A most untimely mishap…Oh, good grief!…I’m injured!…Three days and counting…

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Fancy chalk graffiti on the exterior of a cafe.

What can I say? Regardless of where we may be in the world, we are subject to the risks of injury. For all of you whether you’re in your home, backyard or out for a walk with the dog, no one is exempt from an occasional injury-inducing fall or stumble.

 With my lousy spine, a hereditary condition for which a low inflammation diet manages to keep the pain under control, my stability is not the best, even with considerable exercise and walking.  My spine is a fragile mess accounting for why we don’t zip line, bungee jump, scuba dive, and engage in similar activities.

We often see pigeons walking on the ground or flying to crumbs left by humans, but seldom sitting in a tree.

However, it hasn’t kept us from living life to the fullest as we’ve traveled the world. The only time I was unable to participate in some planned activities quickly was when we were on the Mekong River cruise after I’d injured my spine in the pool in Bali, taking five months to heal. We avoided participating in all of the other tours.

Gosh, I don’t like to “whine” here but Tom suggested we continue to “tell it like it is” as we’ve done over and over again in this past over 2000 posts. We try not to exclude realities of life that many can relate to as you read our daily journal.

Our reality, whether we like it or not, is that occasionally we’re sick or injured, and sharing how we handle it is of the utmost importance to our readers, significantly when we can’t jump into the car and run to “our doctor” (of which we have none) or a local urgent care center. (Of course, we’d go to a hospital if we felt a situation was dangerous or life-threatening).

Tom doesn’t have a lollipop or cigarette in his mouth. It’s an optical illusion based on something in the background.

We arrived in Buenos Aires on December 23rd. We’ve walked more here than we’ve walked in any country during our last over five years of world travel, except perhaps in Paris and London (two weeks each) in 2014.   But, frequent walking in itself is no surefire means of preventing oneself from an obstacle-induced fall.

And that’s what happened to me last night. Wearing a different pair of shoes was my first mistake. Each time we walked in Buenos Aires, I’ve worn a couple of ultra-comfortable, good supporting water shoes that I purchased in Minnesota during the family visit last summer. I’ve never been so comfortable in a pair of shoes.

Last night, for a change of pace, I decided to wear a pair of white lace-up leather Keds. Big mistake. The thin soles simply didn’t provide the degree of stability I needed to walk the uneven streets here in Palermo, wrought with broken tiles, potholes, and massive inconsistent areas of rough pavement. 

Not so busy corner in Recoleta where we walked on Monday.

My bad, I didn’t think of that when I wore the Keds last night for our walk to Diggs Restaurant (I guess we had Stefon Diggs, wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings, on our minds). I didn’t notice an issue with the shoes, or I’d have been more careful.

Alas, I was looking around instead of down at the pavement, and my foot hit a stone tile that was about 4″ higher than my last step and…boom! I hit the ground, breaking the fall to my knees and elbows, particularly my left knee.  I was wearing jeans, and the thick fabric prevented a break in the skin. But, oh…did it hurt. 

And, yes, my elbows and right wrist got dinged as well but nowhere near as bad as my left knee. After composing myself with Tom lifting me off the ground, I was able to hobble along for the remainder of the few blocks to Diggs. Immediately, I remember R-I-C-E;  rest, ice, compression, and elevate.

Statue at Jardin Botanica:  Los Primeros Frios, which translates to “first cold” in English.

Once we entered Diggs to find our favorite waiter ready to fuss over us, he brought me a plastic bag filled with ice, a bucket to hold it when taking a break from the icing, while I elevated my leg on the bench in the booth where we were seated. 

After dinner, which I struggled to eat, we slowly walked back the few blocks to the hotel since it made no sense to take a taxi for the short distance. Plus, I wanted to see how I’d do walking. 

Once back in our room with a bucket of ice to make an ice pack using a ziplock bag, I raised my leg on pillows, covered with a few bath towels to keep the bed from getting wet while we proceeded to watch a few episodes of Shark Tank to get our minds off of it.

Hydrangeas.

Tom was (is) devastated and worried. I was more concerned about him than I was about my injury. I can walk, albeit carefully, and the swelling is well under control with the rest, ice, compression, and elevation. 

Surprisingly, usually a side sleeper,  I slept well on my back with my leg elevated, after taking a Tylenol PM which helped with the discomfort and made me sleep through the night. This morning, I found an Ace bandage in our medical supplies and wrapped the knee for the “compression” part of R-I-C-E, finding it quite comforting.

Now, as we sit in the hotel lobby, I’m situated on a lounge-type chair with the knee wrapped and elevated. Once an hour, I’d unwrap the Ace bandage to do another 20-minute round of ice which I’ll continue throughout the day and night, rewrapping it in between icing it, all the while keeping my leg elevated.

Peachy blooms.

I think it will be OK. I have exactly five days to get better to be able to get off the ship to get on a Zodiak boat to the Falkland Islands (in Spanish, known as the Islas Malvinas).

In three days, we head to the airport around 3:15 am for the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Ushuaia. Hopefully, by then, I’ll have considerable improvement but wear the Ace bandage while frequently getting up to move around.  Ice is only suitable for the first 48 to 72 hours, then heat is recommended. We’ll see how it goes.

Sure, I’m frustrated and angry with myself for my clumsiness. But, like all the trials and tribulations we all must bear from time to time, a positive attitude coupled with diligent care is all we can do.

Perfume-smelling flowers are blooming from a tree.0

We still have a lot to do to prepare to leave, although most of my packing is done. Our hotel room is jammed with odds and ends to handle over these next few days. Tom will pack today or tomorrow (he prefers to wait until the “end”) and we’ll weigh both of our bags to ensure we’re both within the baggage weight restrictions.

Tonight, we’ll walk to the closest restaurants in the area, a burger joint that had a decent chicken Caesar salad for me with a burger and fries for Tom. It will be fine. It all will be just fine.

Have a safe and healthy day, week, month, and year!

                  
Photo from one year ago today, January 20, 2017:

While at The Tench, the historical Penitentiary in Hobart, Tasmania, we stopped by this courtroom located on the grounds. The area was known as one of several penal colonies in Tasmania in the 1800s. For more photos of the Tench, please click here.

Getting it all together….The tasks are never-ending…Four days and counting…

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Hmmm…a waterfall next to an escalator at the Recoleta Mall.  Unusual.

It was quite a productive day. After uploading yesterday’s post by noon our time, I was determined to go upstairs to our hotel room on the second floor, pull out my nearly empty suitcase, and begin packing for the cruise.

We’re allowed 23 kg (50 pounds) of checked baggage on Tuesday’s early morning flight to Ushuaia.  Ponant Cruise Line had no issue with how much we bring aboard the ship, but the airline does. We’re leaving Buenos Aires on a somewhat small plane designated for approximately 200 cruise passengers.

Tom’s watch battery died a month ago.  There isn’t a single jewelry store nearby that replaces watch batteries. We decided to walk the distance to this mall, thinking there might be such a store here, but only a Swatch store places Swatch-brand batteries. We left the mall since there was nothing else we needed to purchase.

We’re scheduled to arrive at the airport at 4:05 am, which requires we’re up at 3:00 am for the 30-minute ride to the airport. We don’t usually fly out in the middle of the night like this, so that the early wake-up time will be challenging. The usual hour-long ride in traffic to the airport will be considerably less at this hour.

