B.A. “Lite”

Blog V:  B.A. “Lite”

A visit to MALBA or “Where's the beef?”

Buenos Aires, the cultural and political centre of this huge country, is full of museums. 

One very interesting one, MALBA, should be at the top of the museum list for art lovers visiting Argentina’s capital.

A wonderful modern, airy, and sun-lit space in which to spend the morning.

The artwork moves from the social and political art of the 1930s...., 

...all the way to contemporary modern art.

“But, where's the beef?”







MALBA's restaurant was a treat too....., 

Our waiter, a wonderful specimen of ADHD, managed to bring us some very tasty food.... 

.......most of which we hadn't ordered. 

Poor Sally, she couldn't believe what happened.

He was delightfully reassuring when, with arms in air, he stated that our order was perfect.....



..... It was curious how another guest in the restaurant expressed astonishment in the similarity between our order and his...


....one which the management apparently never did find.  

“Statue Burnishing Etiquette” or 

“When is it appropriate to rub a statue?”

Statues everywhere have some significance to someone but a select few, the more accessible ones, can have magical powers and when rubbed, can bring good fortune... you know.... life, health, and happiness.... that kind of thing.  

Most “lucky” statues are of bronze, a material that does tarnish with time, except for the lucky part, which gets touched, rubbed, or grabbed daily....so remains shiny.

On most statues, it's a protruding part that bestows luck. 

Often it'll be shoes or toes that get rubbed...they're often the most accessible and everyone knows that good luck, like gold, sinks.

If it's a statue of an animal, it can be the nose and heck, I've even rubbed the metaphorical testicles of the bull at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, which, I might add, were already burnished bright by those had preceded me.

Anything for good luck, right?  
Wrong!!!

No way!! Here in Buenos Aires, I met my match, found my limit, hit the no-go zone. 

Special Body Part Rubbing

It was a beautiful day and Linda, Sally, James, and I were making our way to the Museo National de Belles Artes. In front of us was the back side of the statue of a runner. 

The girls, talking away, seemed to take no notice.   Moving to the front, there it was,  the "lucky" body part.  I'm not talking about his nose.

I want good luck just like everyone else, but this was too much.

As shiny as it was, I couldn't.   I just couldn't.

I had met my match.

My bad luck, I guess. 

And with a big laugh, James' too.

Oh, the Kissing in Buenos Aires

With it's ranking as one of the world's top-ten party cities, Buenos Aires also seems to be one of its most romantic. 

Home to the tango, elegant French-style architecture, and plenty of street corners, there is also no shortage of “amor latino”.

That B.A. Kiss!

Now, we already know that Buenos Aires women have the curious and sometimes delightful trait of staring you right in the eye....... for long periods of time.

Another wonderful custom  is The B.A. Kiss..., 
defined as long, uninterrupted  minutes of passionate kissing by all varieties of couples, any where and at any time.

Neither rain, nor shine seems to restrict them in their amorous activity. It's really quite inspiring and sometimes, beautiful to watch.

Not to be outdone, James and Sally, did their best to prove that age was no restriction in the world of the romantic kiss.

Their attempt was courageous and, might I say, well executed after a few small tweaks. 

But in the end, they did have to come up for air....something that the amorous class of B.A. doesn't seem to require.  

One last visit to the “macabre”

No one should come to B.A. and not have seen Ricoleta's cemetery.... so this time, with James and Sally, we did a guided tour. 

Our guide was herself, quite fascinating, and very  knowledgeable about the cemetery's permanent residents.

As an aside, she also imparted upon us some of her own personal philosophy, most of which, I believe, was inspired by repeated visits to the graveyard.

Interesting too were the number of open mausoleums, a rare thing indeed, and probably attributable to the fact that it was a national holiday....always an open invitation to relatives to visit their dear departed......

Come  in....., 

and look down, way down!

...for a great opportunity to photograph the tombs beneath the marble masterpieces.

Taking Flight

Before leaving Ottawa, two friends of ours gave us two balsam wood planes to assemble and send out into the Barrio (neighborhood) from atop our building. 

 This week, we did it. The first, which had been somewhat crushed somewhere between Canada and Argentina, could only be assembled for loopty-loops. It's maiden voyage was sadly brief and tragic. 

The second, still in perfect condition, took flight out into the back streets of Buenos Aires. 

When we finally searched it out, we did leave it for the neighborhood kids. On our second visit to the landing site, the beautiful little plane was gone.

I can see it all now as Pedro runs into his mothers kitchen:

Mami, mami! Mira lo que encontré!

Mommy, mommy! Look what I found.

Merry Christmas!!!

Sweat Suite!!

And finally, as already mentioned, James and Sally have been with us for the past two weeks.

It's been a wonderful treat.

Happy Anniversary!

An added bonus was a two-night stay in the Sheraton here in Buenos Aires, that our sister, Lottie, and family, gave them as a combined Christmas/ Anniversary present.

With her platinum client status, she was able to upgrade their room to a "suite" with all the "fixins". 

A view from the 15th.

Needless to say, we all spent most of our last two days before their departure, enjoying everything the hotel had to offer....

Parque San Martin

...from tea time, to the Argentine cuisine, to the great views...

..... and walks!

What a great time was had by all!

Hasta Luego!

In the interim, my Spanish, the little I had, has really slipped.

