Faith in Humanity Restored and Friends Arrive

Here starts last week's story.  We were sitting in the middle of a nice restaurant in Recoleta, when the waiter comes over and asks G if she had a purse.  Surprise, the purse which had been hanging on the back of her chair under her jacket was gone.  A couple of patrons had passed by her chair on the way out, and somehow the waiter thought something was wrong.  We raced outside but the "guests" were gone with the purse.  The great ending to the story was that a clerk in a "Kiosco" about 5 blocks away, called a week later saying he had found the purse in his cafe.  Everything was still in it, with a couple of minor exceptions (Kleenex? magnifying glass? friend's business card?).  So here's a picture of G and her favorite Kiosco worker!!!  The canceled credit cards were there, the important ID cards, the house keys ( locks had been changed 3 hours after we returned home).  She had absolutely no money in the purse, so all in all, aside from the hassle, all's well that ends well!  And she had already bought a new purse...

Bob and Katherine visited us from Portland.  We have had a wonderful time showing and sharing Buenos Aires with them. We waited until they came to tour the whole city in a double-decker bus (hop on hop off) to get the lay of the land. Here they are practicing on the street their tango steps at the La Boca neighborhood  stop, where tango is performed on the street for lunchtime patrons.

Jon and Bob played in a charity tournament at Olivos Country Club.  Great course and Bob missed the money by one stroke -- fourth place is such a pain.  But oh, the door prizes-- courtesy of sponsor UNILEVER!  Deodorant for men and ladies, laundry soap, dish soap, bar soap, shampoo and conditioner--a bag full of goodies!  The men were thrilled, as one could imagine. 

Another day we visited a well known tango hall called Confiteria Ideal.  After 3:00 in the afternoon, the seasoned dancers come to show off their skills  One must wait for the man to ask the woman to dance.   Most men were nattily dressed  and we were impressed with the older women's beautiful legs!   They take this form of dance very seriously.  The setting is the second floor  of the beautiful building with very high ceilings and tables around the dance floor--the light is dimmed but reflected in the many huge framed mirrors around the room.  We felt as though time had stood still and we were witnessing something very special.  Any tourist can go to one of the scheduled tourist tango shows, but we were glad to know about this special slice of life in every day Buenos Aires.

                                                       

After leaving the Confiteria Ideal,  we stumbled upon THE store that sells tango shoes for men and women.  We had fun looking in the window and trying to imagine ourselves in such interesting shoes.   And that was just the beginning!  Then we stepped inside for even more styles.   Even the guys debated about the red and black numbers....perhaps if one has the right shoes, one can dance!
































Part of the fun of La Boca are all of the photo opportunities for tourists to stick their heads through the caricature boards of tango dancers in full costume.   It was much more  fun to view them from behind!


































Another day we revisited the Temaiken Bioparque outside of town and saw some of the sights that we missed the first time, like the aviary with the large birds.  We were looking to find out where all of the tropical birds in one huge aviary were--didn't spot them, gave up and headed toward the exit.  The exit was covered by heavy link chains to keep the birds from escaping.  Here were these 10 birds perched quietly above the exit,  each curiously watching how we maneuvered the chains to exit.  We had a feeling they were planning their own escape and as they watched each one of us push the chains aside, they ducked their heads way down for a better look.  It was very comical!

We'll have more adventures to report next week.......