The previous night, we’ll have given the hotel staff our bags and boxes to store while we’re away, which we’ll collect when we return to Buenos Aires for two nights on February 8th, after the cruise has ended.

The University of Buenos Aires, The School of Law, located in Recoleta.

Yesterday, to alleviate thinking about this process, I decided to complete 90% of my packing.  Leaving Tom in the hotel lobby on his computer, I headed up to the room, preferring to get the task done on my own. 

He offered to come up with me to assist, but I knew sorting through clothes and other items would be best if left to my own resources. It would require going through every item in my wardrobe asking myself, “Shall I bring this or leave it behind?” There was no way I wanted to be in a position of regretting leaving certain items behind that I could have used during the 17-day cruise.

There was no need for shorts and lightweight summer tops. I made piles of “to bring” or “not to bring,” and the process moved more quickly than I’d anticipated. Within about an hour, I had my bag packed, assuming the weight would be fine. I have 2 kilos of space left which I’ll fill with toiletries I’m still using now.

A colorful exterior of an ethnic restaurant near a park in Recoleta.

I packed minimal underwear, knowing I could handwash it nightly, which I usually do anyway, in an attempt to make them last longer. I’d purchased one warmer maxi-length sleep-type dress, and I have one cooler nightshirt to wear when that’s at the laundry.

The ship has laundry service in checking online, and the “butlers” assigned to each room can do touch-up ironing as needed (all for a fee, of course). There is no way we’d be able to last so many days with the clothing we have on hand.

In going through our cold-weather clothing shipped box, I sorted mine from Tom’s and packed all of those items. We also had to consider what to wear on Tuesday when we get to Ushuaia, where it’s cold, and we’ll spend the morning and early afternoon until we board the ship in the afternoon.

Weathered old building in Recoleta.

The cruise line has arranged a luncheon for us at a local hotel, where we’ll hang out as we wait. This should be fun as we get an opportunity to meet other passengers. Some may have purchased a tour and won’t be attending the luncheon or waiting at the hotel. 

After I finished packing, Tom entered the room, suggesting we take off on foot to purchase a few last-minute items requiring a trip to a pharmacy and the shop where we’d previously purchased the unsweetened coconut cream for my daily turmeric tea drink. 

The traffic was light on this street in Recoleta as we wandered about looking for a jewelry store for a battery for Tom’s Movado watch.

We’d have to purchase enough of the coconut cream to last during the 17-day cruise, leaving a few little packages behind for the two-day return to Buenos Aires and the first few mornings in South Africa before we’ll have gone grocery shopping in Komatipoort.

We found two more jewelry stores about ten blocks from here and decided to walk there first to see if we could get a battery for Tom’s watch. No luck. Neither of the two stores handled watch battery replacement.

Apartments along the main boulevard in Recoleta.

By 3:00 pm, we were back at the hotel with the coconut cream and pharmacy items. We walked 7,000 steps on my FitBit, and we’d like yet to walk to dinner later in the evening. As it turned out, we almost hit the 10,000 step mark we attempt to achieve most days by the end of the evening.

Tom stayed in the room while I went back down to the lobby to begin scanning the many receipts we’d accumulated while here. I’d already entered all the items on the spreadsheet I do daily, so the task didn’t take more than 30 minutes. I’ll scan the new receipts from these next few days on our final day and be done for a while.

A man is crossing the road with what appeared to be three greyhounds.

I felt so accomplished when done with the day’s tasks. Now I can work on the final expenses for the 31 nights we stayed in this hotel to have them ready for the last day’s post to share them with all of you. 

Last night, we decided to dine at our favorite restaurant in Palermo, La Cabrera, during the 40% off happy hour.  Once again, we had a perfect meal and chatted with another English-speaking couple from the US. It was dark by the time we began the walk back to the hotel. 

The park is surrounding La Recoleta Cemetery.  We could see the monuments behind the brick wall.

Not quite ready for bed, we carried my laptop to a booth in the hotel’s bar and watched a few shows. By 11:00 pm, we were in bed, but we both had a fitful night’s sleep, awakening for extended periods. It’s the way it is. A short nap may be in order later today.

We’ll be back with more tomorrow as we wind down our time in Buenos Aires, preparing for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of visiting Antarctica. Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, January 19, 2017:

The views of the Huon River in Tasmania were beautiful on the way to Huonville. For more photos, please click here.

The countdown has begun…Five days until departure for Antarctica!…A landmark in Recoleta…Last photos of La Recoleta..

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We took this photo from the taxi wishing we’d been able to see it at the park. This work of art is Floralis Generica is described as follows from this site:  “Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, Buenos Aires, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower “is a synthesis of all the flowers and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening.” It was created in 2002. The sculpture was designed to move, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning. The sculpture is located in the center of a park of four acres of wooded boundaries, surrounded by paths that get closer, provide different perspectives of the monument, and be placed above a reflecting pool, which, apart from fulfilling its aesthetic function, protects it. It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with an aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to its six petals. It weighs eighteen tons and is 23 meters high.”

With a mere five days remaining until we depart Buenos Aires to fly to Ushuaia, Argentina, to board the cruise to Antarctica, we’re busy as we can be. Not only are we wrapped up in preparing detailed posts each day, taking photos while walking through the neighborhood each day, but we’re now entrenched in the process of the upcoming confusing packing scenario.

On every other occasion, packing for our next adventure has been easy. It’s a no-brainer. We simply pack everything we own. This time, we have to sort through all of our belongings to determine what we’ll need during the 17- day cruise days and what we can leave behind, storing the balance at the Prodeo Hotel.

Highrise in Recoleta.

Yesterday, I began going through medical and other supplies contained in our third smaller checked bag, which we’re leaving here. Plus, we have the pill bag containing all types of emergency meds and over-the-counter items we may or may not need.

Sure, we could leave behind aspirin, Tylenol, cough drops, decongestants, and sinus wash, but what if we get sick and need these items, many of which may not be available on this smaller ship? 

Recoleta is a much larger neighborhood from Palermo and is home to many more modern office buildings and apartment complexes.

Instead, we’re packing some of these items since Tom caught a cold on the last cruise and used all of them.  Why pay exorbitant fees to see the doctor when in most cases, we can treat ourselves? Plus, we’ve added items appropriate for exacerbating my gastrointestinal thing, which does rear its ugly head from time to time.

Then, of course, a girl needs her cosmetic items, which means one duplicate for every item in my little black cosmetic bag. What if I lost or broke an item? I don’t use creams, lotions, and potions, so to speak, other than an organic facial wash and eye makeup remover, so there’s not much packing there.

A steeple in the park in Recoleta.

Add a razor with a new blade for each of us, our crystal deodorant, a small bag of my nail stuff, hair products, and we’ve got it covered. After spending an hour or more gathering the items we’ll need, that part of the packing is done.

Today, I’ll go through the box of cold-weather and water-resistant clothing and start packing my suitcase.  Tomorrow, we’re having the final bag of laundry done (there are no laundromats in this area) and will add whatever we need from the laundry when it’s delivered on Saturday.

There are also many historical hotels and buildings in the area.

Yesterday, we printed 21 pages of documents and vouchers that Ponant requires in paper format and more copies of my food list. I added them to the litany of health certificates and other documents we already have ready to go in a large manila envelope. 

