We heard this morning that there was a terrible fire in a Buenos Aires night club last night, and I just want to reassure you that we were safe asleep in our beds, and nowhere near the club.

Before telling you about our day yesterday, I’d like to start with a word about transportation. In Santiago, there is a spectacular metro. It is modern and efficient, reaches every part of the city and each station is decorated with fantastic large scale art. Here in Buenos Aires, we have heard there is a metro, but have not been on it yet. It doesn’t seem to go to any of the parts of the city that we want to go to. It’s the oldest metro in Latin America, so is also supposed to be a bit rickety. So to get around Buenos Aires, you take one of the very cheap, ubiquitous, black-with-yellow-roof taxi cabs. You start out feeling a little silly taking a taxi for what would be two subway stops in most cities, but after a while you get used to it, particularly since it only costs one or two dollars. Last night we actually managed to get a taxi fare of three dollars, and we were quite amazed.

We saw an interesting custom yesterday. At the last working day of the year (which for many people was yesterday), the office workers in high buildings throw paper out of the window. The starting point for this is old calendars. We saw a bunch of calendar sheets all over the streets, and realized what was going on. But some have graduated the custom to just about anything, including reams of computer paper, or toilet paper. Everywhere we went yesterday, we would look up and see papers fluttering to the ground from on high. And in several places it seems we had to wade through ankle deep piles of paper. The “hygiene” people were out in full force trying to sweep up as the debris was created.

So yesterday we continued our tour of Buenos Aires starting with the Recoleta cemetery, including Evita’s grave. These graves are not graves as we know them, they are enormous, elaborate mausoleums. We then wanted to see a tour of the Colon Theatre, but it was closed for the year. After that, we tried to see the central synagogue, which also was closed. Given our hit rate, and the heat, we decided to take a break, and went back to the hotel for a “picnic” in our hotel, eating the leftovers from our evening with the relatives.

After lunch, we went to see the mothers/grandmothers who have a thirty year long demonstration about the disappeared people from the military dictatorship. It was quite moving to see these dedicated ladies, in their trademark white scarves, carrying photos of their children, still seeking information about their loved ones.

We picked up our leather goods, and then I took Marina shopping for a few hours where we bought a few adorable outfits for her – a very nice change from the usual jeans and t-shirt!! Lastly, we went to dinner at a traditional Argentine steak house. They cook the meat over an enormous wood fire. These people really are serious about their meat – there are pages and pages on the menu about each different kind of cut. And it’s quite inexpensive, too, for top grade beef. (Indeed, the whole country is inexpensive given the devaluation of the Argentine peso … for example, our meal last night of one steak and two chicken dishes including side dishes and wine, was a grand total of US$40!).

This is my last blog entry because we’ll be packing to go home. We plan to see the MALBO, the new modern art museum, and a few art galleries, and then head towards the airport where we take a night flight. Thanks for following our blog this year!!

-- Donna