Incorporating Sabbatical Learnings Not-so-easy!

Sixty-eight days ago I returned to Miami from South America. That is one week shy of how many days I spent in Argentina this year. It has been 59 days since I last posted an entry on this blog. I am struggling with the adaptations and changes to my life that I had hoped to incorporate following my Sabbatical. I returned to Miami a changed person. The problem is, I returned to the same life, the same job, the same church. Old patterns were very easy to slide back into and developing new patterns has been very tough.

Initially I was trying to ease back into work, into the community, into my family. I have spent a lot of quality time with family - paying more attention to my relationship with my wife, going to the NASCAR races at Homestead Speedway with my son one weekend, spending quality time with my daughter who has moved in with us full-time while she works in Miami and applies to law schools. Since I have been home I had the privilege of baptizing my three granddaughters; celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving with my wife, stepdaughter, her husband, and 3-month old baby girl; celebrated my 14th wedding anniversary with my wife by giving her a new dog, (a zukon: a bijon-frise/shih-tzu mixed breed); and of course, celebrated Christmas. That is just the family activity.

In addition the activity at church has slowly accelerated with the holiday season. It has all been good, but very busy and not a time for incorporating changed patterns. What I realize now is that the holiday season already involves changes in our regular living patterns. So, to try to make changes in a changing time is very, very difficult. Probably impossible.

A few things changes that I hoped to make I have made good progress toward implementing. Probably the one thing I have followed through on the best has been a renewed commitment to walking for exercise. One of the changes that took place for me in South America was the loss of 30 lbs. of weight. I had been fighting the "battle of the bulge" in my waist for a decade or more. In Argentina, without an automobile, I walked almost everywhere. I realize now I was walking probably better than 5-6 miles a day on a fairly regular basis. And I was eating healthier. One commitment I wanted to make was to walk 4 miles each morning. That has been difficult with morning breakfast meetings, on-call hours for VITAS Hospice, and a variety of factors. After a couple of weeks of struggling with this commitment, I made a new commitment. To walk 4 miles a day, no matter what time I must do it. So, I began the practice of walking later afternoon approaching sunset, if I was not able to walk at sunrise. As a result, I can now say that for more than a month now I have been walking 4 miles a day, morning or evening, without fail. The result is through the holidays I have been able to keep from gaining weight. (And I have not been all that good about not eating too much as we all tend to do over the holidays.) Now that the holiday binging period is almost complete, I am confident I will be able to maitain my commitment to regular walking exercise and with a return to healthier eating habits, I should be able to lose that final 15 lbs. that will get me to my goal of 185 lbs.

Two other changes I have made that I feel are positive. One is I no longer live by a list at work. Before the Sabbatical I had a practice of making a "to-do" list each Tuesday as I began my week (Mondays being my day off) and scratching off the items on the list as I went through the week. I know this is supposed to be a good time-management technique, but it can also become a constrictive practice. It was so freeing for 4 months to live life without a "to-do" list and so I decided I was not going to make a list when I returned. I have not and so far I do seem to be able to accomplish what I need to do each week. (The truth is, most of what I have to do each week does not vary much and I know what those tasks are and I get them done.) But not having a list staring at me is helping me to stay loose and less stressed.

The second change I have made is a definite reduction in my work hours each week. Before Sabbatical I am sure I was working upwards of 60 hours a week regularly. Now I am definitely below 50. I am not stressing over work as much and I am more relaxed at home. I really do believe I will be able to make some of the other changes I had wanted to make in this New Year. And tomorrow I am going to start by writing another post to my blog and share my "list" of changes for the New Year.

(The pictures I have posted include "Miami Snow on Christmas Day" [actually just foam on the water of the bay at sunrise], the NASCAR race, baptizing my granddaughters, and sunrise over Biscayne Bay on one of my morning walks.)

Re-entry at Christ Congregational Church

After two days back at work, I am, so far, working my plan to re-enter slowly. Yesterday, November 1, was my first official day back at work, off of sabbatical. The telephone started ringing in the morning, so obviously people were counting the days until I was off of sabbatical. (But I must commend them for they clearly respected the sabbatical and did not call me while I was away.) Dianne and I took the early part of the day and drove to Key Largo, in the Florida Keys, primarily to run the errand of visiting Shell World to buy some special sea shells for the baptism of our granddaughters coming up November 9, but the real reason was to spend some more down time with each other and have a nice lunch on the water. It was a beautiful day and while it was not South America it did allow us some fantasy time of still feeling like we were still on sabbatical or vacation. The drive was relaxing, Shell World provided a large selection of shells from which to choose shells not only for next Sunday's baptism, but also a supply for future baptism ceremonies. We enjoyed a very relaxed lunch at Sundowner's on Florida Bay with up-close visits by sea gulls and a white heron.

After returning home I enjoyed the end of the Miami Hurricane football game as they beat University of Virginia in overtime and then watched the University of Florida Gators beat the Georgia Bulldogs, supporting my daughter's Alma mater and vicariously enjoying the game with her through mutual text messages. Then Dianne and I went to the 3 C's Preschool Harvest Festival which had been postponed a week due to weather. I was warmly greeted by people we saw who knew us and was a nice preview of the welcome home we received on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning has come and gone. It was very comfortable for me to lead worship. It should not have been a surprise to me, as I have been leading worship, with others or alone, at least 46 weeks out of 52 for the past 28 years. As Dianne reminded me as I went out the door this morning, "It's just like riding a bike!" (That chestnut is as well-worn as every piece of meat out of the ordinary supposedly "tasting like chicken.") But I was a little concerned if I would remember what to do and what to say. As it turned out, I did not even think very much about the words I say at Communion when I break the bread and pour the juice, but they came to me at the time I needed them without even thinking about what they needed to be and the benediction words, I did not stumble over them at all. I guess my wife is right! The experience of leading both times of worship was very natural and felt very familiar. Plus I did not stress over it and handled it with grace and professionalism. It seems the sabbatical did help. Plus I had many people commenting on how rested and rejuvenated I appeared.

The question will be to see how long the affect lasts. I was asked what I planned to do to keep refreshed and I shared my thoughts on what now be my focus as pastor. I realize I did way too much as pastor before the sabbatical, and I do not want to fall back into those patterns. So I plan to focus on four areas:

1. Plan and lead worship

2. Prepare and present a sermon

3. Offer pastor care as the people need it

4. Offer leadership, in supporting their work as the people of God and helping to focus the work of the mission of the church.

