porteños for the weekend

After a PACKED weekend in Buenos Aires, I'm back in Córdoba with the 'rents.

We did a lot in Buenos Aires. We went to the famous cemetary where Eva Perón and hundreds of other famous/influential/promient Argentines are buried. Did you know to be buried there you have to pay taxes? And you can buy and sell grave plots and even be evicted if you don't pay the taxes. Hey honey, we got a new neighbor!

We walked all over, shopped, ate...did the art museum thing and saw the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (the MALBA)...it was awesome! We saw a fabulous tango show on Friday night with the best music EVER, and had even a scary moment in La Boca. Todo bien!

The best was cruising around the neighborhood San Telmo...there are a million cool antique shops there. And we dropped into El Museo de la Ciudad, which is an old old house which used to house rich Portenos. The exhibits in there were really cool--old 20th century children's toys and Spanish tiles. Sounds lame; was cool.

I also got the chance to meet up with some old friends. One of them was Adam Massmann, a fellow Islander graduate. I haven't seen him since graduation, so it was great to catch up. He's been living in El Salvador the past few months and is taking a break from the scorching heat to pass through Buenos Aires. Best of luck to you, Adam! I also chatted for a few hours with Esteban Lleonart, a great guy who works at the hostel I stayed at last time I was in Buenos Aires. It's nice to know that no matter how strong/weak the friendship, how many months/years have gone by without seeing one another, traveling really brings you together.

So then with the rental car packed up and the three of us smushed in, Mom, Dad and I headed out west across the pampas to get to Cordoba. We stopped in Rosario along the way, another town I was familiar with. We had a yummy lunch, took a river cruise and had a great Mother's Day dinner. Then we woke up today and cruised all the way to Córdoba. We even got stopped along the way right before Villa Maria...the farmer protests have started up again! We had to follow a nice Argentine who lead us around the blockade, weaving in and out of dirt roads and over train tracks. So badass!

Great to have Mom and Dad here. More to follow!