Christopher and Laura join us in Buenos Aires

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Mark and I took the metro to China Town today. We bought some Christmas lights and a Christmas ornament to make our apartment more festive. We had lunch at a traditional Chinese restaurant and a robot delivered our food. we walked a lot today.

Christopher and Laura have arrived in Buenos Aires. We started out by going out to lunch for pizza. The pizza here is very heavy on cheese, light on sauce and toppings. After lunch we take the hop off and on bus. Our plan is to just stay on the bus. Christopher and Laura are tired so we rode the entire loop then went for a beer before heading back to the apartment.

Cooking class is on the agenda for today. Taking a cooking class is a great way to learn about the history and different geographical areas of Argentina. This is a hands on class so we cook, eat and drink. Our teacher is very informative and he also gave us recommendations for restaurants and bars. I booked the class through Viator website with Pachamama Argentine Cooking Experience. I highly recommend this class, lots of food and information.

Before going to Buenos Aires we checked out restaurants. One of the most popular restaurants in BA is Don Julio about two blocks from our apartment. They recommend making reservations 90 days in advance. I did not do that but was put on a wait list. We got a lunchtime reservation on December 16. We took Rachel to this restaurant nine years ago and it is still excellent. They give you champagne to drink while you wait for your table. People without reservations wait in a line down the sidewalk hoping to get in. We have the specialty which is steak, fried cheese as one of our appetizers and mashed potatoes. The meal is great and so glad I did not have to wait in line.

Sunday Christopher and Laura head to the San Telmo Market. The largest outdoor market with lots of places to eat.

Today we headed to Recoleta Cemetery, one of the top attractions in BA. It contains the graves of famous politicians, Nobel prize winners and military men. Evita is buried here. Some of the vaults are beautiful and well maintained and others are falling apart. It was not crowded at all when we were there. We had lunch in Recoleta then headed to Cafe Tortoni. The cafe opened in 1858 and is considered one of the most beautiful cafes in the world. They do not take reservations but the line outside was about 20 minutes long. We had drinks and cake. They also offer tango shows here. Next onto El Ateneo Grand Splendid it is considered the second most beautiful book store in the world. It is beautiful and we stop by for pictures. Next onto a bar Laura and Christopher went to. It looks like a British Pub. Christopher and Laura are going out to a tango show and we head back to out apartment.

Big storm last night. We planned to visit the parks near Plaza Italia. First stop lunch. Mark and I have eaten empanadas and multiple places in our neighborhood. Today we try Cumen Cumen. It is now our favorite empanada shop. All of the other empanada shops make the empanadas in the morning and they sit in unrefrigerated cabinets all day. At Cumen Cumen they cook the empanadaso after you order them baked or fried your choice. The empanadas are very good and cheap. The storm has knocked down trees everywhere. The walking paths are blocked and the parks are closed while they try to clear the walkways. the only park open is the Japanese Gardens. The gardens are beautiful and they have a restaurant and cafe if you are hungry.

Today we are taking a walking food tour in our neighborhood. I signed up for this tour through Viator with Sherpa Food Tour. I choose this tour because it was in our neighborhood. Food tours are held in different neighborhoods in the city. We meet our group at a pizza restaurant called Picsa nearby. Our guide Bell is very informative about food and history. We visit four restaurants and have food and wine at each stop. It is a fun day and I highly recommend a food tour. Mark and I took a food tour in the Mission District of San Francisco to celebrate Barbara Marcotte’s birthday and it was fun and I felt like I was on vacation. My point is go to Viator and see if there are tours at home you would like to take. Our guide pointed out a plaque on the sidewalk with the names of two of the missing. On the wall near the plaque was pictures of the two you men who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during a dark time in Argentina history.

No pictures but we rented bikes today. We head to the parks. The bike lanes still have branches blocking them in parts. Mark got a flat so we walked his bike back three miles to the bike shop.

We take an Uber to Tigre Delta train station a 45 minute drive. We have signed up through Viator for a Half Day Private Safari Delta tour in Tigre. Nine years ago we took this tour with Rachel. We arrived an hour before the tour was to start. I thought we might walk around but the owner was waiting for us and walked us to our boat even though we were early. Most of the Tigre tours are in large boats but our tour is in a Zodiac with just the four of us and our guide. Our guide is a 34 year old teacher during the school year and guide in the summer. It is summer now in Argentina and the kids are out of school. Our guides father was also a guide. The tour was listed as half day but it went six hours. We saw the locals houses on the delta. They have no water, electricity or sanitation. A boat delivers water, locals leave empty water bottles out on their dock and a boat comes by and fills up the bottles. Another boat picks up garbage. The delta opens up where it connects with two rivers. The rich own large homes on the rivers and they have huge boats. People water ski on the river. We passed a island populated with Germans who moved to Argentina after WW II. We went to Gato a steak restaurant on the delta. Our waiter was surprised Mark and ai ate all our steak and mashed potatoes with wine. After lunch we went to a narrow part of the delta where the big boats could not go. We got out and walked in the shallow water. We stopped at a deeper spot to swim with BA in the background. Our guide asked if we wanted to go back to Tigre or stop for a drink at a water side bar. Of course we said we would stop for a drink. I had the best gin and tonic I have ever had. It was nice to get out of the city for the day. Uber took us back to our apartment.

Laura left today so she could get home in time to spend Christmas with her family. Thank you Millers for letting us have time with Laura this holiday season.

Christmas Eve is the big celebration day in BA. We have reservations at Don Bonito at 8 pm For dinner. It was the most expensive dinner I have ever had but not the best tasting. We have left overs with is good because no restaurants or stores are open on Christmas. We did buy two pizzas and three salads on Christmas Eve so we could eat for Christmas dinner. On Christmas we did lay by the pool and did little just like the locals.

Christopher fly home and we will miss him and Laura.

We took the metro to the Contemporary Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum which are next to each other. The Contemporary Art Museum was free because we are seniors. We are not big fans of contemporary art but we do find it interesting. The Modern Art Museum which charges had almost no art in it and I would not recommend going to it. We headed to Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo. This is a spot to watch tango dancers. It was raining last time we were in San Telmo so the dancers were not there.

So our time in BA is almost over. We ate ice cream almost every day. We ate loads of empanadas. We used the gym and pool at our apartment to help us keep in shape. We went to the movies twice, movies in English with Spanish subtitles. We check out of our apartment and head to the Recoleta Grand Hotel to meet our tour group. We are taking a tour to Patagonia with OAT. This is our first tour with a group and we will see how er like it. Goodbye for now and Happy New Years!

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