The plane took off on time and landed in Madrid on time. In Madrid we waited for the Hilton shuttle, which came about 15 minutes later. When we checked into the Hilton we noted that breakfast was €35 each (yes we are in Spain where stuff is expensive and unemployment is beyond 20%, and they have yet to figure it out). The concierge at the check in desk recommended that for an addition €65 a night we could get an upgrade to the Executive Floor; this would give us a free breakfast, free access to the lounge, free booze, and free [View Full Entry]

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On October 17th, as we pulled out of the driveway in Pennsylvania, the snow was falling lightly; yes snow in early October - must be global warming. Its not that I don’t like snow, but our golf season usually goes on to early December. After we got above 1600 feet in the Pocono Mountains, it was really coming down, even though the temperature was in the high-30’s. As we traveled on through New Jersey and into New York the snow changed to rain and finally stopped. We finally rolled into Terminal 7 at JFK airport and checked in with Iberia Airlines. [View Full Entry]

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GETTING THERE This time we thought we would try a different route to the airport, taking some advice from Clark Howard (www.clarkhoward.com). Our previous approach to getting to the JFK Airport has been to rent a car each way; even with the drop off charges this has been less expensive than the $15 per day plus taxes that the Port Authority wants from you to leave your car on their property. Well, I guess the rental car guys have raised their prices because they now want more than the $240 that it costs to park for 16 days. So, the new [View Full Entry]

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As we headed out across the bridge, there was a dog leading its owner around by the leash; actually the dog was carrying the leash and the owner had a bag in her hand and we can all guess what was in the bag. This dog was well trained, and he looked like he had a regular beat. San Telmo is not far from Puerto Madero, so we go to our destination just after 11:00. Our destination was the Sunday antiques fair. Now this is a fair that makes the Bushkill Flea Market look small; it is very crowded and it [View Full Entry]

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We headed out early (9:30) this morning. There were not too many Radio Taxis out at this hour on a Saturday morning but we finally got one and headed back to Recoleta. We brought a bag of cat food because the Recoleta Cemetery is home to about 80 stray cats. We found some of them and gave them breakfast. There were many people touring the cemetery. The Cemetery is like a small version of the city and many of Argentina’s famous people in including Eva Peron (Evita) are buried there. It is amazing to see this cemetery amid a lovely park [View Full Entry]

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As we left the apt, there was another 1959 Ford Falcon - we have seen so many that we have lost count. If FORD stands for Fix Or Repair Daily, then the people of Buenos Aires have had many years of FORD and they all still seem to be running. Anyway, we headed out for a big day of shopping, and there is no place like Avenida Florida to do this; it is one long shopping street where they don’t allow cars. As we passed the Pink Palace, there were a bunch of demonstrators camped out in their little plastic tents [View Full Entry]

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After getting an update from Marie (thank you SKYPE) we headed out for the countryside. Took the usual walk to get the subway and went over to Retiro train station. The first train could best be described as a “cattle car” and we boarded for Mitre. After we sat down and the train got underway one of the ladies across from us wondered why a couple of tourists would be going on this train - like we look like tourists. As it turned out, we had gotten on the wrong train - we were on the right train in the station, [View Full Entry]

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After reading the guidebook it would appear that glasses are really inexpensive here, so we headed out to the recommended optometrist. Just outside the door was a new dog walker, and did he have a few dogs or what. As we walked down the canal, we noticed the tide was out and low and behold, there was a ship that had capsized beside the wall. Just goes to show you that not all ships are created equally. Anyway, we continued on our way past the Military HQ where they had this weird shaped tree - never seen anything like it before. [View Full Entry]

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So today we are headed out for La Boca. No sooner do we get out the door, we see the first of the dog sitters in action. Dog sitting is big business in BA; if you go to any park you will see many dog sitters, each with many dogs. You may also notice in the background a picture of a Mini Cooper - the count is now Mini Coopers -10, 1959 Ford Falcons - 61. Anyway, into the cab and a short ride to La Boca. La Boca is the place where the tango was first started more than a [View Full Entry]

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After finally getting a load of laundry done in the all-in-one-machine we were off to town. It took almost 2.5 hrs to do a small load. I guess if you have to have a machine in your apartment, then you have to put up with these issues, sure not like the LG front loaders we have at home. Anyway, we were heading out to Palermo today so we got to experience the subway again. Last year the price on the subway was 70 pesos (22 cents US) - this year the price had gone up to 90 pesos (28.5 cents US) [View Full Entry]

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