Peace and beauty in Arentina

Travel always warps my sense of time, but the effect has been particularly prounounced during these past weeks in Argentina. Our pace has slowed considerably since our arrival. Days slip through our fingers, while weeks linger on. Sort of the mirror image of raising children, when, as they say, “the days are long and the years are short.”

We have spent leisurely hours wandering the streets of Buenos Aires, visiting a few museums and sites, walking and biking through beautiful neighborhoods, and too often helping ourselves to ample Argentinian lunches, which we then sleep off in mid-afternoon siestas. During one telephone conversation, our very busy son asked, incredulously, “Wait, you’re tired from … lunch?” But in our defense, an Argentinian lunch is undeniably exhausting. The pictures below should give you an idea. Especially if you add Mendoza malbec.

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During one walk through Buenos Aires’ San Telmo market, just days after Evo Morales was ousted from office in Bolivia, we came upon this Argentinian artist drawing a chalk portrait of the now former Bolivian leader.

Despite that we have been in Argentina far longer than we were in Bolivia, the dramatic and frightening events in Bolivia continue to capture my attention. Exactly one week after Peter and I left Bolivia, the military forced President Evo Morales to resign, confusion reigned, and chaos descended. For all his flaws, Evo Morales represents progress and possibility to many people, and in particular to many indigenous people throughout the Americas. Today, the outlook for Bolivia seems grim. The process of overthrowing the government has unleashed racism, given rise to a repressive interim regime, and led to a rising death toll. Peter and I were heartbroken to leave this startlingly beautiful and endlessly intriguing country prematurely, but it was the right call. During the days following our departure, the United States consulate in Bolivia ordered diplomats to shelter at home, warned of airport blockages and gasoline and food shortages, and bumped Bolivia’s travel advisory first from level two (exercise increased caution) to level three (reconsider travel), and then from level three to level four (do not travel). I only hope constructive Bolivian activism and the international spotlight will bring positive change before more tragedy ensues.

In the meantime, incongruously, we have moved on with our journey, and are enjoying the peace and beauty of Argentina. But even here, “hope” is in peril. Buenos Aires’ iconic Floralis Genérica sculpture, designed to open and close with the sun to represent hope reborn each day, still shines bright and, as you can see below, is beautiful. But the cash-strapped government has not paid for the sculpture’s upkeep, and the mechanical parts needed to enact hope’s daily rebirth are out of order.

Argentina is experiencing its own turmoil, but we are visiting during a (relative) lull in the storm. And in any event Argentina’s storm is quieter than those erupting in its neighboring countries. In late October, center left Alberto Fernández (a “Peronist”), defeated conservative President Mauricio Macri. Fernandez takes office December 10. And so our visit coincides with Argentina’s lame duck period, and we have found people are in something of a wait-and-see mode, hoping that Fernandez will be able to tackle Argentina’s recession, high inflation, sinking currency, and increasing poverty, but also understanding the challenges ahead.

During our first full day in Buenos Aires, we enjoyed a delightful bicycle tour with BA Bikes. New (to me) travel tip: we were able to book the tour at half price through Airbnb’s “experiences” offerings. The tour took us through many of Buenos Aires’ beautiful neighborhoods and included a visit to the Floralis Genérica sculpture pictured above. On one intriguing stop, we walked through the mausoleums and towering tombs in the French-influenced Recoleta Cemetery while our guide told us what he called “creepy stories,” including one about Argentina’s beloved Eva (“Evita”) Peron, whose remains were entombed there decades after her death.

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The cemetery, in my death-denying mind, provides its own “creepy story” with its Latin messages on the way in and out. The message on the entrance, from the living to the dead, reads “Requiescant in Pace” (rest in peace); on the exit, from the dead to the living—”Expectamus Dominum” (we are waiting for the Lord).

Buenos Aires is a huge, vibrant New York-sized city with Los Angeles weather, Italian and French inspired food and architecture, well-managed traffic flow, great bike paths, ample green spaces, and friendly people. Peter and I are officially in love with BA!

Between exploring the city and sleeping off large lunches, we hired Franco Liotta, the young adult son of our Airbnb manager, to continue our Spanish tutoring. Franco is a student of philosophy and linguistics, and he weaved his passion for word roots into our lessons. Of course, we had to celebrate over lunch!

I also enjoyed meeting with two Argentinian human rights attorneys and professors, who I met through Noah Novogrodsky. Noah is a law professor at the University of Wyoming and runs the human rights clinic founded by my stepfather, Bob Golten. Both professors were kind enough to speak to me in Spanish throughout our time together despite their exceptional English. Robert Saba’s book (below) addresses concepts of equality with a focus on constitutional law in both Argentina and the United States. It is popular enough to be available in major bookstores. I am slowly trying to make my way through it.

Peter and I took three short excursions from Buenos Aires during our weeks in Argentina. First, we took a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, which is a short ferry ride from Buenos Aires.

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Second, we rode this boat to Tigre for our overnight stay in the Delta Eco hotel. Tigre is a town on the Paraná Delta, not far from Buenos Aires in distance (but very far in atmosphere). Most of the other hotel guests were “porteños” (residents of Buenos Aires) escaping the city for a night or two.

The hotel provided a very peaceful one-night retreat, with all meals included, kayaks, massages, a pool, and killer scenery. They took my celiac diet extremely seriously, with delicious results.

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Our third get-away was an amazing surprise. In anticipation of this leg of the trip, my father asked some of his Argentinian friends for travel recommendations for us. One of those friends was Dani, a very successful Argentinian entrepreneur who met my dad more than twenty years ago when he was a young intern at TCI in Colorado. (Dani can’t say enough about how well my dad treated him at the time, including regularly supplying breakfast and coffee for their ride from Boulder to Denver). In response to my dad’s general email inquiry, Dani offered to let us stay in his family lake home in northern Patagonia. Fittingly for a couple Colorado travelers, I suppose, it turned out the most convenient place to meet with Dani to discuss his amazingly generous offer was during at a Buenos Aires country club celebration ofVail’s ski season opening day. Go figure!

Dani’s Patagonia house was simply lovely. For just a small taste of the amazing views, here is what we saw from the living room window!

And here is the view inside.

We enjoyed a beautiful 12K hike nearby along an impeccably maintained trail, which weaved through towering and fantastic trees. Toward the beginning of the hike, the trail included two side paths to the most amazing scenic overlooks (below).

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After the hike, we took a scenic 45-minute boat ride back. This beautiful creature flew alongside the boat for a good while.

Now, we are back in Buenos Aires, where our son Eli will join us today! At this point, the plan is to spend three days with him here, and then fly to Chile for a road trip.

We are keeping a close eye on the situation to the west, however. Chile has been in upheaval since October 18, when the government increased subway fares and sparked a long-brewing fury about gross inequality and a constitution written during the Pinochet dictatorship (which lasted from 1973 to 1990). The protestors’ frustration is summed up in one of their slogans: “It’s not thirty pesos, it’s thirty years.” The government has made concessions since the protests began, reversing the fare hike, agreeing to a constitutional convention, changing the President’s cabinet. But protests have not abated. Some protests have been violent (including burning subway stations and even a hospital). Two days ago Amnesty International accused the Chilean security forces of a deliberate policy to injure (and even torture and sexually abuse) protestors. The government, predictably, has issued a strong denial. Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees and former Chilean president, said the United Nations would issue “a broad diagnosis and recommendations.”

In the meantime, more strikes are planned for Monday. Our flight to Chile is Tuesday, and our flight out (and back to the United States) is a month from today. Watchful waiting continues.