Feb. 26, 2006 Buenos Aires Patagonia Trip Day 3

Feb. 26, 2006The weather today couldn't be more perfect. Blue sky, about 80 degrees, breezy, and a tan (Probably sunburn) is on its way soon. Again Ines has come through for us. She booked us a tour of the city in the largest tour bus I've EVER laid eyes on. It was a double-decker monstrosity, delivering us to all the hotspots of Buenos Aires. High points included Plaza de Mayo and its monument (a smaller version of the Washington Monument), as well as the colorful ¨La Boca¨region and the Presidential Palace. This included the famed balcony where Eva Peron gave her speeches. Or for your Madonna fans, the same balcony they filmed her singing away. And yes, I ATTEMPTED to watch that movie before this trip. I fell asleep 10 minutes into it, about the point where I realized sleep was far more valuable than watching Antonio Banderas attempt to sing. And act, for that matter. Anyway, although tours like this are like a ratrace and freetime is limited, it's a great way to taste a city, and we now know what areas we'll return to when we come back to B.A in March. The tour finally stopped at the Sunday Market in San Telmo, where we finally found a crowded Italian spot for lunch. Terri again inhaled a basket of bread, as she could certainly sustain herself for years on bread and manteca (butter). While I just had some empanadas and salad, Terri hit up the spaghetti--here it is served with red sauce on top, with cream sauce underneath. The calories certainly are out of control, but nearly every bite of every meal make Buenos Aires a travel destination for the food alone.It should be noted that the rest of our trip will be spent with GAP Adventures, a group we booked with based out of Toronto. They lead trips all over the world, and our group to Patagonia will include 10 people and our leader, Roberto from Peru. We met him at the ¨Splendid Hotel,¨ which appears to be a stretch of the naming process. But not too bad. Tonight we met the other members of our travel group. We are quite the mixed bunch. Terri and I are representing the USA. There's an Aussie contingent of 3-strong. There are 2 Brits as well, and we're supposed to meet some others from Canada and Switzerland in El Calafate tomorrow. Appropriately, the international influence of our trip has an Olympic feeling. We've already taken the urine tests, and luckily neither Terri nor myself tested positive for all those anabolic steroids we took a few months back. We need strong lats to carry our 50 pound backpacks. A quick overview of the history and culture of Argentina- Like the US, there was a steady influx of Europeans into Argentina in the early 20th century. It was predominantly from Spain and Italy, as well as a few other European countries. Thus, there is a heavy Euro feel to the city, architecture, and culture. The people look very European, with some sporting perhaps a shade of darker skin. If you could somehow be immediately transported to the center of B.A., I swear your first guess would be that you were in Rome or Madrid. As a result, the people have brought their customs with them, as well as their RECIPES. Prior to our tour briefing, I asked the concierge to book us at the best Italian restaurant in town. Armed with a 10:30 reservation, we made our way to Bice in Puerto Madero. You can probably guess how it was. Of course, great. I hit up some large pasta/cheese/red sauce dish, and Terri went for the fungal risotto (mushrooms are gross). It was a larger scale restaurant, and apparently can be found in a few other cities in the world. This particular one has been in operation since 1926. So far it's the only place we've seen with prices even remotely close to US Standards. I think our ¨full-on¨ meal came to $50 US, including wine and dessert. The tuxed wait-staff were beyond attentive and sweating throughout the entire meal service. Thanks to Terri for treating me! I promised her a Happy Meal on the way to the airport. Of course, I know she's planning on a 20 ounce porterhouse and 2 baskets of bread... Time to pack our packs, as we head South manana.