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!

Horses and lions and tutors, oh my!

Brent was able to get the money problems rectified Friday afternoon, thank goodness! So with pesos to burn we began our fantastic weekend. Friday afternoon I went to the stable for my first lesson. I was a bit early, so I sat and watched the lesson before mine and got to meet the wife of one of the students in the ring. She and her husband are in Argentina for a year and plan to see and do everything- including learning how to ride. We have plans to meet for dinner this week.
My lesson was soooo much fun! Maximo is a good instructor and speaks english great, but I told him I needed to learn horse words in spanish and he said he would help. I got to ride a nice horse and got to jump. The only drawback was how incredibly sore I was the next day.
On Saturday Brent and I took a train to a city named Tigre. It is located about an hour outside of BA on a river delta. I really don't know why anyone would ever want to leave this country; every place I have been, I have loved! The train station let us out at a river that is lined with trees, grass and a walking path. You can catch a boat tour of the area, or if you know where you are going, they have water buses. Brent and I grabbed something to eat by the water and then took the 1 hour tour. The area is beautiful and I took lots of pictures because it is really hard to describe. All in all, we had a full day outside the city with train transportation, food, drinks, and a tour for a grand total of 70 pesos! (A little more than 20 bucks!) We will be going back!
On Sunday, Brent and I went our separate ways. Brent went to play golf and Jo and I went to the Luhan Zoo. We took a bus to get there, and after about and hour and much confusion, the bus dropped us off on an exit ramp off the highway in the middle of nowhere. As we stood there looking around I noticed a chain link fence and some rather large birds behind it. We were there! The Luhan Zoo!
This was the strangest zoo I have ever seen. For $10 each we got to ride an elephant, hold a baby bear, get inside the cage and pet lions and tigers, sit next to a thousand pound bull seal, and have a full grown monkey jump on your head! Seriously, this place would not last an hour in the good ol'USA before somebody sued!
The zoo itself is like going to somebody's farm. Everything is dirt paths and chain link. If you wanted, you could camp overnight and grill out. They even had a swimming pool. I told Jo that it wouldn't suprise me if they unloaded a dozen otters into the pool while you were swimming. It was just that kind of place. Amazing.
Today we had our first real spanish lesson with Carlos. He is very good and laid back. He has a good way of explaining things and Brent and I both feel we will get a lot out of the lessons.
Today I will be trying to find a cheap rental car to drive down to the beach for Xmas. Wish me luck!