Buenos Aires Now: 04/08/10

The weather is still beautiful...but we're starting to see the first signs of fall. The leaves are beginning to turn, the days are getting shorter (it's dark around 7:15), and the temps are more likely in the 60's and 70's than high 80's, which is OK by us. And, overnight, white slacks are out...sweaters and jackets are in.

We have an early afternoon brunch at the Faena Hotel's outdoor garden with Matina and Steve, who are leaving to go back to the states.

And, as April progresses, we'll see more and more of our friends leave...Julie and Bob have already left, our personal trainer, Yamil, is moving to Brazil,

a bunch of us have a good-bye lunch for Kevin...

and, next week, Rick leaves too.

So, you ask, what will we do for fun? Well, for one thing, we've decided to take our dentist's advice and get fitted for night guards (though I think when she suggested it, she meant we should get them through her). But the price is right here (a fifth of what we'd pay at home) and when we ask our friends if anyone can recommend a good dentist, Kevin suggests his DDS, Sergio and offers to schedule the appointment for us.

When we arrive at the dentist's office at 7:00 p.m., as scheduled, there are 12 people already sitting in the waiting room! Fortunately, within minutes the secretary calls our name, has us complete a form, and escorts us into an exam room where the dentist is waiting. It sure helps to know people...thanks Kevin.

Now, we love our dentist at home, but we've never laughed as much as we did during this dental visit. David goes first...

and we immediately realize that the DDS speaks only a little English. Luckily, his secretary is more fluent in English. We get full dental exams, but mostly we chatter back and forth, complete one another's sentences, laugh, have impressions made (boy, do we hate that dental goop), and laugh some more.

He tells us our night guards will be ready in 10 days and, after an hour of mostly hanging out, we say goodbye. But when we walk out of the exam room into the waiting room, we see that at least half of those 12 people are still there...and realize that the doors between the rooms have been open the entire hour and everyone is looking at us. Now I doubt they heard / understood much of what was being said, but I guarantee they heard all the laughter...who knows what they were thinking!

Fast-forward to April 1st...Marnin, David's college roommate, and his wife Ellen arrive for a week-long visit. It's great to see them, and as they are first-time visitors to the city, we start off with coffee at La Biela (a classic European-style cafe) ...

and spend the next hour exploring the Recoleta Cemetery.

We walk down Avenida Alvear, through some of the grand hotels, past some of the embassies, and finish with the 1st of several dinners together.

We also turn them on to Volta, our favorite ice cream parlor, where we have an (almost) nightly fix.

I swear, no more deserts once they leave.

Next day, we meet at noon and, for the next 6 hours, walk around much of the city...past Congresso...

down the Avenida de Mayo...

past Cafe Tortoni...

and arrive at the Metropolitan Cathedral in time to see “the changing of the guards” at the mausoleum where the remains of General Jose de San Martin, Argentina's national hero, reside.

On Sunday...Easter Sunday...we think perhaps things will be shut down tight. However, that's not the case at all...we soon find that the city's hopping (no pun intended)...especially in San Telmo, the oldest neighborhood in BA, where we spend the day exploring the markets...

and taking in the colonial architecture, cobble stoned streets, old bars, old churches, and faded elegance.

On Tuesday, we go to the Evita Museum. The building is a beautiful Renaissance-style residence on a quiet Palermo street that Eva Peron “appropriated” and transformed into a shelter for women and children though, now, the museum is dedicated to Peron herself and her connection to the Argentine people.