We learn a bit of geography..... and eat beef!

We traded the polar vortex for the "hotter than hell" vortex and landed in Buenos Aires in 90 degree temperature, that kept climbing until it reached over 100.  Resisting the temptation to stay in our nicely AC'ed hotel room, we took a tour of the wealthy North side of town and it's beautiful houses and mansions, passing the huge central park (it's not called central park, but it's centrally located, and really big!) on the way to the Rio de la Plata Delta and it's inhabited islands, in the town of El Tigre (the name El Tigre comes from the fact that when the Conquistadors arrived, they confused the large native cats -jaguars- for tiger, suggesting that the Conquistadors that landed here probably had never seen a tiger.....).
I knew absolutely nothing of the geography around Buenos Aires - for some reason, the only part of Argentina that stuck in my brain from my high school geography lessons had to do with the Andes, but in fact, most of Argentina, and particularly the region around Buenos Aires, is very flat.  It is a huge (HUGE!) delta/estuary, and  there is some ongoing argument amongst geographers (I never thought of geographers as particularly argumentative....) as to whether the Rio Del Plata is an estuary, a river, or part of the Atlantic ocean by the time it reaches Buenos Aires - if it is still a river, it is the widest one in the world. It is however pretty short, since, until it reaches the delta and merges the Parana and the Paraguay rivers, it is 2 different rivers (see you've learned something about geography too!)

Anyway, its delta is formed of thousands of smaller rivers and canals, and about 45 minutes north of Buenos Aires, some of the natural delta islands are forming a maritime community, where the "roads" are the natural canals, and all transportation is done by boat.  Today was a great day for a boat trip, and would have been an even better day for a dip, as many kids were doing:

Just like any other large and fertile deltas, the water is brown because it is full of sediments (making the entire area one of the most fertile in the world) - but it is not dirty, and I would happily   have jumped in with the kids if I had thought of taking a bathing suit along......
All the canals are lined with pretty little houses

 each with a deck, since boats are the only way to go in and out.  They have water taxis and buses, etc....

it's a little bit like a mix between Venice, the Mississippi delta, and the Hamptons....  and it is were a lot of people from Buenos Aires (BuenosAirians??) go to "summer".  Which in part explains why this city of 11 million people seems so  empty...  apparently, this is the same phenomenon that empties Paris in August:  all the locals leave, and the streets and park look oddly quiet - either that, or it's just too f#@!ing hot to go out!!!!

When in Rome, do as the Romans - when in Buenos Aires, eat meat!!!!!  We went to a typical steak house for dinner, which came highly recommended,

 so we did not let the combination of unusual items (beef testes??) or poorly translated ones (pork boneless arm roast??????) on the menu discourage us -

we just went for steak!  it was awesome!

 The company (and wine) was pretty good too.....).  This picture was taken by the nice french people at the next table, who regaled us with their misadventures, which included, amongst many other mishaps, being stuck in a "squall of pigeons", and so covered with pigeon poop they had to get back to their hotel to change.....  we wished them good luck on their upcoming trip to Antarctica.......

We enjoyed the soccer based decor (our guide this afternoon said that there were 3 things that were VERY sensitive topics when talking to Argentinians, and that if we did not know where they stood on it, we should just not talk about it.  First is Eva Peron, second is the Falkland Islands war,
and third is soccer! ). 





We are all so tired we can't think straight.....  so time to go to bed - tomorrow, more of Buenos Aires and the river (or estuary, or whatever it is!)