2-08 Buenos Aires (Day 2)

2-08 Day 34 Buenos Aires (Day 2)

Before I even start with what we did today, I have to write about what happened to some of our passengers in Buenos Aires! It was terrible!!!!

We were warned many times about not wearing expensive jewelry into town and to be aware of pickpockets, etc. Well, we had lunch with a man who was standing in front of an expensive jewelry store waiting for the store's shuttle to take the group back to the ship. He had forgotten to take off his real Rolex watch when he left the ship in the morning. So, he just kept his long sleeve shirt down even though he was getting warm. But outside the jewelry store, with only 10 min. before the van would load up and leave, he rolled up his sleeves. Within that 10 min. window, a man jumped him from the back, knocked him in the head as he grabbed his arm, pulled him down to the ground and slipped his fingers under the watch and ripped it off his arm. He then ran off and was on the back of a waiting motorcycle. From the time the guy jumped him to the time he was out of sight was a total of 10 seconds!!!! There was no time for anyone to even react, and the guy said that even if he had had a gun, he wouldn't have had time to even fire it. The guy's arm was all bruised and had cuts from where the thief's fingernails dug into him. The back of his head didn't feel so great either. The jewelry store didn't help him at all – told him to go to the Marriott hotel desk (jewelry store is part of the hotel)- and they wouldn't even let him in the door. But the Marriott was great and had their medic fix him up, etc. The reason we know this story in such detail is that this man (and his wife) were at our lunch table the next day. We saw his arm and everything. It was pretty yucky looking.

There were two more incidents in the pier terminal as well. These were pickpockets at the ATM machine. They dump (spray, drop, pour) a nasty smelling liquid on your shirt, and then act as if it's an accident and try to wipe it off you. While the one man wipes, the other picks your pocket. We were warned about this as well. Well, we know the one couple this happened to and they screamed and made such a disturbance themselves, that the guys ran off. But another couple didn't scream, I guess, and they were robbed of all their cash, driver's license, credit card, etc. Don't know too much about them.

Well, with that behind me, I'll describe our last day in Buenos Aires. It was the opposite of yesterday's water tour. We went on a bus about 1 ½ hours out of town to the prairie lands (called pampas here). We were in the province of Campan near the town of Los Cardales – spending the day at the Estancia Santa Susana. Estancia means ranch. Gaucho means cowboy. Originally this was an almost 3,000 acre ranch dedicated only to agricultural activities. In the last 25 years, it has become a tourist attraction as well. The owners no longer actually live in the original home (now a museum), but still help out on the ranch – along with their children. While we were there, the owner was trimming bushes while his young son participated in the gaucho show.

Upon arriving, we were greeted with wine and wonderful meat empanadas – the best we've had in S. America! [It was only 10:30 a.m. - wine???] We then went into this huge dining area where we sat at long tables and listened to Spanish songs and watched Latin dancers perform. In addition, this older gaucho danced and had the most amazing steps and routine. It was a delight. They were all in costume. Gauchos wear big wide belts with coins on the back and a knife sticking out. They also wear boots and wider pants. Around their necks they wear scarves, and of course, a big gaucho hat.

After the performance, we toured the old house and saw how it would have been in the early 1900s. The owner had collected all kinds of things, so it was a wonderful assortment of not only furniture, but clothes, hats, shoes, hat pins, sexy (according to the times) undergarments, and swimsuits. A separate little house was its own church with an alter and wooden benches and its own confessional.

We were then on our own to walk around and either ride a cart pulled by horses or ride a horse with a big group. With my love of horses, I kept both feet on the ground and took pictures instead of my gaucho Doug as he climbed up on his big stallion and rode across the plains. Well, it was a good sized horse and he did get to ride around on the grounds with a big group, so it was only a walk, no trotting or galloping, but it was still a gaucho adventure. And, I have lots of pictures of him!

This was followed by the gaucho show. There were about a half dozen gauchos on horses performing out on the field. The first thing they did was put a bell around the neck of the female horse and guided her with a rope galloping around the area while male horses immediately followed her. The gaucho would lead the horse in a different direction, but the males horses continued to follow the bell (or would it be “belle”!) And they were in groups, so the male horses knew exactly which female they were to follow. It was like a synchronized dance. Then they did an amazing stunt. They hung these little silver rings on a wire between two poles. The gauchos had a small, narrow stick and while riding at full speed, they would try to put their stick through the ring and pull it off the wire. I couldn't even see the little rings standing still, much less on a galloping horse. Well, they must have practiced because they could do it. Every time they would ring one, they would present it to one of the lady guests and give her a kiss! I now have a ring and the memory of a gaucho kiss!

Lunch followed the show. When we arrived we had seen these huge fire pits with beef and chicken cooking cooking on top of the them. The smell made you hungry. Well, we were served more wine (or beer) and began with a basket of wonderful bread. But what made it extra good was the condiment they made to go with it. It was good olive oil with finely diced black olives, garlic, a little red pepper to give it a faint zip, and other herbs we couldn't figure out. It was the best!!! Four different kinds of salads were served that were delicious as well, and then the hunks of beef and chicken. You also put this condiment on the beef, and it really made it even more tasty. Dessert was a simple small pastry (typical to this area) with fruit in it. It's English name is small quince jam pie. Between the wine and the meal, everyone practically staggered back to the bus – where we all took a little siesta!

Doug had eaten so much of the zippy condiment and had so many glasses of wine, dinner was not very appealing to him. So, he got some soup upstairs while I had a very light meal at our regular table. Neither the movie or show appealed, plus we were both really tired out. Between the late night SuperBowl, early morning excursion departure, and all day in the fresh air, we decided to call it a day.

While some of the guests didn't have such great experiences in Buenos Aires, we did, and even after the second time, we would like to return some day. There is still a lot to see and do here.