Another task I completed yesterday was setting up “bill pay” payments in our bank account due in February. At the first of each month, we pay off all of our credit cards in total to make room for the next barrage of significant payments towards vacation homes, cruises, rental cars, and other living expenses.

Tom is quite a history buff and is particularly fascinated with older structures.

If we were to experience a poor signal aboard the ship (which we expect), preventing us from getting into our accounts, the payments could be late, a risk we can’t ever take. Entering the costs in advance, sooner than we usually do at the end of the prior month, allows us to be entirely free in thinking about this during our adventure.

Also, today, I’ll be working on sending the grandkids a little something for Valentine’s Day. We’ll already be in South Africa by February 14th, arriving on the 11th. However, some of the items we order require planning, and a two or three-day window isn’t sufficient.

A broader perspective of Evita’s family (Duarte) mausoleum.

Once we’re done posting here today, we’re off to the health food store to purchase five bottles of unsweetened coconut cream for my morning turmeric tea drink. I decided I’d given up enough things I like to eat and drink that I wasn’t willing to forgo this healthful morning concoction during the cruise.

Also, since I’ve found I feel my best when I don’t eat breakfast, only the drink, there’s an amount of nutrition in this drink that can get me through the first Zodiac boat outings in the morning. When we return midday for lunch, I’ll eat enough to hold me until the anticipated late dinners on the ship that we read are usually after 8:00 or 9:00 pm, typical European-style. Ponant is a French cruise line.

Me, in front of an old structure at La Recoleta.

We heard from past Ponant travelers to whom we spoke on Skype while in Costa Rica, most passengers dress up for dinner each night. We can accommodate this to a degree, but I don’t have evening gowns, and Tom doesn’t have a tuxedo or even a sports coat. We can’t be carrying those items with us!

Having even one such set of clothing items would be ridiculous when we’d have to wear the same outfit over and over, which in itself is preposterous. Instead, we make do with what we have, Tom with two dress shirts and dark pants and me with a few dressy tops and pants. 

A mausoleum with statues on the top, commonly found at La Recoleta.

Occasionally, we may get a few looks here and there for our “casual chic” attire, but we can’t get worked up over this. With only 200 passengers on this upcoming cruise, in no time at all, they’ll discover why we don’t have dress-up clothing and never give us another glaring look.

Last night, we headed to Diggs (ironic name, Minnesota fans?) for dinner but they were closed when they’re usually open. This has been the case for many restaurants we’ve visited, inspiring us always to have a backup plan.

Another ornate mausoleum.

The past two nights, I’ve slept at least seven hours and feel better than I have in weeks. Tom had a good night last night and is equally chipper, leaving us both prepared to tackle (no pun intended).

Also, the better we feel, the more we have done, which frees us up mentally for the upcoming Minnesota Vikings football game on Sunday night! We couldn’t be more excited about this event!

Happy day to all!

 Photo from one year ago today, January 18, 2017:

A decorative item in Anne and Tom’s garden, owners of the vacation home in Huon Valley, Tasmania. They suggested we take whatever we’d like at any time, and we gladly did (in moderation, of course).  For more photos, please click here.

Evita Peron’s burial site at La Recoleta Cemetery…A movie to remember…Comments for our 2000th post…

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We could see we’d found Evita’s family crypt.

The first mausoleum most visitors rush to see upon their arrival at La Recoleta Cemetery is Evita Perón, the first lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death from cancer in 1952.  We were no different than others and excitedly rushed to her site as soon as we discovered where it was located.

Here is information about Evita from this site:

“In this Argentine name, the family name is Duarte, and for married women, the married name is Perón.
Eva Perón
Eva Perón Retrato Oficial.jpg
First Lady of Argentina
In-office
4 June 1946 – 26 July 1952
President Juan Perón
Preceded by Conrada Victoria Farrell
Succeeded by Mercedes Lonardi (1955)
President of the Eva Perón Foundation
In-office
8 July 1948 – 26 July 1952
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Delia Parodi
Personal details
Born Eva María Duarte
7 May 1919Los Toldos, Argentina
Died 26 July 1952 (aged 33)Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resting place La Recoleta Cemetery
Political party Justicialist Party
Peronist Feminist Party
Spouse(s) Juan Perón (1945–1952)
Signature
Eva María Duarte de Perón (7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952) was Argentine President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until she died in 1952. She is usually referred to as Eva Perón or Evita.
She was born in poverty in the rural village of Los Toldos, in the Pampas, as the youngest of five children. At 15 in 1934, she moved to the nation’s capital of Buenos Aires to pursue a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. She met Colonel Juan Perón there on 22 January 1944 during a charity event at the Luna Park Stadium to benefit the victims of an earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The two were married the following year. Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina in 1946; during the next six years, Eva Perón became powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, primarily for speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women’s suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation’s first large-scale female political party, the Female Peronist Party.
In 1951, Eva Perón announced her candidacy for the Peronist nomination for the office of Vice President of Argentina, receiving tremendous support from the Peronist political base, low-income and working-class Argentines referred to as descamisados or “shirtless ones.” However, opposition from the nation’s military and the bourgeoisie, coupled with her declining health, ultimately forced her to withdraw her candidacy.[1] In 1952, shortly before her death from cancer at 33, Eva Perón was given the title of “Spiritual Leader of the Nation” by the Argentine Congress.[2][3][4] She was given a state funeral upon her death, a prerogative generally reserved for heads of state.
Eva Perón has become a part of the international popular culture,[5][page needed] most famously as the subject of the musical Evita (1976).[6]Even today, Evita has never left the collective consciousness of Argentines.[3] Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first elected female President of Argentina, and many other leaders attest that women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for “her example of passion and combativeness.”  

A few evenings before we visited La Recoleta Cemetery, we downloaded and watched the famous movie about her life, Evita, starring Madonna.  The film, an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, portrayed the story of her life as the often beloved countrywoman, still revered by many Argentines to this day.

Some of these flowers, left at her site, were fresh, while others were artificial.

There’s a lot of controversy about Eva Perón that continues to swirl around her memory, but we won’t get into that here. You can read about the debate over the movie here at this link. 

Instead, we saw the representation of her life and death at La Recoleta Cemetery as she was interred with other members of the Duarte family. It was interesting to see, but we’re aren’t into “celebrity” all that much. 

Our perception of “celebrity” is that “famous” people are just like us; they just happened to be in the right circumstances at the right time, with specific skills or opportunities that aided in propelling them into the limelight. 

Could this be the 50th year from when Evita was interred at the Duarte family mausoleum?

And yet, in various countries, we’ve seen people lining the boulevards to get but a glimpse of a public figure of one type or another. I suppose that makes me no different. But, if seeing their beloved celebrity brings them joy, then its purpose is clearly defined. I get excited to see a warthog.

The street was so narrow, and it was impossible to get a shot of the entire mausoleum. However, it wasn’t as large or as flashy as many others.
On the other hand, Tom revels in the element of surprise and the unexpected, such as when we encountered, four years ago today, three dozen elephants walking along the road in Kruger National Park. See this link for photos and details. “Safari luck.”
As we wandered through row after row of ornate mausolea (yep, that’s the plural of the mausoleum. Who knew? We continually searched for the Duarte or Perón name, never knowing quite what to expect.
A commemorative plaque in honor of Evita was added in the year 2000.