I also plan to make writing in my journal a regular part of my life. One of my members who teaches Spanish in high school has offered to help me keep up my Spanish with regular tutoring and I plan to accept her offer. Several members have offered to help me practice my Spanish and I plan to do that as well. I certainly hope these practices will help me remain rejuvenated and not approach burn-out status quickly as work responsibilities accumulate. Stay tuned!

The Final Day of Sabbatical

Sitting in my home in Miami, on the last day of my Sabbatical, I am drinking the espresso I made (which does not even begin to approach the marvelous quality of the coffee I enjoyed in Argentina.) I have been home for six days and South America has begun to feel like a hazy dream. It truly was a dream life I enjoyed for 12 weeks. I never would have imagined I would fall so deeply in love with that continent and those countries, Argentina and Peru. I can begin to understand, I think, why British and European travelers fell in love with places like Africa and Asia. It is related to the exotic, yet familiar, nature of new lands. It is related to the level of hospitality one encounters from the local people (always a surprise, for we have this inbred idea that other people, especially foreign people, are never as warm, welcoming and hospitable as we are ourselves.) It is related to one's willingness to invest oneself in a locale and truly embrace it as a home. It is related to the good experiences one has and whether they outweigh the bad. It is related to one's ability to fit in to the culture, to embrace the language, to understand the thinking of the local people. When all of these factors come together in a positive manner, then one will find oneself in a new home, where one feels quite welcome and an integral part of the community, not just an outsider. You discover the place becoming a part of you and you a part of it. That certainly happened for me with Argentina.

It is perhaps the most amazing event of this sabbatical. Although, actually learning to understand and speak the Spanish language in just 12 weeks time is certainly an amazing feat for me, considering my struggle with learning other languages in more traditional educational settings in the United States. Before this sabbatical, I had never really thought much about South America. I was aware of it. I knew people from various countries in the region. I had enjoyed many different movies set in South America and I had a vague sense of the history of the region. But I never had a strong attraction or desire to visit. There were always so many other more exotic, more interesting places on my list. So it was actually quite serendipitous that I chose Argentina as the location for my sabbatical and now I am so glad that I did. In 10 weeks time it became a second home, a second country, for me and it will always have a very special place in my heart.

Now I am engaged in the task of reconnecting with my life in Miami. It is clear to me that I am in a stage of withdrawal and mourning from my life in Argentina. I cooked parilla for my wife and daughter one night, grilling vegetables and a piece of vacio (an Argentine cut of steak I actually found in Publix) and it felt familiar and almost as good as the Argentine grills. I have been eating Argentine and Peruvian chocolate I brought home and looking for ways to order more or find it here in Miami! I have been trying different roasts of coffee beans to find the rich, espresso roast I enjoyed in Argentina. I have been buying various Malbec wines from various Argentine wineries, looking for the quality I enjoyed in country.

Even as I try to hold on to my experiences in Argentina, I have begun to reconnect with my life in Miami. I have played golf at least once and it was good. The four-month lay-off does not seem to have hurt my swing. I have spent most of my time with my family and I have been catching up on chores around the house which needed attention. Today is the official last day of the sabbatical and tomorrow I officially return to work. Sunday I return to leading worship and I understand a Bienvenido a Tu Casa luncheon has been planned for after worship. It will be a joy to see the folks of the church and to begin reconnecting with them. In truth, I have the feeling the sabbatical will continue to unfold and even though today is the official end, the impact and affects of the sabbatical will continue for months to come.

Back in Miami!

All it took was a five and one-half hour airplane ride and my South American adventure was over! Yesterday Dianne and I had a rather uneventful flight from Lima, Peru to Miami and it feels like I have awakened from a marvelous dream. It was great to be greeted at the airport by my daughter, step-daughter and her husband, and my newest granddaughter. I have really missed family and it was a nice surprise to walk out of the International Arrivals restricted area to see them in the lobby and not have to wait for them curbside. It has been a full 24 hours with family as we had dinner with them last night and went back to their house for lunch today to visit with another long time friend who is almost like family.

But it feels strange to be back in my home in Miami. In fact, the initial feelings are that it doesn't feel like "home." It is the same house. My "stuff" is still here. My family lives here. But there was a "strangeness" to walking in last night. It is an early confirmation of what I was anticipating in South America that there will be a time of adjustment for me upon return. We are usually so caught up in the day to day "everydayness" of our lives that 8, 12, 16 weeks fly by and don't seem so long in the course of a year. Yet, in truth they are a significant passage of time. Twelves weeks is what I spent out of the United States, living in South America. It is a fourth of a year. Sixteen weeks is what I spent away from work on Sabbatical. That is a third of a year. A lot happens in those amounts of time. For me, a lot happened here at home that I missed. And a lot happened to me, that others, except through my blog, have not experienced with me. How all of this will mesh together to allow me to re-engage with my former life here in Miami will be a most interesting process. Probably as interesting, if not more so, as the Sabbatical experience itself.

For now, I plan to take my re-entry nice and slow. I do not plan to think too much about work or what I need to be doing when I return to work very much this next week. I plan to spend time performing some maintenance chores around the house. My wife and daughter did a great job taking care of the house in my absence, but some things, like taking down hurricane shutters put up as a precaution, they really cannot do. I also want to play at least one round of golf, it has been four months since I have swung my golf clubs. I plan to brush up on my Spanish lessons. Even though the last two weeks were spent in Peru, a Spanish-speaking country, most of our time was in tourist areas, where most of the service people we dealt with spoke some, if not a lot, of English and tended to assume we knew no Spanish. So, it was almost like being back in Miami two weeks early: in an environment where there was Spanish being spoken around us, but an environment where it was not necessary for us to know Spanish to function. In that regards, I am very glad I chose Argentina and not Peru for my Spanish language classes. I know I was surrounded by Spanish speakers and most of the 8 weeks I was in Argentina, it was necessary for me to know Spanish to function. It was truly an immersion experience that helped me learn the language. Based on my recent experience in Peru, I am not sure I would have found the same type of immersion experience there.

I also want to spend some significant time this week reflecting on my entire Sabbatical. I know this will be an on-going process, but I want to begin that process this week before work responsibilities begin to impinge on my time and attention. During the past 4 months I have done some reflecting on what I was experiencing, what I was learning, what it might mean for me moving forward. But now that I am nearing the end of the Sabbatical, I want to revisit those reflections, deepen them, and refine them. I want to begin to seriously contemplate what all this might mean for me moving into the future.

Final Post from South America!

