Buenos Aires!

We headed to Buenos Aires, Argentina for our August break. We were eager to visit Santiago’s grandfather, Norberto, who turned 85 recently. He is a wonderful man, and it was a delight for us to be able to share time with him and introduce him to his great-grandsons.

It was naturally very different than the last time Santiago and I were there. Single, kidless, and carrying backpacks, we saw a different side of BA. However, this one - the one with parks, zoos, and a lot more cafes - was just as delightful.

Naturally, traveling with 2 little people is always…fun. Yes, with lots of challenges, crumbs, and a little whining (ours), but fun. And naturally, now that the boys are into kissing and wrestling, trips are a lot more fun.

Top on our agenda was going to a classic Argentine steak house, so we headed downtown to La Chacra, Santiago’s favorite. Jacob was immediately fond of it, in light of the stuffed bull and horse that adorn the front of the restaurant.

There was no shortage of meat, and Jacob quickly learned the family tradition.

Timothy showed off his walking skills by heading to the kitchen to help the chef.

It was a fabulous meal, and we were stuffed to the gills. (We naturally had room for limoncello, a chocolate mousse and flan, but that’s a different story.)

We took a little post-lunch stroll and stopped at the Obelisk on the main boulevard in BA.

The next day we headed to Puerto Madero for a stroll and lunch. Following a delicious meal, we visited some of BA’s best sites including Casa Rosada, San Telmo (famous for its tango dancing in the plazas), and La Boca.

Along the way, we had a near tragedy. Once the boys had dozed off in the stroller, we realized that wow-wow azul (the blue dog, not to be confused with the red dog) had fallen out of Jacob's hands. We hurriedly rushed to retrace our steps. We were delighted to find a somewhat dirty but completely intact wow-wow waiting for us a few blocks away. (See earlier comment about how this trip differed from our first one!)

The next day we headed to the zoo. The boys were delighted to see bears, lions, giraffes, and many other animals. Timothy quite enjoyed feeding the animals, while Jacob got most excited for the monkey with the colorful bum.

We spent Wednesday, August 13th in Dique Luhan, a small town outside of BA where Abuelo Norberto has a small cottage. It was Timothy's first birthday, and what a wonderful memorable place to celebrate our littlest guy.

Back in Buenos Aires, we spent the day seeing some other great sites in Buenos Aires, including Santiago's old house which has been converted into a pre-school.

We had a wonderful lunch with Santiago's cousin, Carlos, who immediately won the hearts of both boys. It might have been the crepes with dulce de leche and ice cream. I don't know.

Our final full day in BA was a playday downtown. We shopped at a small open air market, ate ice cream at the famous Freddos heladeria, and pondered the world while the boys played at a beautiful park until the dropped.

But best of all, we just got to enjoy Abuelo Norberto (or Buelo Noobetto, as Jacob calls him). What a blessing to enjoy his presence.