In fact, yesterday I went back to Vamos (the language school) like an alkie who'd fallen off the wagon goes back to his A.A. meetings....figuratively on my knees.

I'm finding Spanish to be a real Teflon language, constantly slipping away. 

 In any case, I'm all paid up now and courses begin again on Monday.

Life is just a series of “hasta luegos”, isn't it?

Fleeting Shots:

Favorite café

James' hailing a cab in the rain.

Linda, always happy at the local market.

Tea Time at the Sheraton Park Tower

Cars don't rust much here.  But too often, their grave is the street.

Hosta Luego!!!

Our trip to Iguazu Falls

Blog IV:  To Iguazu Falls and Back!

Over the past two weeks, we've been enjoying a marvelous visit from my brother James and sister-in-law, Sally and one of the first things we did was take a flight north to Iguazu.

Iguazu Falls:

When she first saw them, the United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" We had to see for ourselves.

Our flight to Iguazu was little more than a 90-minute journey, but straight north bringing us into the sub-tropical climes of Argentina.

And as the plane approached the airport, we could see a plume of steam rising into the air and when I asked,  the stewardess smiled saying that was indeed our destination. The “that” was the ever-present plume of Garganta del Diablo, Iguazu's Devil's Throat. What a feeling of anticipation!

Stepping outside the plane, the thick, hot, humid subtropical air shocked. Sure it was summer in Buenos Aires, but the “aires” in Iguazu was like a hot steamy sauna.

A night of torrential rains didn't stop until our little Iguazu adventure bus and our fearless leader, Diego, arrived. 

 What a day it was to be!

Although Argentina is the proud owner of 80% of the falls themselves, most of the water that tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, to form this unique attraction comes out of Brazil's ample interior.

A little miners train brought us out to the site where our tour guide, Diego, began his introduction in that seductive Spanish accent that had all the females swooning.

And yet, I found myself thinking how a pair of sunglasses and a head of hair can make any Argentinian look like a South American dictator.

Hombres, first ve vill take zeeths territory,

......and zen av a svim!!

Walking out to the falls, we could hear them before seeing them. 

I reminded myself that this UNESCO World Heritage Site was comprised of over 275 cascades stretching over 3 kilometers. 

 A true wonder!

But astounding too, is the fact that this area has been saved from exploitation. 

No dams or industries to compromise one's enjoyment of these amazing waterfalls and the surrounding subtropical rain forest.....

....home to countless species of rare birds and animals,

...including the endangered Vinaceous-breasted Amazon, the wild green parrot which everyone is looking at, 

...except me obviously.

...and this little vagabond, the Para Mini, that was hitching a ride on James' backpack.

Hey, number 88!

He's the "Eric Lindros" of the butterfly world.

You have to be very careful not to be too inebriated when speaking of the 
"Ring-Tailed Coatis". 

And you must look with intention if you want a shot of the many lizards.... and quick!  I was too slow with my noisy point-and-shoot to catch the bigger and fleet-of-foot.

Linda and Sally at the beginning of our ride.

Finally we made it down to the river's edge for what was, I think, the highlight of our day: the boat trip up the river to the falls. 

James, anticipation is half the fun.

The driver knew every inch of way and took us on what seemed to be a perilous journey through rapids and along precipices. 

The crescendo was absolutely the ride “under” the falls.

This picture was taken just seconds before we went "under", where...

...opening your eyes or mouth was an impossibility.

Only the pounding water and the sound of the falls filled our senses.

Soaked, we disembarked, ready to climb the precipice back up to our bus....

only to face the rain which had just begun to fall again.

No worries...just keep the cameras dry.

By the way, the first European to record the existence of the falls was in 1541 when the Spaniard Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca came across it. 

Loosely translated, his name was Sir “Cow's Head”, a very good reason, I would think, to get the hell out of Spain and work some of that anger out as a conquistador in the New World.  

For a quick look at James' video of the falls, click here:

http://youtu.be/tTN39C37wxA

For an extended version of his video, click here:

http://youtu.be/K3rKZ_r1sSc

Adios, Iguazu.

Food Tripping back in the city

Buenos Aires has been a city of wonderful surprises for us. One especially incredible one was a “Puerta Cerrada” (translated: Closed Door) in which you're invited into a private home to be tantalized by the food and atmosphere of a team of cooks.

It was Barry, a Buenos Aires connoisseur and admirer from Winnipeg, who introduced us to this beautiful little custom, that essentially ranks as one of my very favorite experiences in the city thus far.

These evenings of incredible dining usually start around 8:30 and end, oh, “whenever”. 

Entering the exquisite old building, we were guided up an open-to-the-sky stairway to a lovely apartment in “Old Palermo” where we were immediately given a refreshing cold “Mate” (pronounced mattay), Argentina's national drink.

These thematic evenings can touch on any and all specialties from around the world but tonight's was the foods of Argentina.

For just 250 Argentine pesos ($20.00 USD at the current “blue market” rate), we were treated to a gourmet meal including an appetizer, main meat dish, salad and dessert, plus Argentine wines and beautiful beverages: wine as well as a special blended infused drink that I couldn't get enough of.

Sitting in close quarters inside a stranger's home may sound like a recipe for stilted conversations and awkward silences, but our judging from the warm, funny and talkative evening we had, it's simply a recipe for an evening of bliss.

What an initiation to B.A. for James and Sally. Thanks, Barry.  

Blog Post V will be out soon.    Hasta mañana!