Dianne is packing, and I am trying to hang on to my South America time by writing one more post for the blog. We had a wonderful final day in Lima, Peru. We began the day with a harrowing 30-minute taxi ride to Lima central and the Plaza de Armas. It is quite impressive, lined on two sides by yellow colonial buildings with Moorish balconies, on one side by the Cathedral and Archbishop's residence, and on the fourth side by government Palace. We toured the Cathedral, which was quite impressive and somewhat macabre. In the crypt below the central nave there is a display behind glass of quite a few human skulls and apparently the rest of the bones of the bodies buried there. No names, no indication to whom the bones belonged. There are also quite a few displays of religious art, including religious artifacts made from gold and silver.

Just as we were finishing our tour of the Cathedral, I heard music floating through the door from the main plaza. Emerging into the sunlight my gaze was drawn to brightly colored uniformed band members behind the bars of a wrought iron fence surrounding an apparent government building. Inquiring of the guard at the Cathedral door I learned that the music indicated the daily changing of the guard at the government building. It was about a 30 minute ceremony with lots of music, goose-stepping guards, trumpets, flags, etc. Unfortunately it all took place behind the iron fence and the riot police kept the tourists and school children gathered to watch, on the other side of the street from the fence. Still, it was quite an impressive ceremony.

Following lunch near the plaza, we caught another taxi back to Miraflores and visited LarcoMar, a shopping mall built into the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is a stunning setting, but a sad place from my perspective because it looks as though it was clearly built and financed by American money. The majority of the stores are US brands and it feels it could be in Anytown, US as much as in Lima, Peru. But the gelato we enjoyed was delicious, as was the coffee. And both were even better as we were sitting at a table overlooking a beautiful spring afternoon sun shining over the Pacific Ocean.

After finally enjoying a dramatic sunset we made our way back to El Señorío del Sulco, where we had a gourmet dinner our first night in Lima. We wanted to ensure we had a wonderful final dinner and we were not disappointed as Dianne dined on a suckling pig roasted in a pisco sauce and I enjoyed a lamb shank along with a mashed corn side dish. They were accompanied by another fine Peruvian Tacama Blanco y Blanco wine and topped off by a very sweet, but tasty pudding desert. A fine way to close out our adventure in Lima, in Peru, in South America.

Tomorrow we board a Lan Peru flight for Miami and back to our normal reality. I am sure I will be processing and enjoying this adventure for months to come, perhaps years. I hope you will continue to visit this blog, as I will continue writing reflections as I reenter life in Miami and in my work as local church Pastor. I firmly believe that Sabbath Tango is not just a theme for my Sabbatical, but for my life and work and I will try to explore that theme in the days to come.

Eating Our Way Through Lima

Lima has turned out to be a very nice, very relaxing, very enjoyable final stop on our visit to South America. Dianne and I both had very low expectations of Lima based on what we had read or heard about it before we arrived, but we have been pleasantly surprised by what we have found. Perhaps it is the neighborhood where we are staying, Miraflores, which is clearly a middle to upper class neighborhood, but we have found it very clean, feeling very safe, and very attractive. There are lovely parks. There are gourmet restaurants with stunning settings. There have been neighborhood-type restaurants where we felt like we became part of the family in the time of just one meal. Plus, unlike Cusco, you can walk the streets and not be constantly accosted by street vendors and beggars. We even found a large handicraft market in Miraflores with pretty much the same crafts we saw in Cusco and we were able to shop at our leisure without too much pressure, even from the attendants of the different shops. It was much more relaxing and a much more enjoyable experience. (Plus we found some really nice bargains!)

Our time in Lima is definitely very relaxed with an emphasis on eating really good meals. Last night we ate at El Señorío de Sulco, listed as a three-fork restaurant in the Footprints Guide, yet written up as a "five-fork" restaurant, reputed to be one of the finest in Lima. We would agree. The food was delicious, truly gourmet, and the service was first-rate. Dianne had a very delicious roast duck marinated in a dark ale & corn beer sauce. Steve enjoyed a very traditional Peruvian Roast Beef dish, cooked in an interesting collection of herbs and served with sweet potatoes. We enjoyed another bottle of very fine Tacama vineyards Peruvian Tinto Wine. We had heard that Peruvian wines were not very good and while we would still rate the Argentine wines the best we have tasted in South America, the Tacama wines are very tasty and very good. We satisfied our desire for sweets with a very tasty flan with caramel & pecan topping.

Today we had a really fun lunch. We decided on a café/bar named Shehadi Pizzeria. It sounded very Middle Eastern, but the menu listed clearly Peruvian dishes. It turned out to be owned by a Lebanese-American from Brooklyn who has been in Lima for 3 years. There was a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge painted on one wall. The wait staff was extremely attentive and bent over backwards to be sure we had a good dining experience. The food was excellent. We both had dishes that were Peruvian, but with a Lebanese twist.

Finally, tonight we were able to finagle a table on the outside deck of La Rosa Nautica, a Lima dining establishment which is built on a pier sitting over the Pacific Ocean. The deck was quite comfortable and allowed us to hear the waves breaking on the beach while watching the lights of Lima blink at us from the towering cliffs overhead. La Rosa's main dining room was totally booked for the night (we did not need reservations the night before) but they had some tables available outside. The waiter here was a bit snooty, but the Sommelier was quite helpful in choosing a very nice Tacama Blanco y Blanco which was very delicious. The food, though, was wonderful. Dianne enjoyed a very tasty and smooth Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp while Steve was delighted with the Sea Bass Rosa Nautica, baked in a delicious white sauce with shrimp and sea scallops and mashed yellow potatoes. We topped off the meal with an exquisite Chocolate Mousse pie with lacuma sauce, all of which was very rich and very delicious.

We have one more day in Lima, one more day in Peru, one more day in South America. Then on Saturday we board an airplane to fly home to Miami. This has been a most amazing, constantly surprising, consistently enjoyable experience for me and for Dianne. We are not ready for it to end and I know that the memories we are gathering will stay with us and unfold for us for years to come. From all the sights, all the delicious food, to all the wonderful people we have enjoyed a very rich experience. One more day to go! We don't plan to waste it.

Surprising Reactions to Lima

Gray skies that blend into a gray Pacific Ocean are the backdrop for our first day in Lima, Peru, yet our impression of Lima has raised our impression of Peru as a whole. While I still believe Peru is a country with tremendous poverty, it is clear there is money in this country from what I have already seen in Lima. Just the drive from the airport was through streets very busy with both automobile and pedestrian traffic. There was significant evidence of retail and commercial activity that looks much more like what I am used to in the United States than any other economic activity I have seen elsewhere in Peru or Argentina. Lima is clearly a city that is not dependent on tourism for the engine to drive its economic activity. It is also a city that, while still not up to US standards, is closer to those standards than even Buenos Aries, at least in terms of what I experienced.

