I'm Julie, I'll be your cruise director.

For those of you who are The Love Boat fans, you will recognize that line. We have had friends visiting for the last two weeks and had the chance to tour Buenas Aires and its surroundings with fresh eyes. Hopefully our guests had as much fun as we did, and Brent and I did an ok job as "Julie".

We got a chance to take the boat to Colonia, Uraguay while our friends were here. We rented scooters and saw the town and beaches. Unfortunately, the weather was overcast, windy and rainy, so the city wasn't as charming as it could be. Also, if you plan on heading over, tourist class is perfectly fine. Don't pay extra for first class unless you just have money to burn. And when you get off the boat in Uraguay, DONT throw away your boarding pass! When you try to get back on the boat to go home they will ask for your old pass and get pretty bent out of shape if you can't supply it! Overall- we are legal in Argentina for 3 more months!

We had better luck with the weather when we took our friends to Tigre. We went on a Sunday and there were a ton of people, but not so many to make it uncomfortable. When we got off the train we headed to the market (which is huge by the way) for some souvenir shopping. Brent saw some really great looking cowskins for cheap so I am sure we will go back to the market before we come back to the states. He thinks cowskins are going to be the next Members Only jacket or pet rock and wants to try to fill a suitcase with them to sell at home. I'm sure Customs will have no problem with that! After the market we rented a water taxi for a tour of the delta. The boat was small enough, and the river high enough, that we were able to go thru some really small and beautiful canals. The taxi took us to the Alpenhaus Restaurant and Hotel, where we had a great lunch on the river and did some people watching. I think if we moved to BsAs permanently I would have to be friends with someone who had a river house!

We really enjoyed playing tour guide and seeing our friends from home, but I am a bit worn out. I need a vacation from their vacation!
Later!

Chill Dude!

Wow, it feels good to get back to writing again. Fran thinks she has taken over the blog. I guess she has for a little while. Well, as you may have read in Fran's previous blog, she is getting a little bored and paranoid. We have now reached the point where we are not freaking out about where we live, where to buy food, how to get money, how to speak the language, or where the hell to find things in the city. Just the point you are praying to get to when you move to another country. So, now what do we do? That is what Fran has been freaking out about for over a week now.

I have met a local attorney who is origionally from Peru, so he speaks spanish and a fair amount of english, and we get together for golf about twice a week now. He usually invites two more players, so far a few Argentines and a Frenchman, and we play 18 then hit the club bar for a round of drinks and conversation. So each week, I get two additional spanish lessons, golf, and drinks with the "boys", all for the incredible price of about $40 including rental clubs, greens fees, and drinks. So, I must say, I am feeling very positive about Buenos Aires.

Now I know this is not benefitting Fran much, so I have gotten to work. On the agenda:
1. Find her a new riding club- her old one sux!
2. Rent a car and find a place to picnic and see the finish of the Dakar ralley just outside Buenos Aires.
3. Make arrangements for our friend Louise to visit between Jan. 20-24 before she heads to England.
4. Encourage all you people back in the states to come visit!
5. Make a required trip to Colonia, Uraguay to renew our visas and do some day trippin'.
6. Hit the beaches of Villa Gesell again.
7. Book a trip to Iguazu falls.
8. Book a trip and all the acommodations and and fishing trip, wine tour, etc to Mendoza.
9. Head back to Tigre for some R&R at a private club on the river.

I think we are doing fine. If anyone has a suggestion, let me know!!

The parks here are really nice, and you have to let the ladies win sometime or bad things tend to happen ya know.