We’d failed to get a map of the facility when we entered, figuring we could weave in and out of the rows upon rows of sites. We finally encountered an employee with no luck, and in Spanish, I asked, “Dov’è Evita Peron?”  Immediately, he pointed us in the right direction. 

We weren’t too far away. As we entered the long narrow “street,” it was easy to see where her mausoleum was located with the crowd gathered at the site. We patiently and quietly waited our turn to take photos and read the inscriptions as shown in today’s photos.

Several commemorative plaques for Evita were added over the years.

La Recoleta Cemetery is worth visiting when in Buenos Aires. There are numerous affordable tours available online at several sites and tours offered on cruises that spend a night or two docked in Buenos Aires. 

As usual, we prefer to go at our own pace, avoiding crowded bus rides and tours. Some may say we’d learn more if we booked a tour, but we always read volumes of information about the venue from many reliable sites both before and after visiting. This works well for us. 

Many have ornate doors and entrances.
Some of the mausolea have granite or marble surfaces.

Keeping our lives relatively stress-free and uncomplicated is the gist of our world travels. If we can avoid strict time constraints, huge crowds, traffic, and waiting for extended periods in long queues, we’re most content.

Speaking of our lives of world travel, yesterday we uploaded our 2000th post. I can’t recall doing 2000 of anything other than having heartbeats, days or weeks of life, the number of steps taken on my Fitbit or number of meals consumed, etc.
Many of the mausolea were smaller and unassuming than others.

Two thousand posts? If someone told me seven years ago I had to write 2000 stories at a rate of one per day, including reasonably decent photos, to be allowed to travel the world, I’d have said, “Forget about it! It’s too much pressure! It would spoil the experience!”

This stone crypt was fascinating.

And yet, here we are, 2000 posts later and, each day, we are grateful for the opportunity to have shared yet another morsel of our lives on the move with every one of our worldwide readers.

In the center of town, La Recoleta Cemetery is a popular location for tourists to visit.

Many write to us expressing their gratitude for our daily stories as we continue to be vulnerable and revealing to the most intimate aspects of this humble life. But, we are grateful for all of YOU for inspiring us and providing us with an added purpose that only enhances the quality of this life we lead. 

Health provided, there will be 2000 or more yet to come.

May all of you join in good health with us as you share each day of our journey at our side.

Photo from one year ago today, January 17, 2017:

View of the Huon River from the veranda of our vacation home in Geeveston, Tasmania. For photos of the house, please click here.

Sightseeing at a most unusual place…Today is our 2000th post!…More on that in tomorrow’s post

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This scene at La Recoleta Cemetery particularly caught our eye.

We decided it was time to go sightseeing again. With the days dwindling until we depart Buenos Aires (one week from today) and confusing packing ahead of us when we’re leaving the majority of our clothing and supplies behind at the Prodeo Hotel to pick up after the cruise,, we knew we wanted to get out one more time.

A few included a statue of the deceased, especially those of political or cultural significance.

We reviewed all of the possibilities deciding the La Recoleta Cemetery, one of the most interesting cemeteries globally, would be our top choice. If anywhere in Buenos Aires bespoke history and culture, this would be the place to visit.

The entrance to La Recoleta Cemetary is located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

Taking a taxi to the Recoleta neighborhood made the most sense rather than figuring out bus schedules. At a distance of only 5.5 km (3.4 miles) from our hotel, it resulted in a 20-minute taxi ride through heavy midday traffic at the cost of US $14.34 (ARS 270) for the round trip, including tip

As soon as we began the walk through the cemetery, we knew it would be an unusual experience from other cemeteries we’ve visited in other countries.

The driver dropped us off at the entrance to the cemetery (no entrance fee is charged for this venue), and the moment we peered beyond the door, we knew we were in for a treat. We’ve often visited cemeteries in different parts of the world when it provides us with an interesting perspective on the culture of generations often going back hundreds of years.

La Recoleta Cemetery was no exception. Here’s is the link to some fascinating information about this proud heritage for the people of Argentina, which is also a popular tourist attraction.

The blue sky and fluffy clouds were an excellent backdrop for our photos.

Upon entering the massive facility, it wasn’t easy to decide which direction to take when it was laid out compared to a neighborhood/network of interlocking streets. Each monument consists of a unique historical story, design, and architecture, almost like “homes.”

Many of the mausoleums had simple lines and designs, while others were ornate.

In essence, there are “homes” for the dead where they’ll rest for hundreds of more years to come. From time to tie, we encountered the mausoleums/crypts that were crumbling from age and were in the process of repair. 

Others were aged and degenerating, with perhaps no family members remaining. If so, those would want to or could afford to bear the expense of rebuilding the ornate structures housing their ancestor/ancestors.

Each mausoleum has its own story to tell.

Many were family crypts with the surname emblazoned across the top or entrance to the massive structures.  What is particularly unique about La Recoleta Cemetery is the fact that all it contains are mausoleums.  

Here’s more information about the cemetery from this site:
“La Recoleta Cemetery (Spanish: Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon. In 2011, the BBC hailed it as one of the world’s best cemeteries,[ and in 2013, it was listed among the ten most beautiful cemeteries in the world.

The monks of the Order of the Recoletos arrived in this area, then the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in the early eighteenth century. The cemetery is built around their convent and a church, Our Lady of Pilar (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Pilar), built-in 1732. The order was disbanded in 1822, and the garden of the convent was converted into the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires. Inaugurated on 17 November of the same year under Cementerio del Norte (Northern Cemetery),  those responsible for its creation were the then-Governor Martin Rodríguez, who would be eventually buried in the cemetery, and government minister Bernardino Rivadavia. The 1822 layout was done by French civil engineer Próspero Catelin, who also designed the current facade of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral.[ The cemetery was last remodeled in 1881, while Torcuato de Alvear was mayor of the city, by the Italian architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo

There are only a few mausoleums of this style with varying structures for various family members.

Set in 5.5 hectares (14 acres), the site contains 4691 vaults, all above ground, of which 94 have been declared National Historical Monuments by the Argentine government and are protected by the state. The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Doric columns. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in various architectural styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, Neo-Gothic, and most materials used between 1880 and 1930 in the construction of tombs were imported from Paris and Milan.

Many of the mausolea appeared as small churches.

The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. These mausoleums are still being used by affluent families in Argentina with their own vault and keep their deceased there. While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. Several can be found with broken glass and littered with rubbish. Among many memorials are works by notable Argentine sculptors Lola Mora and Luis Perlotti, for instance. The tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak, due to its unusual design, is of particular interest.”

Many of the streets appeared as a city block, neatly arranged.

While roaming through the network of “streets,” we met a lovely couple from Australia and chatted with them for a while.  They were equally in awe of the cemetery and also enthralled when we shared a little about our love of their people and their continent after spending over two years in and around Australia. 

With mausoleums added over varying centuries, the blocks were often of varying sizes and widths, as in this very narrow walkway.

Besides our English-speaking hotel staff, we’ve had little opportunity to converse with English-speaking people while out and about. And, in this particular area of Palermo, there are considerably fewer tourists than in other parts of Buenos Aires.

We gave them one of our business cards when they’d asked to read about our many experiences in Australia.  Then, last night while waiting in the queue for “40% off-happy-hour” at La Cabrera, we met another lovely young couple from Ireland who was on a four-month honeymoon after getting married close to Christmas. They were thrilled to hear we’d be spending three months in their country upcoming in spring/summer 2019.