As we drove to the little Bed & Breakfast where we are staying the next three days, we passed through the San Isidro district which is clearly a middle to upper class neighborhood, where there are many embassy compounds and clearly up-scale living accommodations. Our lodging is just two blocks from the road that run along the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After checking in we went out to get some lunch and walked along the bluff. There is a beautiful park complex, filled with walkways, play areas for children, beautiful flower beds all in bloom (after all, it is springtime here in Peru) and stunning views of the Pacific. Even with the horizon blending one level of grey from the water into another level of grey from the clouds in the sky, the waves breaking on the beach below were still impressive. Along the walk there were small well-kept homes squeezed between high-rise apartment buildings, with even higher-rise buildings popping up here and there. It is clear this is where some of the money in Peru lives.

This was further confirmed for us when we entered Francesco's restaurant for lunch. Escorted to the second floor, we were clearly under-dressed for the clearly businessman's lunch site. Sitting in our blue jeans and long-sleeve t-shirts, the waiter, sommelier, bus-boys, servers, everyone associated the restaurant, were nonetheless very helpful and very pleasant. Not wanting to over-eat so we could enjoy a very nice dinner later, we did "tapas", choosing from the appetizers and enjoyed more than enough for lunch. Dianne began with a traditional Peruvian Pisco sour and I had, on the recommendation of our Taxi driver that it would be could for clearing up my cough, a Pisco Puro (a shot of straight pisco). We followed with a shared Crab Meat Tamal and then Dianne enjoyed a Pepper stuffed with shrimp and melted mozzarella cheese while Steve enjoyed a baked potato stuffed with seafood (octopus, shrimp, scallops, and crab). The setting was first class, the service superb, and the food exquisite. An outstanding lunch. A great way to begin our stay in Lima.

While we have not ventured too far, our impression of Peru has improved dramatically already with our exposure to the San Isidro and Miraflores neighborhoods of Lima. We are both feeling better than the past few days, possibly due to our return to sea level from the heights of Cusco in the high Andes. It is another amazing aspect of this sabbatical for me that I began my time in South America on the Atlantic Coast in Buenos Aries in August and I am ending my visit on the Pacific Coast in Lima in October. And I did not have to fly as far to do so as I would have had to in the US. And in just three days I will be back on the Atlantic as I return to Miami. What an amazing adventure this continues to be.

Here is a link to a Kodak Gallery Album with a few pictures of the Pacific Ocean coast near our Bed and Breakfast here in Lima: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.bxf8wjty&x=0&y=3aijbm&localeid=en_US

Final Thoughts from Cusco

Thankfully El Balcon, the hotel where Dianne and I have stayed in Cusco, is very comfortable and quaint. Thus it was a very nice place to spend our last day in Cusco, just hanging out in the room. Dianne became quite ill last night after dinner (actually she said her stomach had been upset most of the day) resulting in a night of nausea and vomiting, with little sleep, and great discomfort. She has spent all day in bed trying to feel better, drinking a little tea and trying to slowly eat some food to keep it down. Several of the Cusco residents seem to think she is suffering from the altitude which can affect your digestive system in bad ways.

Having visited Cusco at the start of the week, seen most of the sights, and then gone on to Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, a day of rest was very welcome and we really don't feel we are missing all that much. We did visit two museums yesterday which had nice collections of pre-Columbian art and artifacts, including quite a few Inca pieces. They were a nice completion of our tour of Incan lands and history.

We are both ready to leave Cusco. It is a beautiful little city, very quaint and antique-looking. A lot of the architecture is still a strong mixture of Incan and Spanish colonial which is quite striking, interesting, and beautiful. The main plaza and the several little plazoletas that we visited were quite lovely. But what detracts from the beauty of the city is the poverty. We have learned from several Peruvians that work is very difficult to find in Peru. That is quite evident from what you encounter on the street as a tourist. Evidently we stand out like sore thumbs and thus are constantly accosted. You literally cannot walk half a block without being asked if you want your shoes shined, do you want to buy a painting from my portfolio, would you like some of these finger puppets, or other handcraft items, do you want some coca leaves candy, postcards, etc. Anything you can imagine they try to sell to you and it is a constant gauntlet you must pass through on the street. It is worst around the plazas, and if you dare to eat at an outside table enjoying the sun and the beautiful plaza views, they walk the sidewalk and accost you at your table! It is quite annoying. It becomes very difficult to maintain an attitude of compassion for people in such dire straits that they must resort to this type of begging to survive. And it does seem to be only a small step up from outright begging, especially by those who are very aggressive and persistent in their approach.

Beyond this atmosphere in the tourist areas, the few times we have driven beyond the main tourist areas what we have seen indicates a country in extreme poverty and extreme economic difficulty. All the housing seems very poor, even the "new" construction (still mostly of adobe bricks dug from the ground.) We have not seen any area that appears "middle" class let alone an upper class neighborhood. That may change in Lima, but in the highlands around Cusco, that is our experience. Even so, the people are lovely, (with the exceptions of the street vendors, and even the few of them we have actually dealt with in purchasing anything [I did buy a work of art for my office] turned out to be quite personable) and they seem to maintain a spirit of hope and joy in life. They offer quite a testimony to those of us, like myself, who have so much more and for whom life truly is so much easier, and yet find myself many times complaining, whining, and taking so much of my life for granted. Somehow it seems they find the joy in the very fact of being alive and find blessings to count and hope to which to cling. There is a lesson here for me in my life when I return to Miami.

Tomorrow we board a plane for Lima. We have reservations at a lovely little Bed & Breakfast in the Miraflores neighborhood, two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. We plan to mostly spend our time there, relaxing, do a little touring and shopping, but mostly rest up and prepare to return to life and work in Miami. We fly home on Saturday. Dianne returns to work on Monday and I have one more week of Sabbatical before it is over and I return to work November 1. I can hardly believe that this time has arrived.

Initial Thoughts on Machu Picchu

What to say about Machu Picchu?!? It will probably be months, if not years, before I can fully put into words even half of what I experienced in my two days wandering this amazing mountain-top city. While it is not as high as people think (listed at 7,800 feet above sea level, whereas Cusco is 11,000 feet) it is still impressively located atop a mountain, with the sides falling steeply to the valley floor some 1,800 feet below. You can also climb several surrounding peaks, or up the Inca Trail to the Gate of the Sun (which Dianne and I did our second day here) which is another 1,000 feet above Machu Picchu for even more breathtaking views. (Actually, the climb itself also takes away your breath!)

