Jane´s Last Days in BsAs

It´s definitely fall here in Buenos Aires. I LOVE FALL.

Jane and I returned to crisper weather on Saturday morning, but that didn´t stop us. We took the morning to chill out a bit and recoup from our bus journey. Saturday afternoon we walked to Palermo to check out the famous outdoor designer´s markets. Just as I finished telling Jane that I didn´t need to buy anything, we stood outside a stall filled with dresses as I tried them on one after another. So much for budgetary responsibility. But, finding my sensibility, I didn´t buy one, and settled on a more practical sweater later in the day. Sweaters, necessary for fall. Dresses, not so much. We caught about 5 minutes of a street tango performance then headed back home to change for dinner.

Characters. The world is full of them. Our cab driver to our Puerto Madero sushi dinner was no exception. Pati had made us reservations at Sushi Club in Puerto Madero so we hopped in a cab and by chance got some important back-seat Spanish lessons. Our driver showed us the difference between various Spanish accents - Mexican, Argentine, Colombian - putting on quite a linguistic show. Then he gave us a history on Argentine newspapers and their slants, taking cues from Jane´s NYTimes connection. I worried a little bit that we were going to die en-route because he seemed way more interested in watching us watch him in the rear-view mirror than watching out for oncoming traffic. But then those are minor details. As I paid him with a $100 peso bill, he gave us a v e r y  s l o w lesson in Spanish about the importance of never paying with a 100 due to counterfitting. Thank you Mr. Cabaret.

Safely in Puerto Madero we walked around the harbor admiring the views before checking in for our 930 reservation at Sushi Club. Something to get used to in many parts of South America, is the difference in restaurant service. It´s not always about the customer. It´s not always get things out quickly so people don´t get angry. It´s just what it is. That´s the best way I can explain it. Go in with no expectations and you´ll be fine. Go in with American expectations, and you´ll be pretty frustrated.

By the time we sat down to eat we were dying of hunger as we had been waiting for sushi all day. Bad idea. I almost ate my own arm. And after Jane told me that she heard an interview where Janet Jackson said a secret celeb diet trick is to eat paper because it fills you up without calories, I almost ate the menu. How mortifying would that be? And paper? Really? I hope I never go there. But alas, we found our patience and we ate a lot of really good sushi and all the world was good.

Sunday we decided to round out the week with a trip to La Boca. We took the bus with all the rowdy football fans who were heading to the Boca Juniors game, and were a bit surprised as we watched armed police escort in buses of fans from the opposing team. We were told later it was best for everyone this way. I can´t wait to go to a game. But we didn´t trust ourselves to buy non-fake tickets off the street, and continued heading to the touristy area instead.

We admired the colorful buildings, the outdoor tango and the perfect fall weather. When a nice young man told me I was beautiful and that he was looking for someone to teach him English, I wished him luck. When he asked me for my Facebook I said I didn´t believe in it. Sometimes honesty isn´t the best policy.

Sunday night we went for a tango show with Pati at the Jorges Luis Borges Cultural Center, which was fantastic, the perfect way to end our last night together. Monday we walked around the microcenter and had lunch in a hidden gem of a garden in an old monestary amid the financial district.

We did it all. Well, not all, but we did a lot in our 9 days together, and I can´t believe Jane has already come and gone. Time is going to quickly. I am well past 5 months on the road!!!!!

tango street dance in Palermo

puerto madero

la boca



after the tango show - jane, pati, me (in my uber high heels)