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.