My Travel Adventures, Cars , and Motorcycles: Last Day in Argentina! :(

Dear Family & Friends,

One week down and time for a bit of reflection on the trip so far..

First I’ll get you caught up to where we are…

Saturday night we went to a Tango Night club in Buenos Aires.. It was a beautiful old hall with a stage and long halls with tables all facing the stage. We are definitely on Argentine time because we did not even go out to dinner until 9pm! That is my normal bed time… First we were served a great traditional Argentine meal and wine, then around 10pm the show started. The show was basically the history of the Tango Dance.. From it traditional form and costumes up to today’s version of the dance.. In all its forms it is an extremely intense and emotional dance. Every dance seems to be about love, jealousy, passion, and heartbreak..Every dance is a story about relationships between men and women.. Kind of a dance soap opera? The dancers are all amazingly graceful, coordinated, and passionate. The men and women have such intertwining moves and steps it is amazing they don’t constantly trip each other. Part of the Tango style is to maintain an extremely intense facial expression. I don’t think any of the dancers even cracked a small smile in the entire 1 1/2 hour show..

I would love to be able to dance the Tango.. I am sure I could have been good at it if I was 40 years younger, 40 pounds lighter, had some sense of rhythm, style, and grace. But since I lack all those attributes I will have to pass on a career in dance.. :(

The next morning we went to the old part of the city for their Sunday morning flea market. The ladies enjoyed the sites and shopping. I sat and drank coffee and relaxed. Then my brother in law came and got me to show me something that might excite me.. Right in the middle of the market square was a beautiful old Indian motorcycle all restored.. Definitely drool worthy. Amazingly it was not for sale but actually someone’s transportation! Still it was worth asking if it was for sale.. I could see me riding it back to SLO via South America. That would make a BLOG!! I am still planning to make one big epic ride before I am just to old to do it…

After reviving the market economy we made our way to the original Italian district of Buenos Aires.. I love any city settled by Italians.. They have such style and passion it is reflected in everything they do, architecture, cars & motorcycles, food, clothes, music and art. This section of town is known for its color. Every building was multiple colors and they decorate the entire district with large statues of various Italian life, the pope was every where, families were depicted, and entertaining “ladies” were in all the windows and balconies..

We walked around and enjoyed the sites and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant featuring what else? Tango dancing of course.

We then made it into one more local church. I swore I would not go into any more churches.. (After traveling in Europe and Mexico I have seen enough churches and crucifixions to last me life time.) but it was beautiful. If you remove the religious connotation for me, they are amazing pieces of art.

The various Latin cultures are so passionate and colorful it makes me feel like my life was painted in black and white….

After our last day in Buenos Aires we made our way to the cruise ship, checked in and made our selves comfortable in our new home for the next two weeks. The ship is very elegant and not to big. Some of the mega ships are just to impersonal.

Today, Monday I am just relaxing on board and taking it easy. After a week of constant travel and site seeing it is nice to have a day off. Tonight we sail and tomorrow we stop in Uruguay for another day of site seeing.

Our first night on the ship we went to the on board movie theater and they were playing the perfect movie for this trip, Motorcycle Diaries… If you have never seen it I highly recommend it. Don’t let the title turn you off, it is not a motorcycle movie, it is a movie of discovery, social commentary, and history. Also a biography. Although the motorcycle element sure added a bonus for me. The movie takes place in 1952 Argentina (apprapoe) It is the story of two young men from wealthy families studying medicine and decide to take a motorcycle trip around South America on a tired old 1937 Norton motorcycle they nick name The Mighty One.. What they find is extreme poverty and suffering they never knew existed in their privileged lives. It profoundly changed their lives and desires. One of them went on to be known as Che Gavera the Cuban revolutionary and the other became the founder of a medical school in Cuba after the revolution. I think the saying about history is a point a view is very true. Che Gavera is reviled in in the USA but was a true hero to many people in third world countries with no hope or future…

The other moral of the story is there is simply no better way to travel and see the world than on a motorcycle!!

On a lighter note I have taken many vacations and trips with my in-laws who are terrific people and good hearted to the max but the fit between my brother in law and myself has never been smooth. Now I realize what is going on… He and I are the living versions of the Odd Couple… (If you have not seen the book, play , or TV show this will make no sense to you) My brother in law is definitely the Felix Under character to a tee. Fussy, prissy, and persnickety.. A neatness freak, fastidious, healthy, and very particular about is food…(and enjoy complaining) I am definitely the Oscar Madison character… Casual ( border line slob), I eat anything in front of me, and when you look at me no one EVERY thinks this guy is the image of healthy living….. Just have to live with the differences……

Bonnie seems to be having a great time.. She loves trips where it is all planned out so she does not have to think about it.. She is such a kind and loving person she worries about everyone around her having a good time and having what they need. On a cruise the staff does all that so she can just relax.

Well I think I have probably written more than anyone will read so I will sign off for a couple of days. Next report from Uruguay.

Jason