Our first day in the ruins started out very cool, cloudy, and misty. While the clouds were not at city level, but above the closest peaks, they were still covering some of the surrounding peaks and deepened and darkened all the colors of the stone and vegetation. We hired an impromptu guide at the gate, Felix, who was very kind, fairly knowledgeable, and basically did what we hoped in taking us around in an orderly fashion to all the important spots in the city in about two-and-a-half hours. After that we had the entire afternoon to explore on our own. By that time the clouds had become the white, puffy cumulus clouds of summer afternoons with lots of sunshine and it actually became hot up on the mountain top. Unfortunately I was fighting a sinus infection wanting to turn into bronchitis, running a fever, and generally feeling lousy, so our exploring was somewhat limited. We did revisit some of the sites Felix showed us and took pictures and we did make the climb to the Watchman's Hut to take the classic postcard photo of Machu Picchu with Wayna Picchu rising up behind it along with some close-up photos of llamas grazing on the terraces. (We also played footsie with a llama as we were climbing down the 150 step stairway from the Hut to the exit level and the llama was climbing up and walked right past us.) We did head down to our wonderfully comfortable Eco-lodge, Rupa Wasi, in town a bit earlier than we might have if I wasn't sick, so I could take some medicines for my symptoms and take a short nap before dinner.

We awoke after a good, long night's sleep to raindrops on our roof and low clouds wrapping around the mountains. It did not look like it would be a good day to visit Machu Picchu, but I awoke feeling better than the day before and we had already paid for our tickets to enter the ruins, so after breakfast we boarded the bus for the 20-minute, winding bus ride to the top. By the time we reached the entrance the clouds had lifted and blue sky was beginning to show. So, we embarked on the 1,000 foot climb to Intipunku (The Gate of the Sun) which is the pass the main Inca Trail crosses and where travelers would get their first view of the city stretched out below. We took the climb slow and easy with several stops along the way to take in the view. There were also some interesting sights we encountered along the way - evidence that people are still worshiping in the ancient Inca fashion.

We came upon one spot where a huge rock jutted out over the trail with stonework below it that gave the appearance there had once been some sort of structure here, possibly a shrine. There were numerous small piles of stones, 3, 4 or 5 stones high, on top of the various walls all around this rock (which one could say bore a resemblance to a frog). Even more intriguing was the small group of women and a child, in a small shaded opening next to this area who were clearly praying facing the mountain (standing there with arms raised in quiet posture). A little further along the trail there was another group of stone structures which could have been some sort of outpost on the trail, or again, a shrine. Next to these structures was another large rock, this one laying on the ground, but clearly polished and shaped on top in one of the traditional Incan designs. Again, there were small piles of stones on this rock and in various other places around the area. But in addition, on one of the shelves of this rock were clear offerings left for Pachamama (Mother Earth), hard candy pieces and coca leaves. It is fascinating, and even a little heart-warming, to realize that despite all the Spanish conquerors and their Catholic priests did to try to wipe out the indigenous religion of the people, it still survives in some form.

While it is hard to describe, it is clearly evident when visiting, that Machu Picchu has a strong spiritual dimension to it. While the archaeologists have many, many competing theories about what purpose the city played, why it was built here, what are the meanings of the different structures, it is clear that the area held great spiritual meaning for the Inca people. It is clear that it was again, an area with a good water supply and a location that could be easily defended and would be difficult to attack. The fact that it survived in such good shape for so many centuries beyond the Spanish invaders is a testimony to the building skills of those who constructed it, and to its highly difficult to reach location. It is truly one of the wonders of the world.

(I have posted pictures with my previous two posts from Peru, so if you read them earlier, revisit them to see a few pictures. I have not had a chance to create Kodak Gallery Albums yet, so there are no links to more pictures, but they will be added in the next few days. Dianne and I are wearing down from all the climbing and walking, so we are going to be slowing down the "tourist type" activity the rest of this week and taking a more leisurely pace. I should be able to finally organize the Peru pictures and share more with you in a few days. So, keep checking back.)

Here, finally, are some links to Kodak Gallery Albums where you can see more of the amazing photos from Machu Picchu. This link will take you to pictures from Day 1 in Machu Picchu: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.bh2fuudi&x=0&y=-b3i3xa&localeid=en_US

From the "magical" Ollantaytambo

Sitting at a balcony window overlooking the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza) of Ollantaytambo with a huge mountain overlooking the town from the other side filling most of the window, I bring you another post from Peru! Dianne and I have truly been transported into another world, and it even feels, another time. This little town is at the juncture of two river, three valleys, would be extremely hard to approach in secret, and fairly easy to defend. It is completely sensible that this place has been settled by human beings for tens of thousands of years and still today. The mountains surround the town, almost embracing it in their arms, providing a true sense of divine protection.

We spent the morning climbing up and down more than 200 stone steps to visit the palace/fortress/religious sanctuary of Ollantaytambo. There is evidence of at least three different construction techniques, indicating most likely at least two other civilizations or cultures pre-dating the Incas in constructing this place. There are also marvelous examples of Inca construction, with the uncompleted Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. We had a wonderfully informative impromptu history and archaeological lesson from Eugenio, one of the docents, or guards, at the ruins. The knowledge of the stars, the movement of the sun and moon, of geometry, algebra and other sciences involved in the construction is amazing. And so much of what they knew appears to have been lost! How sad for the rest of us.

After the morning climb and tour we had a disappointing lunch before visiting the local market with the people selling their handmade jewelry, woven crafts, etc. Much of the work is beautiful. Dianne purchased a few souvenirs and I practiced my Spanish. We then hung out in the main plaza waiting for the electricity to return so we could visit the Internet cafe and check email and I could post to the blog. Again, I am really sorry there are not pictures, but promise by late Sunday or early Monday there will be some added. So keep checking back for them.

Last night we had a truly gourmet dinner at the little Bed & Breakfast where we are staying. Dianne had a chicken dish that had a sauce which included the muña herb of which I wrote yesterday (the one that also is good for headaches!) I had an Alpaca Tenderloin in an elderberry sauce. It was pretty good (though not as good as Argentine beef, of course!) The meal was delicious and we plan to eat there again tonight.

The Bed & Breakfast is, literally, right on the train platform so when we leave at 7:00 a.m. for Machu Picchu tomorrow we do not have far to walk! Again, we have no idea what our Internet access will be in Aquas Calientes. Supposedly the town is very small and very primitive, although we did make hotel reservations on-line. But if there is no post until Sunday night or Monday, you will know it had been a difficult thing to do in that town. (Either that, or we were too physically tired after visiting Machu Picchu!)