There are statues atop most of the structures indicative of the deceased’s religious and spiritual beliefs.

Back at our hotel after dark, we grabbed my computer and headed to the hotel bar where we watched an episode of “Top of the Lake.” as it turned out, the four of us shared a table at the restaurant and had a lovely dinner together. It couldn’t have been more enjoyable. , There wasn’t another hotel guest to be seen.

A few were not the traditional grey stone exterior, as the case of this dark green structure.

After a very fitful night’s sleep warranting a 20-minute nap later this afternoon, we’re content to stay put today (until dinner) while continuing to research vacation/holiday home rentals for our upcoming lengthy itinerary.

It was equally interesting for us to see the older, more weathered mausoleums.

We’ll be back tomorrow with photos of Evita (Eva) Perrone’s mausoleum, which most visitors flock to when visiting La Recoleta Cemetery. It was a good day. Please check back tomorrow for more.

We want to mention a little more about today being our 2000th post in tomorrow’s post! We can’t believe it!  Can you?

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 16, 2017:

The scenery in Hobart, Tasmania, was breathtaking. We returned to Hobart, a 40-minute drive from our vacation home in the Huon Valley, at a later day for more photos. For more photos, please click here.

Oh, what a night!…The Minnesota Vikings big win and a date night to boot…

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Tom was thrilled to be seated in the comfortable big booth in the bar with me, watching the live playoff game.

I was never much of a football enthusiast.  On the other hand, Tom was born in Minnesota, living and working there all his life up until we left in October 2012.(I lived there 42 years). His passion for football lies solely with the Minnesota Vikings.

In our old lives, he developed what I considered somewhat of an odd routine of preferring to watch the game alone without distractions. I stayed out of his way and didn’t interrupt him with such dumb questions as, “What time do you want to have dinner?”

Besides, he’s never cared what time we have dinner, always leaving the decision up to me, even now as we travel the world. It could be 3:00 pm or 8:00 pm and he’ll never comment one way or another.

As the years passed, those then 21 years we’d spent together (now approaching 27 years), I busied myself in cooking Sunday dinners or other tasks during the three-plus hour period the football game was on TV.

What always surprised me was his lack of yelling, cheering, and booing during the games. He never made a peep. I could only determine the outcome of the game when he walked into the kitchen after it ended with a smile on his face or not.

I was always used to the loud, explosive comments and rampant jumping around of my two sons, Richard and Greg, who both remain loud and explosive today as the games have continued over the years.

Oddly, once we left Minnesota in 2012 to travel the world, I became interested in the Vikings when Tom became a member of  NFL GamePass. There’s an annual fee was from US $99 (ARS 1,848) to US $199 (ARS 3,714) per season depending on the package he chooses.

This annual service allows out-of-the-country-only access for all NFL football games including playoff and Super Bowl games, either watching it live with commercials or waiting several hours to watch it commercial-free. 

They were ready for the first play of the game.

Since Tom likes to spend free time on Facebook, where often the progression of a game is posted, he prefers to watch the game live so he’ll be surprised by the outcome like everyone else. This, of course, depends entirely on our time zone.

The time in Minnesota is three hours earlier than Buenos Aires.  Last night’s playoff game, between the Vikings and New Orleans Saints, started here at 6:40 pm. Next week’s game will determine which teams go to the Super Bowl and will be aired here at 8:40 pm. 

Although I don’t watch every game with him, when often he watches while I do the day’s post, I’ve been paying close attention to what’s transpiring and now consider myself a fan. 

I still don’t ask him a lot of questions during the games but after being in each other’s presence 24/7 these past years, he’s changed his ways a little and will talk to me during the game. I won’t take credit for this. It’s simply due to the fact he can pause the game and readily hit “resume” at any time. But, he still doesn’t hoot and holler. Instead, I do that for both of us.

With my added interest in the outcome of last night’s playoff game, we decided to make a night of it. With the hotel almost devoid of guests again, we asked if we could watch the game at one of the big booths in the bar.  No problem. We didn’t even have to wear ear pieces with no one around.

We loaded up the balance of a bottle of red wine and a few beers for Tom and got comfortably situated at the huge table in the bar, sitting closely side by side in order to watch it on his 15.6-inch laptop monitor. 

I kept my laptop on, open to Facebook while commenting with various friends throughout the world and also son Richard as the game progressed. It couldn’t have been more fun! Tom and I chatted endlessly while he continued to educate me on the finer points of the rules and various plays, some of which I’d never taken the time to learn.

The Vikings won during the last few seconds of the game when I found myself involuntarily, loudly, and explosively expressing my enthusiasm. Nowadays, Tom will talk to me during the game, although I do keep my line of questioning football related. 

We had a blast!  Maybe if they hadn’t won I wouldn’t be saying that so freely.  Most enthusiastic fans don’t say it was fun when their team loses. Now we’re looking forward to next Sunday night’s game, albeit late for us, but we won’t be able to avoid watching it!

Here in Argentina, most are huge fans of soccer is the case in many other parts of the world.  Every country seems to have its own variation of football, soccer, and rugby fans as excited as those in the US and sometimes, even more.

It’s a happy day for our friends and readers wherever they may be celebrating the wins for the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles, (who’ll the Vikings will play next week in their final playoff game), the New England Patriots, the Jacksonville Jaguars, all competing for the position of the two final teams to participate in the 52nd Super Bowl game to be played at the new stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Note: The Minnesota Vikings will make NFL history if they reach Super Bowl LII, becoming the first team ever to play for the title in its home stadium. That’s even more exciting!

Happy day to all, wherever you may be and whatever sport you may follow!       
    
Photo from one year ago today, January 15, 2017:

As we posted our final photos of Penguin, Tasmania we gushed over the charm of this special town and how it whimsically celebrates its fairy penguins. For more photos, please click here.

We tried…An authentic Argentine dinner with offal and others…Tom, the supertaster…

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To us, these stuffed pig intestines, “Chinchulin,” were the least desirable items on the platter.  See description below:

 “Chinchulin / Small Intestines As you’d expect, it looks gross and tastes…well, it’s pretty particular and hard to describe, so you’re just going to have to trust me and try them. They should be well cooked and crunchy but never chewy. That means you got a dud plate. Squeeze abundant amounts of fresh lemon juice on top.

Parrillada in Spanish translates to “barbecue.” When we read online that Las Cabras is an authentic Argentine restaurant, especially popular with locals and known for their taste-tempting platters of meat, we thought we’d give it a try.

Located in the Palermo Hollywood district it was a direction we’d yet to walk except when we headed in that general direction to use an ATM located at a bank where we assumed fees would be less than other locations.  (We discovered this was not the case in Argentina. Using an ATM results in a fee of US $10 (ARS 186) regardless of the amount of local cash received, more than we’ve paid anywhere in the world).

Tom’s smile was as big as usual when I explained what was on the menu.

Earlier in the day, we had no hesitancy to venture out on this longer walk than usual for dinner. Also, there are a number of other restaurants in that area who’s menus we could check as we walked passed.

By late afternoon, it was raining hard but with a borrowed umbrella from the hotel, we decided to head out anyway. We never hesitate to walk in the rain especially when we have access to an umbrella. 

