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.
The artwork moves from the social and political art of the 1930s....,
...all the way to contemporary modern art.
Our waiter, a wonderful
specimen of ADHD, managed to bring us some very tasty food....
.......most of which we hadn't ordered.
.......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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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!!!
|
So you didn't touch the statue...Hahahaha. It looks like it was a great visit from your brother. That is the one sibling I haven't ever met. He looks a lot like you. I'm so glad you're both having such a great time. I'd love to join Linda in the markets and have a beer in the warm sun.
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