Here are two Kodak Gallery Album links. The first takes you to pictures of the town of Ollantaytambo and the little Bed & Breakfast where we stayed: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.2avaio92&x=0&y=3ehek9&localeid=en_US

The second takes you to pictures of the ruins at Ollantaytambo: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.7i5a09ra&x=0&y=2ytn8q&localeid=en_US

Finally, word from Peru!

Ollantaytambo is the name of the pueblo from where I am finally writing a post. We left Buenos Aires 3 days ago (was it really only 3 days), landed in Lima, made it through immigration and customs and connected with our flight to Cusco, landed in Cusco and made it to our beautiful hotel, El Balcon, on the slope overlooking Plaza de Armas and Cusco. It was a long, tiring travel day (made longer by Alberto, a very nice tour organizer who met us at our hotel, greeted us as though he was the host of the place, and proceeded to talk to us about how long we were staying, what were we planning to do, offering us several tour options, catching us with his "used car salesman pitch" while we were still reeling from the flight!) We did book a half-day city tour with him for the next day, and arranged transfer back from Ollantaytambo train station by car upon our return on Sunday from Machu Picchu. Anyway, we finally made it to our room and collapsed! I took some beautiful night photos of the city from our balcony, including of the brightly lit white statue of Jesus high on a hill overlooking Cusco with his arms raised in blessing! (Talk about a neon cross!)

The next day we went to the Perurail Train Station to trade our Internet voucher for our tickets on the train to Machu Picchu, found a bank to change some dollars into nuevo soles, walked around some lovely squares visiting some shops for Dianne to browse and shop. We picked up lunch to take back to the hotel, ate and got ready for our tour. While we are not fans of group tours (yes, it is amazing that we took this tour!) the tour guide Puma (yes, that is his first name, he is Quechua, which is the proper term for the native people we know as Inca) was excellent and made the tour extremely worthwhile. Cusco lays claim to being the longest settled and populated city in the hemisphere, with its roots dating back possibly 7,000 years. The Inca Empire was only about 100 years long, though it was probably the high point of construction and settlement. Of course, most of what the Inca built was destroyed by the Spanish conquerors, beginning with Francisco Pizarro.

One fascinating fact we learned was that while most Inca structures have been destroyed or damaged, it was all by human hands, not a bit by earthquakes. The Inca, or their predecessors, figured out a way to construct stone structures that would move with the earth and not topple or crumble. So, for instance, in 1650, when there was a massive earthquake in the region of Cusco, all the Spanish buildings constructed on top of the Inca buildings crumbled, but the bottom portions of the buildings, which were the original Inca construction, all remained standing! To this day engineers from Japan, San Francisco, and other earthquake prone areas, have visited and studied the Inca construction but have not figured out how to duplicate it.

While it is only a small portion of the vast gold and silver wealth of the Incas, we were amazed at the opulence in the Cathedral. The vast usage of gold and silver plating on altars and various structures was stunning. Just the wealth exhibited in this one, huge, structure (actually it is three churches joined together, with the Cathedral in the center and two "smaller" churches on either side) is mind-blowing! Plus we saw the blackened Christ on the cross known as ¨Lord of the Tremblors" which was the crucifix they finally, in desperation, paraded around town in 1650 when the earth was shaking and the earth stopped! Finally, we saw the Peruvian version of Davinci's "Last Supper" which depicts Jesus and his disciples about to dine on cuy, guinea pig!

After the Cathedral we rode the bus up 1,500 more feet, to the impressive stone ritual site known as Sacsayhuaman. It is huge! With huge stones in the walls that are still standing. One Inca historian who wrote shortly after the conquest by the Spanish wrote how he got lost in Sacsayhuaman it was so huge and labyrinth-like. We also visited several other interesting Inca ruins before returning to the main plaza about 7 p.m. Growing tired, Dianne and I went looking for a "simple" dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended to us by the Hotel manager, La Retrama. Located on the second floor overlooking Plaza de Armas, it was a lovely, elegant restaurant. We were the only patrons for about 30 minutes before two tour groups (they sounded German) joined us. But the food was delicious, the staff extremely attentive. One waiter named Emilio, not our main waiter but very friendly, discovered I had a headache and brought me some sort of green herb in a small container to crush and deeply inhale the aroma. (Dianne just found the name on the web, muña.) And it worked! Not immediately, but within a half-hour or so my headache was gone! Dianne even shared and we both testify to this natural healing wonder!

It was not a "simple" or short dinner, though. The food was delicious, but more than I was looking for (actually Dianne was ravenous) and then about the time we finished a Peruvian musical group, with flutes, drums, a guitar and mandolin set up in tradition garb and began playing. They were then joined by four dancers in very colorful costumes, who were very energetic and performed 4 different dances. It was at least an hour-long floor show, and the musicians were still playing when we finally left! It was a much later night than we had planned, but extremely enjoyable.

This morning after breakfast I walked to the Instituto Nacional de Cultura to buy our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu before we were picked-up by Edwin who drove us through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The drive was amazing. The panoramas, the vistas, the scenery, both fascinating, stunning, awesome, breathtaking, I could pile up the superlatives and not do it justice. I am sorry I do not have pictures posted (I took many of the last 3 days) but it turns out there is not WIFI at our hotel in Ollantaytambo so I won't be able to add pictures for several days. Maybe this weekend in Aquas Calientes, where we are spending Saturday night during our visit to Machu Picchu. Otherwise, I will definitely add pictures to whatever posts I share, beginning with this one, by Monday. Sorry! Know we are safe and having an amazing visit in Peru!

Here are the Kodak Gallery Album links with more pictures of Cusco. This first link will take you to pictures of some of the ruins in and around Cusco: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.ayd2yio6&x=0&y=n5wvig&localeid=en_US

This second link will take you to pictures of the Folklore Show we enjoyed at dinner: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.57sw3pfq&x=0&y=ky1jw8&localeid=en_US

With Tango & Delicious Steak We say Adios, Buenos Aires!

Dianne is trying to fit all of our "stuff" into three suitcases, evenly balanced below 20 kilos each so we don't get charged a tariff at the airport tomorrow as we leave Argentina for Peru. We closed out our time in this marvelous city with a Tango lesson this evening, followed by the most amazing steak dinner either one of us has ever tasted, ANYWHERE! We each had the lomo cut, which is a thick sirloin type cut: Dianne's was cooked in a red wine sauce with a chive & mushroom risotto. Steve had lomo from the grill accompanied by grilled vegetables. Both steaks could be cut with a butter knife and truly, melted in your mouth. The most tender, flavorful, delicious cuts of beef we have had in Argentina or anywhere. They were accompanied by a delicious Malbec, Terraza de los Andes Bodega, and followed by the heavenly Argentine coffee and two marvelous desserts: for Dianne a Rice Pudding which came in five small containers, each with a different garnish - strawberries, dulce de leche, chocolate shavings, raspberries & blueberries, and kiwi! Steve had a creme brulee with flambead bananas! What a truly marvelous way to close out our Argentine adventure!