After all, we stood for 90 minutes in the pouring rain in Versailles in August 2014 (see story and photos here) without umbrellas and were soaked through to our underwear. We didn’t care as the rain ran down our faces. No walk to dinner in Palermo to dine would get us that wet. Off we went in the downpour. The experience was exquisite, memorable for a lifetime.

The bread was dry without butter and this little pat was definitely margarine which we don’t eat.

You may ask, “Why not take a taxi?” If a location we’re pursuing is within walking distance, we walk, rain or shine. (The exception to this may be when sightseeing when rain impedes the opportunity to take good photos)  It’s good to get out moving about after a big meal when the long walk back to the hotel would aid in digestion.

Unfortunately, no walk, no distance and no form of exercise could obliterate the heavy feeling in my gut after that meal or, for Tom…the taste in his mouth. Years ago, with his picky taste buds, I discovered he may be a “supertaster” as described here:

“A supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average, with some studies showing an increased sensitivity to bitter tastes. It may be a cause of selective eating, but selective eaters are not necessarily supertasters, and vice versa. 

For additional details about supertasters, please click here.”

In most restaurants in Buenos Aires bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar are served at tables. Balsamic vinegar has a high carb count of 17 grams per 100 gram due to high sugar content and may contain wheat. Many olive oils used in mid-range (or less) restaurants aren’t pure, containing toxic canola and other vegetable oils we try to avoid.

Even in the rain, we enjoyed walking through the unfamiliar neighborhood of Palermo Hollywood, lined with apartment and office buildings and shops and restaurants although it was not quite as diverse and exciting as Serrano Plaza in Soho where we’ve dined most nights.

We easily found the restaurant only requiring a few turns, located several blocks from the Prodeo Hotel. I took a few photos along the way but found it difficult, preferring not to get the camera wet when the wind blew the rain.

At first, when this huge platter arrived, we anticipated it would be divine.  Once we left off the offal, there were only a few items we cared to eat. I took a taste of almost everything but I didn’t care for most of it.

Luckily, we arrived at an early enough hour there was no line. We’d read that at prime times, there can be a long queue to get inside the restaurant. Surprisingly, the restaurant was packed. The greeter suggested a table for two by the door, but we spotted one enmeshed within the other tightly packed rickety tables and chairs. after looking around.  

We seated ourselves at the other location and waited for a server with menus for quite some time. We’d read online that service could be slow so we stayed patient until a server arrived at our table with menus in hand, all of which was in Spanish. Why wouldn’t it be? I don’t recall menus in the US in other languages. We’d instead have waited for a table then take the busy spot by the door.

However, I can now read a menu in Spanish. There may be a few words I don’t know but over these past three weeks of dining out nightly, I made a point of learning more Spanish. I can’t speak fluently but I can use select words to get a message across.

After Tom became queasy after tasting some of the offal, he’d even lost his taste for the fries.

With the server too busy to wait while I got out enough words to ask about my dietary concerns, I threw caution to the wind and we ordered the “big meat” shared dish called “Parrillada” which translates to “barbecue” in English.

Surely, some of the meats wouldn’t be covered in sweet sauces and I’d find something that worked for me. Tom could enjoy the rest…so I thought. Silly me.

This time we ordered bottled water instead of beer and wine. Based on the huge platter of food we were anticipating, I didn’t order salad or vegetables. Much to our disappointment, shortly before our Parrillada arrived, the servers put huge wooden platters in front of each of us. I asked for “platos” for us instead of the wooden boards but she explained they don’t have “platos.”

The restaurant, Las Cabras, was busy at the early hour of 5:30 pm.

It’s not safe to eat on wooden boards. Often, bacteria get inside the grooves and the boards become a breeding ground for horrific diseases. Oddly, only a few days earlier, I’d read this article on Facebook on the dangers of eating on wooden planks or boards. It may seem fun to eat on these but it’s not worth the risks.

We could have left at that point but we decided to “wing it,” hoping we’d dodge a bullet and be safe eating the meat on their wooden platters. Next time, we’ll notice from online photos, if these boards are used instead of plates and we’ll avoid those restaurants. 

These wooden boards aren’t even safe to use in one’s home even with the utmost in care of the cleaning. A seasoned wooden plank may be fine for cooking the meat or fish at a high temperature but not to be used as a plate. Lesson learned.

The few pieces of beef ribs were fatty and chewy.

The sizzling platter of meats arrived at our table along with bread and fries for Tom. Again, there was no “real” butter and a pat of greasy margarine was served. Here’s another item we don’t eat…margarine…a hydrogenated, trans fat nightmare. We’ve yet to see real butter offered in any restaurant, except perhaps at La Cabrera (not to be confused with today’s Las Cabras).

I sorted through the meat trying to decipher what Tom (supertaster) would like only to discover there were few items on the platter he’d be interested in eating. At least half of the platter consisted of offal. See description below this photo if you aren’t familiar with this term.

Many pigeons walked around the restaurant as we dined. They didn’t bother us so we didn’t mind. We’ve had a variety of birds dining with us in various countries.

“Offal /ˈɒfəl/, also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs excluding muscle and bone.”

My taste buds aren’t picky and generally, I’ll try anything. After checking the items I determined there were a few items I wouldn’t be able to eat, mainly some of the stuffed intestines which contained oatmeal or wheat as fillers. Tom cringed and nearly gagged when he noticed the offal occupying a good portion of the platter. (See the main photo above).

We saw a number of other dishes served but most weren’t suitable for my way of eating, nor would Tom care for them.

There were more meats on the platter we didn’t care to eat including the following:

“Mollejas / Sweetbreads or Thymus Glands Not for the squeamish, mollejas’ unique gusto comes down to them being glands and not muscle tissue. Soft and delicate in texture, resembling pork on the taste buds.”

I’ve ordered sweetbreads in gourmet restaurants to find them moist and delicious in most cases but those on last night’s platter seemed overcooked, dry and chewy. No thanks. I passed on them as well.

I cut the blood sausage in half for this photo. We both tasted it. I could tell it contained some grain, but if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have cared for it anyway. You should have seen Tom’s face when he took a tiny taste!

“Morcilla / Blood Sausage You’re gonna love ‘em or hate ‘em. Similar to black-pudding in the UK, they are made up of pig’s blood and ground up pieces of pork or offal and a few extra spices to make them taste less like pig’s blood. A much softer sausage than the chorizo.”

So it went. The traditional Argentine Parradilla was not for us. We asked a few of the hotel staff members when we returned from dinner if they cared for the offal and all said an emphatic “no!” Perhaps there were other items on the menu we may have enjoyed more.  

This was the first meal we’ve had in Argentina we found unappealing, and now as we wind down our remaining days, we look forward to returning to some of our favorite restaurants, mainly La Cabrera, Brave, and Diggs (BBQ).

Our total bill including tip was US $45.72 (ARS  850). Tom mentioned, “This was the first time I’ve ordered the most expensive item on a menu and didn’t like it.” So true…

Today’s a big football day.  Right now as I write, Tom is watching yesterday’s two NFL games and tonight after dinner at Rave, we’ll return to the hotel to watch the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints game which starts at 6:40 pm. 

Go Vikings! Happy football day to all of our friends/readers in the USA and other countries!           

Photo from one year ago today, January 14, 2017:

Could this scenery be more beautiful than it was for us during the six-weeks we spent in Penguin, Tasmania? For more photos, please click here.

