Day 1 - The Walkabout

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For those who don’t know, I am traveling with Bob Lazard, an upright young man who is in the throes of retiring from a long career as a partner in a prominent accounting firm. This whole trip was his idea since he happens to be well-connected with The Algodon Group, which owns the Algodon winery in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Bob was responsible for the winery part of the trip, and I took on the additional excursions to Iguazu, Paraguay and lastly Buenos Aires.

Day 1 – The Walkabout

It was a normal departure from Indianapolis although it is worth noting that the temperature was in the mid 20’s (about -4° for my “outside the US” or OUS friends). Our connection to South America (SA henceforth since I do not want to spend any more time than necessary on typing) was Miami, FL. I only bring this up because we were able to use the American Airlines lounge due to our Business Class booking, which was nothing short of spectacular! The food and drinks were “off the charts” excellent. This was a great way to confirm that we were truly on vacation.

After 9 hours of eating and sleeping on our plane, we arrived in Buenos Aires without any hitches. In our amazing electronic and interconnected world, I should note that I was digitally photographed and fingerprinted at Passport Control. I am now at the mercy of any hackers who manage to best the Argentinian (sometimes spelled as Argentinean) security apparatus.

We were greeted and driven to the Algodon Mansion (another holding of the Algodon Group for you investors out there), which is a boutique hotel in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires. After a casual welcome with some drinks and snacks in the lobby and a quick shower in the spa (our rooms were not ready since it was only noon-ish), we were off to explore the city – with Bob in the lead since he had been to BA (more abbreviations) before (or should I minimize typing by using B4). Since it was Saturday, there was a large flea market in a large park area near our hotel. Of particular note were the large Banyon trees with one exceptionally large tree drawing a lot of attention from passers-by.

After looking at some trinkets in the hundreds of booths in the park with various artisans selling their wares, we went to the Cemetery next to the park. Now, this isn’t just any cemetery. First it is unusual by American standards (unless you have been to New Orleans … or maybe even Rome) in that the grave sites are large mausoleums above ground. Many are small chapels dedicated to the family. Second, somewhere in this vast network of narrow “streets” that make up the cemetery is the burial place of the beloved Evita Perone, who was made famous to the US public by Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Broadway musical “Evita.” If you don’t know any of this, you need to brush up on your political history, your cultural awareness and your musical tastes.

Our next saunter was to Florida Street, which is a long downtown street that is closed to traffic and is THE place to go for touristy purchases. There were endless shops accompanied by “vendors” sitting on the street with their wares placed on blankets for purchase.

By the way, did I mention is was really getting hot by now – somewhere in the low 90’s (~33°C). That represented a 70° swing from less than 24 hours ago for us. Needless, to say, Bob and I found the shady side of the street for our walk. At then end of Florida Street, Steve spied an interesting looking building down another street, so we headed in that direction. As we approached, Steve noticed the emblem of the Pope (and I do not mean Bob Faucett for the Old Oakland readers), and another emblem for an Archbishop.

Upon entry into what we learned was the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, we saw a small poster about a Jesuit priest named Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He used to be the Archbishop here and now you know him as Pope Francis, or for close friends like me, Frank. Steve knocked on the rectory door to see if Frank was available for a chat over some drinks, but alas, he was in Rome.

  

After a stroll back to the Algodon Mansion, we got access to our rooms – excuse me apartments. Bob conceded the larger “room” to me which included a living room and dining room and a large bedroom suite. We indulged in a dip in the rooftop pool and hot tub, which was unusually bigger than the pool. After some seriously slow relaxation, we cleaned up and walked to dinner at Sottovoce, a nice Italian place with an interesting menu. Bob had rabbit and Steve had some sort of pasta that he had never seen before stuffed with Bolognese sauce. By the time we walked home it was getting late. Steve went to his room to crash while Bob stayed in the lobby for yet … you guessed it … another glass of wine.