In the morning, at 6:00 a.m., the Taxi driver (Sergio) will be here to pick us up and take us to Ezieza airport so we can catch our 9:15 a.m. flight to Peru. We land in Lima, have a brief layover, and by 4 p.m. will be in Cusco, high in the Andes. I have very mixed feelings about saying good-bye to Argentina. It amazes me that in 10 weeks, even with being robbed in the midst of that time, I have moved from questioning why I ever decided to come to this city and country to having fallen in love with both. I would come back, and I hope to some day. It is a wonderful city with a rich history, an exciting present, and I hope, a bountiful future. It has rich culture, delicious food, and an amazingly varied terrain. It has much to commend.

A Quiet Final Weekend in Buenos Aires

Since returning to Buenos Aires from Iguazu Falls we have been spending a very low-key weekend in our apartment in Palermo. It feels rather strange to have become homebodies while we are half a world away from home in Miami, in a fabulous city, which we may or may not every return to visit. But Dianne returned from the jungle with a developing sinus infection and I am trying to nurse her back to health in preparation for the next leg of our adventure in Peru. So, she has been taking the antibiotic her doctor sent along for such an occasion; getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of liquids, and taking it easy. We have seen a lot in Buenos Aires so this respite will not really result in her missing too much. And, we have not been totally couch potatoes, going out each evening for a delicious dinner.

On Thursday night, after returning from Iguazu Falls, we went to this little "resto-bar" in the neighborhood which has music every night, most of it Argentine Folk music. This night at La Peña del Colorado there was a very gifted singer and professor of music performing, Silvia Zabala. She had a wonderfully rich, strong voice and lots of energy. She was accompanied by two gifted guitar players and throughout the night she invited them to take the lead at times, invited a friend in the audience to share some songs (and she, too, had a marvelous voice), and invited two other musicians who play with one of the guitar players in a separate group, to do a few numbers. The bar was fairly intimate, the food was delicious. It was traditional Argentine food: Dianne had a pumpkin squash casserole, Steve had a tamal and a beef & tomato stew (which, interestingly he did not order, the waiter just brought to the table. We thought it was a gift from him, or maybe his sister who was seated at the table next to us, but then he charged us for it! Oh well, it was delicious and it worked out fine! I probably say that because the bottle of Malbec was so wonderful that I could go with the flow.) We interacted some with the waiter's father, sister and her boyfriend and we truly had an evening where we felt as though we were regular resident of the neighborhood.

The next night we went to La Nazarenas, a very classy Parrilla-Asador Restaurant downtown. The service was impeccable; the wine, another Malbec (the fourth bottle for the fourth dinner in a row, all marvelous, each one different in taste, body, aroma, etc.), was superb; the steaks, tender and juicy; the grilled vegetables, delicious; the fine crystal wine glasses, a very classy touch. It was a very special dinner. Unfortunately, we did not get to continue our evening at a Tango Milonga because Dianne was not feeling well, but dinner was a treat.

Then last night we went to a very nice restaurant in the neighborhood, Don Justo's. Again the setting was very first class. The food was excellent: Dianne enjoyed Pollo Don Justo, which was a chicken breast marinated in Portuguese sauce, covered with peppers and mozzarella; Steve had Salmon stuffed ravioli with mushroom sauce. Instead of Malbec, we enjoyed a bottle of La Rural Trumpeter Chardonnay, one of the best chardonnays we have ever tasted! We topped this dinner with a crepe filled and covered with dulce de leche and wonderful Argentine coffee. Would that American coffee was as rich, full-bodied, and smooth as Argentine coffee!!!

Yesterday the weather began shifting to the rain that had been forecast for several days and it continues today. So, we are resting and working in the apartment. I have organized all the photos from Iquazu Falls (all 700!) and have added links to the previous post about our visit to the Falls to Kodak Gallery Albums. If you have read that post previously but did not see the links to the photos, I encourage you to return to it now and enjoy the photos. You will be amazed and not be disappointed, I guarantee it! I plan to cook spaghetti for lunch (lots of restaurants are closed on Sundays until dinner time) to use up the food because we have to leave this comfortable apartment tomorrow. We will go to Caseron Porteño, the hostel where I began my stay in Buenos Aires 10 weeks ago. We will stay one night there before boarding a flight for Peru on Tuesday. We have two more nights to enjoy the delicious Argentine cooking and then we are off to a new world, a new culture, a new country.

Sensory Overload in the Jungle

It is truly amazing the power and effect of millions, probably trillions, of gallons of water rushing over a cliff! Sensory overload was the affect on Dianne and I as we toured Iguazu Falls in Misiones Province, Argentina, on the border with Brazil. (At one point we realized that much of the day we spent looking at Brazil, which was the land we viewed across the river as we walked the cliffs of the falls and the catwalks constructed on the sides of those cliffs and over the rushing water. We did not get into Brazil, but we did view the Brazilian jungle!) Iguazu Falls are truly one of the natural wonders of the world. The power of the water is phenomenal! The visual spectacle continually takes your breath away! The sound of the water rushing over the edge of the cliffs and pounding into the rocks below is deafening. It becomes your constant background noise and you do not even notice it after awhile, until you are standing directly over a rushing cataract, or at the base of a particularly grand fall, and suddenly it surrounds you physically. Or, you are walking in the jungle, several kilometers away, and it slowly creeps back into your awareness that the sound you are hearing is the falls off in the distance. There was so much to absorb that our senses just could not take it all in.

Besides the waterfalls there is so much life surrounding you: numerous birds and myriad of flowers. We heard far more birds than we saw(we even heard a "Chili" type parrot calling off in the distance), and we saw a lot! The flowers sometimes stood out and at other times blended into the landscape. At one point I was about to stop and take a photo of a small purple flower when Dianne called me over to look at some yellow iris-type flowers. When I went back to take the purple flower I saw very close to it some yellow orchids that I had not noticed the first time. As though they had instantly sprung up in that place, though I realize they had been there all along. There was just so much to absorb! We saw coaties on the path, pulling fruit off a palm tree, one even cleaning up the lunch remains someone had left on the table outside the small cafe. There were a small band of cai monkeys, lots of lizards of several variety, capybaras (a small hairy rat-like critter). Oh, and the butterflies - mariposas - were everywhere: large and small, white and black and blue and orange and scarlet, bark colored, black with red and yellow markings, too many to catalogue!