Tolerance and patience in the big city…

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We haven’t seen it in a newsstand like this in a long time.

It’s not always sunshine and roses, although it may seem so for our occasional readers. We don’t always feel like sightseeing, traveling in taxis through all-day-long-rush-hour traffic.

Wherever we are at any given time, it is where we live. Do you feel like sightseeing in your town on hot and humid days when you know a 10-minute drive can turn into 45 minutes in near-stopped traffic?

Interesting buildings on Santa Fe St. in Palermo Soho.

The only time I recall we ever went sightseeing in our old lives in Minnesota was when visitors came to town and stayed with us, having a confident expectation of seeing the world-renowned Mall of America, the Como Zoo, or the popular Minnehaha Falls. 

Public transportation is readily available in Buenos Aires by bus and underground.

Here in Buenos Aires, we find ourselves with little interest in visiting the popular tourist attractions, waiting in long queues, or bumping into people who don’t care to cooperate in the sharing of making space on the sidewalk as we attempt to pass.

There’s a bit of pushing and shoving, which we’d rather avoid. Although most service staff in hotels, shops, and restaurants are ultra friendly and helpful, we’ve found the passing locals on the streets on a mission uninterested in idle chatter with us or certain courtesies one may find in some other parts of the world.

It took us over an hour to walk back to the neighborhood of the Prodeo Hotel.

Then again, we’ve observed only a handful of tourists in the Palermo area and certainly few in our age range. In essence, we don’t necessarily fit into this fast-paced Buenos Aires lifestyle. That’s our reality, not theirs. 

Flower vendor on the street.  The rose bouquets are ARS 120, priced at only US $6.46.

We’ve never favored big cities, primarily for these reasons. “Too much of everything” prevails; people walking while texting or talking on a phone or to a companion while bumping into passersby; horns honking; loud talking and yelling in public venues; a sense of disorder and commotion, we’d prefer to avoid.

Are we nothing but “fuddy-duddies” set in our ways?  Perhaps, yes. But, place us in the bush, waiting for an hour for a herd of elephants to clear the road, making loud noises and sharing “their lifestyle and demeanor” upon us, we’re in heaven. 

Government building.

I suppose it’s all relative. We’re all entitled to like what we like and scoff at what may not be so appealing.  Does that make us intolerant? If we’re annoyed by someone talking during the movie at a theater, make us intolerant? Are we intolerant if we’re agitated during standstill traffic on the freeway when we’re in a rush to get somewhere?

Interesting architecture.

Not necessarily. Even our dogs or cats may become impatient with us when we don’t fill their food bowl quickly enough or hand them the treat their anticipating. It’s all part of the “human and animal” condition. Impatience.  Intolerance.

No one is so “nice” they’re not impacted by the annoyances of daily life, especially in a big city. Otherwise, one might question their link to reality. Through this past over five years of world travel, we’ve found ourselves exercising a greater degree of patience and tolerance than we may have in our old lives.

Most of the historical buildings are apartments.

We never want to be the “ugly America” so much despised in certain parts of the world. There was a movie, a book, and an adult animated series with this nomenclature.  

We make a special effort to avoid complaining, whinging, or objecting negatively in situations we find uncomfortable, trying, or annoying. Even Tom, who on travel days can be “overly grumpy,” has the desire and ability to contain his frustration on such occasions.

Clown painting on the left and Statue of Liberty on the right.

Overall, we prefer to avoid situations that cause us undue stress. Isn’t that one of the reasons we left our old lives behind to find joy and contentment in the exploration and adventure of an entirely new life, in new places, befitting our objectives of nature, wildlife, and culture?

Also, there are many more modern buildings in the city.

You may say, “Isn’t culture found in big cities?” And you’d be right to a degree. But we’ve found the hustle and bustle in big cities with traffic, noise, and crowded sidewalks more about modern-day life than the essential culture of a people who, through history and generations, made their lives work without all of the modern distractions.

And so, our days and nights dwindle to our next adventure, Antarctica, where the biggest distractions will be wildlife, beauty, and nature mixed in with wild seas, inclement weather, and getting soaked on Zodiac boat rides. We can easily handle all of that!

Photo from one year ago today, January 13, 2017:

A  rainbow over the ocean in Penguin, Tasmania. Looking carefully, Tom spotted a second lighter rainbow to the far left, difficult to see in this photo. Be well. For photo photos, as we wound down our time in Penguin, please click here.

How will we post while in Antarctica with the sketchy and slow signal?…

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My guy, looking fit, slim, and happy after taking good care of his health.

We’ve been contemplating how to upload posts and photos once we begin the Antarctica cruise in 11 days.  We read numerous accounts online about the difficulty of receiving and sending an email, let alone publishing a post laden with photos and text.

Previously, I used the app Live Writer, which allows the blogger to write the post with photos while offline and upload when there’s a signal, even if for a short period.

The waiting area outside of La Cabrera for the early bird diners begins at 6:30 pm and ends at 8:00 pm with a 40% discount on the bill.

Unfortunately, Windows is no longer supporting this app, and it no longer works. Instead, a few days ago, I purchased an app called Blogjet for US $39.95 (ARS 747) with a 30-day money-back guaranty from a reliable company I’ve used in the past, hoping it would solve the problem.

Unfortunately, for some odd reason, my blogger/google username and password won’t be accepted to allow the prepared post to upload when I instruct it to do so. I verified my username and password with Google, and there was no issue. They are correct.

Complimentary olives and a delicious tuna pate are served before the meal. Today’s photos are new, although they may look familiar from the last meal at La Cabrera.

To get this issue resolved would require an enormous amount of technical work and cost if I pursued a resolution. It’s not as if you can “call” google and get technical service for issues like this. 

Thousands of forums entries address this issue, and it sounds as if my problem has been experienced by others with many suggested solutions I’ve tried, to no avail. It’s a hopeless cause. 

More complimentary items are served a moment before the arrival of the main course, which includes roast garlic (in the forefront), applesauce, mashed potatoes, and mashed pumpkin. Delicious! Tom took the mashed potatoes and applesauce while I had the garlic and pumpkin.

I can get my email, perform other google related tasks and continue to post in the blog, but I was fearful, if I made any significant changes, it could cause a problem preventing me from doing either. No way would I risk this.

I contacted the company from which I purchased the software, and they were no help, nor did I expect them to be. But, it was worth asking if they’d had such an issue with other customers. No response. So it goes.

Tom was served an egg salad along with his monstrous steak.

So, I asked myself how to prepare posts offline to be later uploaded when we get a signal on the ship?  When there is a signal, it’s comparable to that of a dial-up connection of 25 years ago. 

It’s not the problem of the ship’s satellite. It’s Mother Nature’s fault for her majestic mountains and glaciers in the very remote location. Who’s to argue with Her?  Not us.

Tom’s medium rare, perfectly prepared steak was accompanied by three sauces. Not a sauce kind of guy, he ate the steak and mashed potatoes along with a few tastes of my roasted garlic.

When writing a post, one cannot use a standard word processing document such as Word in its original format.  Not only will it not upload properly, but the formatted elements of Word and other apps speak a different “language” than that of the Internet. Many outrageous errors and formatting issues would be uploaded.

