went down under and hopped on. Much cheaper than taking a taxi! After getting off, we asked questions with our map in hand and were directed to the San Telmo area which was about seven blocks away. It is the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires and is characterized by it's colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors, and antique shops line the cobblestone streets.

The street Defensa is the main tourist attraction, and we heard some English spoken on our walk. We didn't know where we were going, so we just wandered in and out of everywhere.

When we wandered into the Mercado San Telmo we were astounded to come upon one antique store after another. There was SO much to see that I couldn't wrap my mind around all that was before my eyes. It would take a week in each store to look at everything.

The Larsons in Switzerland, and my sister, Susanne, would have a ball browsing around these stores collecting treasures.

In one store, these little guys were busy at a chess game and agreed to let us take their picture.

The row of antique stores led to an open warehouse type area that had many fruit and vegetable markets. NEVER in our 16 months here have I seen such a display of perfect looking produce. It was not only attractively arranged, but the freshness was above reproach. This is just one of the open markets that we saw, and it would get my business if we lived in this area.

We walked to a plaza that had an outdoor cafe in the middle, with people set up selling their wares on the perimeter. I purchased two of the same items we left in the McDonalds a couple weeks ago. We'll see if we can hold on to them this trip.

There are historical sites to see in the area, but it was so late in the afternoon and most places were closed. So we will have to pick up on those on our next visit.

Corner walls that surrounds property are often painted with a variety of interesting scenes. If it is not graffiti marking the cement walls throughout the city, the artistic ability of some is displayed.

We took a close up view of the VW van for Nate and Melissa who own a refurbished one of their own. Don't think this one has a canopy on top for sleeping, though.

This is an interesting painting around these windows -- colorful, but weird.

One of the main purposes in visiting this part of the Capital was to return to Des Nivel which is a restaurant that serves delicious Argentine beef. We were introduced to it by our senior friends, and have been there twice before, once with them and then we took Paul, Denise, and Shalyse back there last October when they came to visit.

It was still as good as we remembered. They didn't ask how we wanted our steaks cooked and mine was more rare than I have ever had, but it was great. I have always been afraid to eat meat that was really rare, but it wasn't like I expected. There were only a couple bites of really red meat that I left on my plate. A side of ensalada completa was added to our meal. We were stuffed.

We waited on a corner across the street from the restaurant for bus 22 to take us back to the Retiro train station. Then, since it was at the beginning of the line, we found seats together and sat down the whole way home. A blessing for our tired bodies!!

It was 9:30 when we walked in our apartment, but I was still too tired to update the blog. I only got the pictures uploaded.

We had a wonderful day of sightseeing and exploring, and we were so proud of ourselves for doing today's trip without taking a taxi. We found our way around on the train, subway, and bus. Who would have thought that in sixteen months we would be so comfortable getting around Buenos Aires on public transportation among a population of 13 million people. We surprise ourselves!!!