Our two days began with an afternoon trip to the Park. We first visited the information center which had a very nice interpretive display on the rain forest. After grabbing a nice lunch at the local cafe we caught the "Green Train" for the ride out to the Garganta del Diablo, "The Devil's Throat." There is a rather lengthy walk across 12 branches of the river on a metal catwalk to the edge of this huge horseshoe shaped falls. As you approach you see the mist rising above the tree line and begin to hear the roar of the falls. Once there you are standing on the edge of this cliff watching billions of gallons of water rush over the side, some of it directly beneath you. One of the guidebooks said "it must come closest to the experience that ancient sailors feared" of reaching the edge of the earth where the water rushed over into oblivion. There is so much water concentrated in one spot that there is a constant mist rising up from the base of the falls. This obscures the view of what is going on down there, but instead it presents a constant, gorgeous rainbow for viewing. Every so often the mist rises up high enough and the breeze shifted so that the viewing platform was drenched with a brief rain shower. We spent somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour just staring at the falls. Everywhere you looked there was a different aspect presented, so that you had the grand scope and then hundreds of smaller snapshots presented for your viewing pleasure.

Our second day was spent walking through the jungles, viewing the rest of the falls (of which there are many), first from the Upper Circuit which takes you on metal catwalks again over the tops of the falls and right along the edge where the water plunges over the side. After lunch we walked the Lower Circuit which descends via metal stairways and catwalks down to the river with numerous viewing platforms presenting a variety of views of the falls from a lower perspective. And every time they came into view the picture was more spectacular than the one before. (I know I am gushing and overwhelmingly using superlatives, but trust me, there is no way to do justice to the grandeur, the glory, the beauty, the awesome experience presented by Iguazu Falls.)

At the base of the lower circuit (right before the final descent to the river bank) there is a viewing platform that approaches the base of one of the medium sized cataracts (which when you see the picture will give you an idea of how immense are some of the other cataracts!) If you are brave enough, or foolish enough, to walk out on this platform, you will be soaked to the skin (Dianne and I had our rain jackets to put on), but you will also experience the immense power of the falling water. It creates a constant spray which soaks you. There is a constant breeze blowing from, I assume, the air being displaced by the force of the falling water. It feels like a pretty stiff wind blowing. The deafening sound, like a train rushing by, totally surrounds you. And there is a constant rainbow present. It is an amazingly awesome experience!

I first posted this from an Internet shop in Puerto Iguazu while we were waiting for our afternoon flight to Buenos Aires. I have added some pictures to the post and now finally have added links to Kodak Gallery albums with many more photos for you to enjoy. I shot over 700 photos at the falls and it has taken some time to organize them so I could share a portion of them!!! Don't worry, I did not upload all 700 to the albums. There are quite a few, but you won't want to miss seeing more pictures of the falls, the butterflies, the birds, the animals, the flowers. So much! I promise you will be amazed!

This link takes you to pictures of the falls themselves: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.bdtpijt2&x=0&y=-ppfui6&localeid=en_US

This link takes you to pictures of the wildlife: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.72stird2&x=0&y=-1c509w&localeid=en_US

This link takes you to pictures of the flowers: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.5gl04rye&x=0&y=4zns0m&localeid=en_US

This link takes you to pictures of the butterflies: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.ai7j9ocm&x=0&y=q1ipkx&localeid=en_US

Finally, this link takes you to pictures of the birds: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.8ppldzs6&x=0&y=kvy7da&localeid=en_US

Off to the Jungle!

Tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. we are being picked up by our faithful taxi driver Sergio (although we have not found a bad taxi driver yet) to be driven to the "other" airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newberry, where we will catch our Lan Argentina flight to Puerto Iguazu. It will be 3 days and two nights in the jungle on the border with Brazil and Paraguay, enjoying the incredible Iguazu Falls. We will be communing with the abundant rainforest flora and fauna, including mammoth butterflies, mischevious coatis, talkative parrots and jaguars. It will be a very interesting break from the city.

Today was a very laid back day of getting ready for this side-trip. Steve did laundry in the morning at his favorite neighborhood lavadero (laundromat). Dianne explored the local shops. They went to Steve's favorite lunch place when he was taking classes in Buenos Aires, Nuevo Martone on Avenue Corrientes, and Dianne met Marcello and the gang. They then dropped in on Senora Restelli, with whom Steve stayed when he was in school here. (She was quite impressed with the improvement in Steve's spanish and she was very sweet to Dianne.) Then they went to visit the school and Dianne met Ale, Steve's teacher and Norma, the secretary. They then walked down to Calle Florida and visited several shops, Plaza San Martin, where Dianne asked a police officer why all the officers were standing in a circle around the statue (she learned there was some sort of demonstration to take place in a little while.) After catching a taxi back to Palermo, they had a marvelous dinner at 1810 Cocina Regionale with a nice bottle of Malbec, delicious empanadas, a stew and a squash chicken pot pie, topped off by a very rich dessert with dulce de leche and merengue and two cafes. It was a very enjoyable day.

Tomorrow we are off to Iguazu as already shared, without the computer. So we will probably not post pictures or information about the Falls until Thursday evening.

A Slower-Paced Weekend

After three very full days visiting parks, taking Tango lessons, walking the central historic district, touring museums, Dianne and I realized we needed to slow down. So the past two days we have taken a more relaxed approach to the city. Each day we slept later and then spent the afternoon attending a craft fair. Saturday it was in La Boca, home of the Italian immigrants (who seem to have been replaced by Peruvians). Sunday it was San Telmo, with their Antiques Fair and street performers. In La Boca we ate a leisurely lunch at an outside table of a Resto-Bar and watched two Tango Shows being presented, one across the street and the other down the street, by performers for other restaurants. Dianne had delicious beef medallions in wine & mushroom sauce and Steve had ravioli with meat sauce, and both enjoyed a a glass of full-bodied Malbec. Then on Sunday lunch was a very tasty, and very filling (Dianne could only eat half of hers) Steak Milanese consumed in the marvelous Bar El Federal (pictured above), dripping with ambiance and old Buenos Aires atmosphere. The days were both filled with bright sunshine, the weather could not have been more perfect. We returned to our apartment tired each evening, yet not worn out. They were more like the days a resident enjoys on the weekend instead of the hectic days a tourist feels driven to cram full of every possible experience available in a city before one must leave, quite possibly never to return. Tomorrow promises to be another day similar to the last two as we will venture downtown briefly, but also spend time preparing for our trip this week to the jungle in northeast Argentina and the spectacular Iquazu Falls.