B.A.: Opera; city with Carlos

Wednesday, March 13: We had agreed to meet Ines at ten to make final arrangements for the trip to Salta. It was a bright, sunny day. After breakfast in our room, we caught the subway to the Plaza San Martin and walked the couple blocks to her office. We got there exactly at ten, but the door was locked and no one answered the bell. Finally, an employee arriving for work let us in. It was another ten minutes before Ines came. We settled on our plans for Salta. We agreed to come by the next morning to pick up the voucher for the trip.

Colon Theater

Ruth had dropped in while we were talking to Ines, just in case we needed any help. When we mentioned that we were hoping to get to the Colon Theater for a tour, she offered to walk over there with us. We got to the theater just in time for the 11:00 tours, one of which was conducted in English. The theater is one of the world's premier opera houses, ranking with La Scala, the Vienna opera, and a few others. They were conducting auditions (tenors) while we were in the opera house, itself, so we got to hear the excellent acoustics. The building extends several stories underground. There we toured the shops where costumes are made and stored, and also the huge underground room where sets are constructed.

Again proving it's a small world, Chester and Marie (Mimi) Higgins were on the tour with us. Both were employed in the Office of the Secretary of the Army where I had worked. Chester had been a political appointee in the Public Affairs Office when I first started in the Army General Counsel's Office, and Mimi still worked in Manpower and Reserve Affairs, dealing with Ernie Willcher, one of my subordinates, on a daily basis.

Avenida 9 Julio & the obelisk

The tour ended about 12:15, and we walked down the Avenida 9 Julio to the obelisk that is the symbol of Buenos Aires. Avenida 9 Julio is one of the widest city streets in the world, with eight lanes in each direction on the center part, and another two in each direction on the parallel streets that run on either side of the main part. That's a total of twenty lanes, plus three boulevard strips. It is partly on the basis of this super-wide boulevard that Buenos Aires is often compared to Paris (at least by the Argentines).

Somewhat tired and thirsty from walking in the heat, we stopped at a Burger King for refreshments. We caught the subway home, again stopping at the pastaficio for empanadas. We ate them in our room, with coffee and some of the cookies we'd picked up earlier.

Frigata Libertad in front of
Puerto Madero warehouses

Carlos, Darrell, Jane & Marta
at the helm of the Libertad

Carlos called at 2:40 and said he and Norma would pick us up at 3:15. Martinez drove, and Marta was along. We drove by Puerto Madero again. We stopped to visit an old Navy frigate, Frigata Libertad, that had both sails and steam power. It had been a training ship for naval cadets, but was now a museum. As a colonel, I was given special treatment and was piped on and off the ship.

From there we drove through the parks of Palermo, by the monuments and the U.S. Embassy and the ambassador's residence. We stopped at the Japanese Garden where we fed the hundreds of fat but colorful carp. The garden was very beautiful, with several bridges across the ponds and many interesting rock formations. We had beverages in the Japanese cafe at the far end of the garden.

A park in the Palermo district

Carp in Japanese Garden

Pond in Japanese Garden

It was 6:30 when we got back to the Condo. Carlos came by again at 8:45 to take us to dinner at the Jockey Club. We parked at his apartment and walked to the Club with Carlos, Norma, Ruth, and Marta. For the main course, Carlos ordered two lomos, each about 18 inches long. The meat appears to be the same as is used for filet mignon. It was delicious.

Us with Norma & Carlos

After dinner we walked to the Cerda's apartment for coffee and chocolates. In asking about a picture signed with a personal message, we learned that Carlos went to school with Juan Carlos of Spain before he became king. They are still good friends, and Carlos escorts and entertains him when Juan Carlos visits Argentina. There also was a picture of Carlos and Norma with Pope John Paul II, as well as a signed picture of General Videla with Carlos. (General Videla led Argentina's last military coup and served as President for several years.) Carlos and Norma and their friends are all devout Catholics, and Marta gave us some religious gifts. When Carlos finally drove us to the Condo, it was two a.m.

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