Shared Illusions

Paula and I have complementary approaches to travel. I am very good at knowing where I am going and she is good at knowing where we are. It works pretty well, except there is a down side. We might be at lunch and decide we’ll go to xyz next. I point out it’s three blocks that way and then we will go left for half a block. So far so good. Then a half block away I’ll notice Paula is not with me and I’ll see here going through a door or turning into an alley. I’ll say, “I thought you wanted to go to xyz,” and she’ll say “do you notice the pattern the shadows make on this tile? I want to take a photo.” I’ll impatiently wait for her and when we start to head out, but now she’s looking at something else. Don’t tell her, but I actually have a richer experience going at her pace, but I’ll never admit it.

We woke early today, which is the first day we have done that on this trip. I noticed the date and realized it would have been my brother John’s seventieth birthday today. He passed on last June. I thought about him throughout the day and wondering how it is so many years have gone by since we were playmates.

Our goal today was to get to the 14th floor of the Galeria Guemes, which has an observation deck for a bird’s eye view of the city. We made it there, but only after several detours. The other day we were told of an “on and off” bus tour that had an office near the Galeria and that there was also an Italian coffee shop in the area. We found the ticket office for the bus tour first, and it ended up being eight or nine blocks from the Galeria. We checked the prices and schedule and decided we might do that later in the week, and then crossed the street to park we had seen yesterday. It is a very nice park with a good view of the Retiro neighborhood.

Within the park was a gigantic ficus tree that had captured the attention of many children and adults

After lolling about in the shade a bit we headed off to the Galeria, passing by a Kentucky Fried Empanada stand.

Heading on to the Galeria we decided we should try the Italian coffee shop, but were not able to find it, so settled for a different brand. We had to wait for about half an hour for the observation deck to open, and it was worth the wait.

By the time we finished it was too late to go to the Recoleta cemetary so we opted to try the ecological preserve that was closed on Monday. After a nice walk we found that it was closed again today for inclement weather. Initially we were somewhat confused about why the weather was deemed inclement since it had been dry and sunny all day. We finally concluded that the trails were too muddy from the rain yesterday.

At that time we decided to head back to the apartment, getting a snack along the way. As we passed through Puerto Madero we walked through an area where warehouses had been converted to retail and restaurant malls, with the cranes left to provide a little ambiance.

We also went through a modern shopping district that had the distinctive characteristic of groups of young girls practicing syncronized dance routines, using their reflections in the glass windows to refine their performances.

We also saw a monument that we call “Chevy sin palo”, which is an inside joke for Burquenos.

All in all, we had a great day and left a lot of things undone that we can get to tomorrow. Or later.