Friday, March 15: We didn't get up until nine. My cold was much worse. After breakfast, we found a farmacia, and I bought what was supposed to be a 24-hour decongestant. We took a taxi to the Basilica de San Francisco in San Telmo, intending also to visit the nearby City Museum. The museum was closed for repairs. None of the other museums opened before 2:00, so we walked to the travel office at the City Hotel. There we learned that there was an excellent all-day tour to Colonia, Uruguay.  It included the hydrofoil there and back, a city tour, and a big lunch. We decided to take the tour on the Monday after we returned from Salta, our last free day.

We walked back to our condo and rested, then had a light lunch in our room. Major Sola' came at 3:00 to take us to the old neighborhoods of La Boca and San Telmo. (Carlos was trying to take care of us by arranging these escorted tours, but they tended to break up the day and didn't give us large enough blocks of time to do much else.) We took the bus to La Boca where we visited the Caminito again. We saw the harbor (ship graveyard) in more detail than with the bus tour. We also visited an interesting art museum and walked by the many discos that are now the neighborhood's primary attraction to portenos (as residents of Buenos Aires are called).

Then we caught a bus to San Telmo where Major Sola" showed us the numerous antique shops, mostly featuring objects d'art. We sat under the trees in a large plaza and had something to drink. After a while, Jane started across the street to use the facilities in the bar that served us. Suddenly, two men came charging out, engaged in a serious fight. Jane discretely came back to our table and waited until the fighting stopped and one of the men left. We also saw many old houses, the tango club where Carlos took King Juan Carlos on one of his visits, and finally went into the Casa Blanca to ask about their tango show.

The pause that refreshes

Nightclub in San Telmo

 We rode the bus home, arriving at seven. About 9:20, we walked to Le Famiglie for dinner. We ordered arroz con pollo for the main course. With my appetite diminished by my cold, it proved more than we could eat. We were back in the condo a little after eleven. I had taken the second "24-hour" decongestant only ten hours after the first, but I still wasn't getting much relief. I slept sitting up in bed.

Saturday, March 16. We were up by eight and again had breakfast in our room. We were to take the bus to Pinamar on the South Atlantic that afternoon, so we repacked our bags. The people at the condo let us stay in the room past the normal ten a.m. check-out time.

I went to a nearby store to get some cough drops. I tried to use a ten peso bill to pay the 50 cents, but they refused and took the cough drops back. We always had trouble hanging on to any change in Argentina. Everyone wanted to be paid with the exact change or the smallest possible bill and to avoid making change. I finally got some smaller change at the condo office and got his cough drops.

It was after noon before we finished packing, too late to do much before three when Martinez was to pick us up. The woman at the condo recommended the empanadas at a little bar next to Le Famiglie, and we went there for lunch. Then we had ice cream from a nearby grocery store.

Martinez came at three accompanied by his wife who spoke Italian. She and Jane chatted away as we rode to the bus terminal. We bought some water for the trip before the bus left at 4:10. The bus made a couple of others stops, though, so it was close to 5:30 by the time we cleared the city. Then we were in the Pampas: flat, fertile land with scattered herds of cattle, but not a building in sight as far as the eye could see.

The bus was very comfortable with reclining seats and plenty of leg room. There was air conditioning, a rest room, and large thermoses of coffee and orange drink. They also gave each passenger a package of chocolate chip cookies. They showed two American movies (Spanish subtitles) and other features on a couple of pull-out TV monitors. After it was too dark to see outside, we watched one of the movies.

The bus got to Pinamar at 9:30. Carlos, Norma and Ruth met us. Few of the roads are paved in Pinamar, and there were huge puddles of water all over. They'd had a heavy downpour that evening, even though we hadn't seen a drop of rain in our ride down. They drove us directly to Ruth's condo. It was really impressive, the seventh and eighth floor penthouse of a building on the main road, only a short block from the beach. Almost the whole inside was finished in wood.

View of South Atlantic from balcony

There was a breathtaking view of the ocean from anywhere in the dining room and the long living room that stretched across the front of the condo's lower floor. A wide balcony extended across most of the front and down one side of the outside. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a long sitting room. Ruth gave us the main bedroom, which looked a lot like the captain's quarters on a ship. It was all finished in dark wood, with railings and steps separating the sleeping area, a sitting area with fireplace, and the long hall. The hall was lined with built in closets and cabinets for its entire 30 foot length, all with matching wood doors. Of course, there was also a private bathroom.

As soon as we were ready, Elina (the cook/maid who had come from Buenos Aires with Ruth) served a delicious beef dinner. It was after ten, and even the Argentines were hungry. Then we went right to bed. My cold was very bad, and I was up most of the night.

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