My new reality

Buenas dias! Our first day in Buenos Aires has ended and our adrenaline has normalized. An uneventful 10 hr flight from a mostly empty JFK airport (Coronavirus anyone?) brought us to EZE airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina mid-morning. We are beginning a month long trip from here, looping south through Patagonia up to Santiago and back to Patagonia. Watch for blog updates!

Miguel, our limo (tiny Citroen) driver, drove us to our mid-town hotel, 725 Continental. He gave us some handy tips and info about the city in-between texting and frequent personal blessings with signs of the cross every time we passed a church. As there was little traffic on this Sunday morning the leisurely serpentine ride was uneventful. We were able to check in right away, then dropped our bags and headed out. We walked the multi-laned boulevard Av. 9 de Julio (celebrating Argentina’s Independence from Spain in 1816 after 8 years of war) north towards the Recoleta neighborhood. Our intent was to visit the Museo Nacional de Belle Artes since it would be closed on Monday. Along the way we stopped to visit well maintained city parks with swingsets or monuments, and fruit, fish, vegetable and craft vendors along the way. The streets were quiet with few cars or pedestrians. Noticeably, everyone was stopping at the Fried Kentucky Chicken shops on every other block.

Recoleta is an upscale area with high rise housing and cafes, parks, trendy shops, and various embassies interspersed. We popped into the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, built in the early 18th century. It has a nice little museum with architectural and religious artifacts in its cloisters, a bargain visit at only $60 pesos ($1USD). We will visit the adjoining cemetary and mausoleums later.

The orange colored Museo National de Belles Artes building appeared nearby, flanked by huge city parks with magnificent trees. This was a nice art museum. It had several August Rodin sculptures, remarkable since he accepted so few commissions from outside France. Also displayed were European and Argentinian art spanning the 1400s to present day, a nice mix of classic, impressionistic, contemporary, and regional art and just right in size, Goldilocks style (not too big, not too small).

We were getting tired so began walking back to our hotel, stopping for a respite at Josephina’s cafe. Yay! I’m back in ‘pisco sour’ country! Greg had beer. Revived, we were almost at the hotel when I felt bird poop on my head and back. Startled, I faltered. It was a LOT of poop. A ‘random’ passerby hands me a napkin and rather too helpfully starts wiping down Greg’s back. Sure enough, Greg’s wallet, which was buttoned in his back pocket, got lifted. Zounds! Oh well. After a brief but fruitless chase, we headed to the hotel only a block away to shower off the fake poop and cancel his credit cards. Welcome to BA! Tomorrow we continue the adventure, ‘enlightened’.