March 13 & 14, 2012
We left Portland early, rising at 4:30 to catch a 7:30 plane. We flew to DC where we had a 7 hr layover then flew to Buenos Aires arriving the following morning around 10:30. We checked into our apartment in the center of Ricoleto, a lovely neighborhood. After unpacking we walked to a nearby restaurant where we met Larry and Susan, friends from Portland who now live in the Columbia Gorge. Last summer when we were having diner with them, Larry announced that they were coming to Buenos ires (BA) in March. Ron turned green with envy and said he had wanted to ravel to S America since his teens. Larry said 'the come with us!' What an idea!! Ron and I thought about it and Ron said why not?' Then we decided if we were going that far we should see all that we could see and out rip expanded beyond BA to include Chile and Peru. I send countless hours on the computer exploring options and booked our trip.

Larry an Susan arrived at the restaurant within minutes of us. We sat outside under the largest tree you can imagine. The setting was lovely and the prices out of this world but we were all tired and decided to splurge. After lunch we waled around the neighborhood then separated and all went back to our apartments and took naps. Afterwards we took a cab to Palermo, another neat neighborhood where we walked around window shopping. Still tired we ducked into an outdoor coffee shop that served Illy brand, my absolute favorite. We all needed a pick me up. Our waitress spoke extra English with no accent. Before leaving I asked her if she was Argentinian. She said 'no she was from Portland OR'. We all hooted and told her we were too. We then proceeded to talk about a million different things. From there we walked to a restaurant that was a favorite of Larry and Susan's and had pizza that was delicious. BA has many fine resturants and we are lucky because L & S have been here four times,

BA is a beautiful city, surprisingly somewhat like Europe. The people of Argentina also looked much more like Europeans than I had anticipated. I had expected more indigenous Indians but Larry told us that almost all were killed by a variety of diseases brought by various European explorers and settlers. The city itself has many beautiful parks with lush landscaping and much art work. There are very wide boulevards and expansive sidewalks conducive for pedestrians. The commercial includes many upscale shops and open air cafes. Dining seems to be a local sport. The population seems relatively prosperous and we were told that although the disparity of incomes is increasing like in the US, the range is much narrower than we are currently used to. There are some wonderful buildings built at the beginnings of the 1900's and many beautiful balconies with ornate iron works, highly carved wooden doors, elaborate door knockers. Meal times seem to be later than what we are used to. Dinner restaurants don't begin to fill up until 8:30 or 9:00 PM. Lunch hours seem to be between 1:00 and 2:00 PM.