Yesterday, I tested the capability of my writing a post, copying and pasting it, and uploading it to our blog while online. It worked without errors. In a hopeful state of mind, I perused Word on my laptop to discover an appropriate document available for use while blogging.

Chef Ramsey would be proud of this perfectly cooked medium rare 800 gram  (28 ounces) sirloin steak. The rib eyes looked good but have more fat, and Tom prefers less fat on his meat.

Some of our readers may have noticed a new post pop up yesterday that read “test” and suddenly disappear after I was satisfied it would work. Usually, one can’t easily copy and paste from other non-web-related documents.  (There are some exceptions).

Then, I busied myself for a while preparing the working documents in “blog” format using Word, naming each one of the succeeding days on the cruise as Day 1 Antarctica
Day 2 Antarctica
Day 3 Antarctica
and so on…until Day 17 Antarctica, the final day of the cruise.

Each day, after we return from our Zodiac boat expeditions (twice a day in good weather), I’ll proceed to prepare the post as usual and wait for a time slot when there’s a good signal. This may be in the middle of the night when fewer passengers are online. Even with a slow signal, it should be able to upload a story and a few photos.

Once again, I couldn’t resist the Caesar salad, but I didn‘t request the add-on avocado since last time they included an entire massive avocado cut into big chunks.  I couldn’t eat that much, especially when Tom placed a big slice of his steak on my plate.

The cruise consists of 7 sea days (out of 17 days total) where we won’t be getting off the ship, and it will be during those days that I’ll be fine-tuning the upcoming posts for eventual download.

Now, let’s supposed the worst possible scenario…we’re unable to post anything with a poor signal which is a possibility. In that case, I want all of our readers to know not to worry about our safety. 

Please know that as soon as we’re back in Buenos Aires for a short two days, we’ll upload a few of the posts and continue uploading them after we get to Africa and get a night’s sleep after the long trip. In that case, we’ll probably do two posts a day, one about our arrival in Marloth Park and its adventures and the other, the awaiting post from Antarctica.

Our entire bill, including a full-sized bottle of Malbec (the balance we took with us) and Tom’s giant bottle of beer, was a total of US $56.75 (ARS 1,063), including tax a generous cash tip. Wow! The 30-minute wait outside until the doors open was worth it! At the end of the meal, a giraffe containing lollipops was delivered to each table.

I’ll make it clear at that time. No worries. On the post before our departure to Ushuaia to board the ship, we’ll repost the link for this post as a reminder.

Now, I can relax a little during our remaining time in Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Next week, we’ll begin the daunting task of packing what we’re taking with us and consolidating what we’re leaving behind in cardboard boxes since we’ll be taking our two large suitcases with us (23 kg), 50-pound limit each). 

The hotel will store the items we leave behind, 70% of the clothing we originally carried in our bags consisting of primarily warm-weather clothing. It will all work out well.

Last night, we savored a second visit to La Cabrera and couldn’t resist sharing some of those photos after an exceptional meal. Today, I’ll be working with our web person to make updates on our site, including once and for all, writing a piece for the “About Us” tab at the top of the page. We’ll let you know when that’s ready.

That’s it for today, folks. As always, we’ll be thinking about YOU! May you have a great end of the week, and I look forward to a delightful weekend.

Photo from one year ago today, January 12, 2017:

We visited Brett, a citizen of Penguin, Tasmania, who has spent the past 40 years building his beer memorabilia collection. It was fun to see this exceptional collection. For more details and photos, please click here.

It’s a wonderful life but differences prevail…

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Saturnalia, a Sculptural group by Italian artist Ernesto Biondi at the botanical garden.

Of course, we appreciate every day of this outrageous life of world travel and, we are reveling in our 31 nights in Buenos Aires, where culture abounds in vast and fascinating ways. 

Last night at dinner at an outdoor restaurant that had mediocre food, we couldn’t help but notice how this area of Serrano Plaza reminds us of Uptown in Minneapolis, and yet is more compact with narrower streets and at least 10 times the size…not that we’ve been to Uptown lately.

Cactus garden.

As we sat in rickety chairs at a wobbly table for four that barely fit the two of us, we giggled over the irony of our lives.  What are we doing in Palermo Soho Buenos Aires? How far removed is this from our old lives of only six years ago, when it was around January 2012 we decided to travel the world?

A bowl of peanuts in the shell was delivered to our table shortly before the Spanish-only menus arrived, and we each gasped in sheer delight over the tiny bowl of nuts.  What a treat! Somehow, we always manage to figure out everything on the menu.

I believe this is a Nopales cactus.

As I readjusted my wobbly chair, we looked at one another and smiled. We didn’t mind the rickety furniture and the tiny bowl of nuts. We were happy to be dining outdoors in this big city in this peculiar little spot with the most rudimentary accouterments. 

The fork and knife are plastic, and the paper napkins are flimsy. The salt (“sal” in Spanish) is in little packets in the rectangular holder along with tiny packets of ketchup, salsa, and mayonnaise. 

The information building is on the grounds of the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.

Since I can’t get sour cream in many of the restaurants, I use mayonnaise on my salads, opening multiple little packets for enough to give my frequently ordered salads a bit of moisture…a cup of arugula, a bit of dry deli chicken, a few tomato slices and a few chunks of cheese, consists of my dinner most nights.

Most other items on the menu would contaminate foods I can’t have; grains, starches, and sugar.  I don’t mind. After all, it’s just food, and I’m certainly not withering away, nor am I tired of this meager fare. 

However, I am looking forward to cooking again when we arrive in South Africa, which will be in about a month.  And, without a doubt, we’ll have exceptional meals aboard the Antarctica cruise beginning in a mere 12 days, a French cruise line offering gourmet meals for the most discriminating of diners. Surely, they’ll whip up divine and suitable meals for me.

There are numerous statues of nudes at Jardin Botanica in Buenos Aires.

Thinking back to spending afternoons in the refreshing pool in Costa Rica, it seems so long ago, and yet we left only 50 days ago. There’s a pool in this hotel, but it’s partially indoors. We don’t care for indoor pools. 

Instead, we’re content with our walks in the neighborhood often during the day and again in the early evening when we search for the next new restaurant to try. We’ve only done two repeats, Diggs and Rave, where we may go yet again.  

Interesting tree trunk.

The food at Diggs is excellent along with the service, although served in plastic baskets, on paper plates, and with plastic forks. Last time, the server brought me a flat plastic plate, and I was thrilled to be able to dump my salad on the plate from the smallish paper bowl.

Rave has real plates, flatware, and linen napkins but charges all types of service fees and a fee for the tiny bowl of dry bread without butter (Tom eats it anyway), and yet, a glass of decent Malbec is only US $2.95 (ARS 55). Go figure. 

A tree with leaves changing color after red berries had fallen to the ground.

We’re not complaining. We love all these cultural differences, finding them charming and enriching and, we thought some of our readers might find these morsels interesting. 

Today, after uploading today’s post and chatting with my dear friend Chere on Skype in about an hour, we’re off for a walk and to visit the mini-mart for a few items. Once we return, we’ll continue our research for upcoming travel bookings until it’s time to make the walk to discover where we’ll dine again tonight. It’s all good.

We hope you have an interesting and enriching day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 11, 2017:

While at Gnomon Pig Farm in Penguin, we laughed to see the white band on the newly born piglets, just like their mom. There were several breeds of pigs at the farm. For more details, please click here.