The Last Day - Tigre
Trip Start
Apr 29, 2005
1
10
Trip End
May 08, 2005
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Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Saturday, May 7, 2005
On the way, it has been suggested we stop off at San Isidro, where Isabel Aldao, owner of La Bamba, lives. She commutes to San Antonio de Areco three or four times a week. The Brazilians disembark with us unfortunately.
The station at San Isidro has been rebuilt and turned into a very attractive mall. After our obligatory café con leche and visit to the tourist oriented shops, we venture into San Isidro
Last night at Teatro Colon
. Imagine our luck, there's another craft market. The ladies are ecstatic, so I persuade Bryan to come with me to look for the Post Office, as we have a few postcards to send. What an odyssey! No one really knows where the Post Office is. We are directed in the general direction, and after walking all the way through town and crossing the railway tracks (the regular railway, not the Tren de la Costa), we finally arrive. I ask for stamps for the post cards, and the staff desperately scurries around searching for the right denominations, finally coming up with so many stamps, they won't fit on the postcard! Being a stamp collector, it is sacrilege for me to see franked postage on a letter. Fortunately they had a system which printed the postage on a self-adhesive label with a big Argentinean flag printed on it. I had to accept this as a compromise. At least it was colourful.
Fortunately the Brazilians have taken an earlier train, so we are left in peace to enjoy the rest of the very attractive journey to Tigre, which is a popular weekend destination for porteños escaping the hustle and bustle of city life. The city is built on the huge Parana River Delta and once you leave the main town, there are no roads, only canals. We select a typical sightseeing launch for the circuit of canals showing you all manner of residences facing the waterways. A fascinating trip.
Looking for a lunch spot, we come across an attractive chalet beside the river owned by a German lady. We are a bit late, and although the hostess is far from graceful, the food she serves is excellent.
Tonight we have a date with culture, so we bid farewell to Tigre, taking the regular train back to Buenos Aires
Lunch in Tigre
. There is not a seat to be had, so it's standing room only all the way back to Retiro.We dress to kill for our performance at the Teatro Colon, which is just a 10-block walk. We feel we are in the best of European society as we pass through the sumptuous foyer before being shown to our excellent seats.
The ballet is truly spectacular. I don't think we expected anything so lavish and beautiful, but combined with the atmosphere of the magnificent theatre; it is an experience that will be hard to equal. It's a shame that the performance went on a little too long, three hours in fact.
By 11:00 we leave the theatre to return to the hotel on foot. Cecilia suggests a taxi. We should have taken her advice, because half-way back we are stunned to hear Miryam shouting that she has been robbed!
Miryam is wearing her brand new leather back-strap bag which she bought in Mendoza. Somewhere along the way, a thief had opened the bag and extracted her folder with money and credit cards, as well as our camera, with all the photos of our stay on the memory
San Isidro Railway Station
. Dinner is off, as we hastily phone the credit card companies and banks to suspend all future transactions. Fortunately the cards were never used, and our most tragic loss was our photographic record, something that cannot be replaced ever. It is our greatest fortune that Cecilia has also taken copious photos, and our records are virtually complete thanks to her.
Day nine - Sunday
An uneventful flight home, with no further scares or misadventures.
THE END
