The OAT tour itinerary is a little odd in that we had our farewell dinner last night, but this last day of the main part of the tour is designed to show us a few additional aspects of Buenos Aires, then people who did not add the Iguazú Falls extension go to the airport in the afternoon. We got to sleep in a little before walking over to the Recoleta Cemetery for a tour with a new local guide, Soledad. The cemetery was a fascinating study in evolving architectural styles of mausoleums. We learned that it is quite expensive to buy a small plot, build a mausoleum, and then pay both an on-going rent for the space as well as maintain the structure. We saw many examples of mausoleums that had fallen into disrepair.
Then we rode the bus a ways north to the junction of the Tigre River with the De la Plata River. We got off the bus at the Fluvial river bus station, then boarded one of the Sturla boats. This large and powerful boat is sometimes used as a passenger ferry and could have held three groups of our size in air-conditioned comfort.
We boated the short distance to the confluence of the Tigre River with the complex maze of channels between the islands of the De La Plata delta. We made a loop around a few of the islands and returned to the Fluvial station. Many of the houses we saw were weekend getaways, but a fair number of people live in on these islands. Not everyone can afford to have their own boat, and we learned about all the different solutions that provide power, dispose of sewage and waste, and deliver water and food like this grocery boat.
And, of course, how law enforcement has to be able to access the area.
After we returned to the hotel about a dozen of us joined Barby for lunch at Güerrin, an Italian restaurant known for their pizzas. The place is huge, spreading through a few buildings taking up a fair fraction of a large city block, but despite the size it was completely packed. We got a couple tables after twenty minutes. The pizza was good, with a fairly thick and bready crust that was just slightly underdone. Our table got a pitcher of sangria to go with it and that was good, too.
Afterwards Julie rode back to the hotel in a taxi while Oscar, Sandy, and I walked back with Jeff and Terri. We stopped at yet another pharmacy and saw some neat buildings and city stuff as we walked.
Mafalda still seems to be popular, although the comic strip ran from 1964 - 1973. From what I’ve seen I think I would probably enjoy it - someday (when my Spanish is better) I’ll have to try to find a way to read it.
Julie had rested while we walked back, so then she went with Sandy and I to try to locate a geocache near the Borges Museum. Unfortunately it seems we are just not very good at geocaching any more because we failed again. I was struck by the differing eras of the buildings near the Borges Museum, though.
Back at the hotel’s rooftop patio we opened a couple of beers and ate some chocolate that Oscar bought at the shop near the Chile border station.
Then I reorganized my luggage for the trip to Iguazú before taking a taxi to meet Hernán and Gabriel again. The three of us had a nice early dinner at Gardiner, a restaurant on the river near the domestic airport. They mentioned that they had thought about sitting out on the restaurant’s patio overlooking the river, but their housekeeper was just stricken by dengue fever and now they are wary of mosquitos. Then they drove me back to the hotel and I managed to get to bed before ten (early morning tomorrow!).