More From Buenos Aires

Back to the Buenos Aires trip. As the photo album I posted earlier proves, Betsy dragged me into doing a bus tour. I felt like an old lady. A lesbian old lady, actually, since the tour bus driver originally seemed to think Betsy & I were a couple. Each family or couple is given one souvenir book about the lovely cosmopolitan city to share. Our driver yelled back at us, in front of everyone, "They told me you're separate, so you get two books." Why she felt like she had to make a point of this I don't know.

So we passed the metal flower sculpture that closes at night and opens in the morning, the beautiful Santo Domingo church in San Telmo, and the cathedral of Buenos Aires. This cathedral was especially interesting because it bore graffitti all over the front, sprayed there by people protesting the 30,000 people who disappeared. The church didn't kidnap them, but apparently they didn't do anything about it either. It reminded me of Martin Luther King Jr.'s stance in his Letter From a Birmingham jail: if you're not doing something to help, you're part of the problem. The church said wait, change will come, and he said "action delayed is action denied."

We also enjoyed the La Boca district, with its colorful houses and street musicians. The 9th of July Ave. is another must-see attraction. Although it's just a street, it happens to be the widest one in the world, forcing you wait in the middle and walk two rounds of pedestrian lights before safely crossing.

So while I wasn't thrilled about the bus tour initially, it was certainly educational and I was glad I did it. How else would I have known that the colors of the Argentina flag are inspired by the sky?

But my favorite education was the liquid kind - the most delicious drink ever created, thanks to the Hilton. I like beer, love wine and cherish mojitios, but this...this was magical. I wanted my Moon Bay drink to never end. According to the bartender, it was just Baileys, cinnamon, & citric syrup. Seems a little too simple. But singer Tristan Prettyman would say, "simple as it should be."