Mom's Visit

Well, we just put Mom in a taxi.  She's on her way to the airport to fly back home and she's is pooped.    She was here for 10 fun-filled days.

It all started on Saturday, November 14th when we met her at the airport at 10:30 a.m.   She was in pretty good shape for having traveled 12 hours and was ready for whatever we had planned for the day.  We admit we took it easy on her the 1st day here.   We have a nice square a few blocks away from the apartment and we hung out there most of the afternoon eating, window shopping and walking the area.

We had a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe

  The Serrano Plaza

 

On Sundays the area to be in is San Telmo.   We hopped a bus and made our way to the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires.   Weekends host an Antique Fair in Dorrego Plaza.  

  The fair brings out musicians

 

Weird art lined the cobblestone streets

 

And performers were on most street corners

 

We walked and walked and walked most days showing Mom the various neighborhoods.   One of the more exclusive neighborhoods is called Puerto Madero.  It's an old port area which is lined with contemporary high rises, loft style apartments, restaurants, cafes and a casino.

 

The artsy bridge located behind us is called

the Woman's Bridge. The center of the bridge

pivots out to a 90 degree rotation to allow

large boats to pass thru.

Marina for private boats

As I stated, there was a casino in the Puerto Madero area.   My Mom loves to gamble.  Slot machines were her thing while Bob & I headed for the table games of 3 card poker and blackjack.  None of us were big winners but we had a good time.

Mom got a good dose of the public transportation and she was a great sport about it.   In one day, we rode the bus to the subway station,  then took the subway to the train station to spend the day in a small city called El Tigre.  For those who don't know, my Mom is somewhat the princess and we weren't sure how she'd take to riding the city bus and subways.  You did great, Mom!

El Tigre was an hour train ride out of Buenos Aires and it was beautiful. 

   

Cute train depot

El Tigre is an island surround by a web of rivers and streams.  The city was very clean with some exceptions around the river banks.   There were lots of kayaking and rowing clubs.

Argentine Rowing Club

 

La Marina Regata club

 

These boats were available for rent.

You could go out yourself or hire a guide while you sit back and relax.

 

Kayaking is a popular means of exercise

 

Parana Delta

Along the banks you could buy tickets for boat rides of all sizes, catamarans, and kayaks.  Bob noticed the large catamarans were much slower and didn't seem to maneuver as well as some of the smaller wooden boats.  So, we opted for this boat.

  

 

 

The boat ride was an hour and cost $5.00 per person.   On this tour we saw some homes for sale or rent, plenty of camp grounds and restaurants along the banks.

 

 

   

The houses in this town were very cute and the park areas were very well maintained. 

Municipal Museum of Arts

I could have stayed in this small city longer.  The marketplace was amazing and so many cool shops.   Did I mention this city has a casino?   haha... it did.  We spent all day in El Tigre and I'm thinking this was one of my favorite days.  Mom seem to really have enjoyed it here too.

Other tours included a walking tour of a few of the barrios & a full city tour by open-air double decker bus.   We enjoyed a mother/daughter spa day and overall explored a major portion of Buenos Aires & everyday we had aching feet as proof. 

and Bob tolerated us.

We love you, Bob!

Mom,  thank you very much for visiting us.  We really enjoyed your company and look forward to seeing you and Sandy in a couple of weeks.  Love you very much!   

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately for us, it's an American holiday which means no turkey and all the fixings.  Make sure to eat plenty on our behalf.

We will be traveling to Iguaza Falls which borders Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for a couple of days and then flying down to Uruguay for our final leg before heading back to the states.

We're missing everyone and hope all is going well.  Won't be long till we fly home for the Christmas Holidays.  

Much Love,

B&B