January 29 in Buenos Aires

Due to reading a woman’s watch without using spectacles, Evelyn wakened us an our early. We wrestled with our luggage in this small room and found some things we needed. After breakfast Tom and I went to a small grocery and bought 3 liters of wine to take on the cruise. My 2 white and 1 Malbec red cost 14 pecos--$5. They are in small boxes to put into our luggage. We may lose them to the X-ray examinations our luggage undergoes before boarding. The cruise line doesn’t like people bring their own liquor since they sell it. If we lose them, so be it. We all met in the lobby and walked down Florida Street to the street mall. It is blocked to traffic and features virtually every type of shop imaginable. Each store has someone out front soliciting business. We went to a store and bought a tango CD and 2 small leather purses for Emily and Stacy. There was a man painted in silver as an angel in a frozen pose gave me a blessing when I gave him a coin. We went into the many buildings containing more stores, many upscale. The most elegant fast food restaurant in the world--Burger King--is in a beautiful old building that was a house for a very wealthy family. We went to a Versace store near an elegant salon for coffee and a petifor, compliments of our hotel. We walked through San Martin park and had lunch at a popular pasta restaurant where the waiter knocked over our bottle of wine, breaking it on the floor. He was hardly around after that until time to pay. The place got very busy and he never brought the ice we wanted. We walked to and through a train station like the ones in Europe. We caught the subte back to the hotel and took a nap until time to prepare for dinner before another tango show. We ate a delicious salad and loin at La Viejo Rotiseria, another recommended restaurant. From there we took a taxi to Senor Tango for a big production show. The dancers danced in groups and in couples to music by the 5 piece orchestra--accordian, violin, cello, bass, and piano. All women’s costumes were skimpy but 1 in only a thong and sheer skirt broke the limit. Two women and one man sang at various times. Fog machines pumped throughout. A native Indian group from the Andes played wonderful music on flutes. Several old maestros played in one segment. All the accordions are long and narrow. We agreed it was not a tango show but a fine variety show. It began with 2 live horses on the theater in the round stage. Early on, the 2 women singers brought a man from the audience to “dance” with them. We weren’t home until 1 A.M.