First weekend in Buenos Aires

We arrived in BA on Saturday afternoon to a bright sunny sky and 36 degree weather (what Christos calls "ballsweaty heat"). Our cab dropped us at the Palermo hotel located near Serrano Plaza in Palermo / Palermo Soho. The hotel is a nice boutique hotel with a lush garden and very friendly staff. After settling in a bit we went for a walk in the neighbourhood, discovered the craft fair (Christos bought a cool pendant for Lisa) had a couple beers and finally got back to the hotel around 8ish. We rested for a bit then headed out for dinner on Argentine time, ie around 10pm! We had OK steaks (we are seeking better) and a yummy 20 dollar Malbec. After dinner we wandered from bar to bar until after 1am. While we had a good time, we were both reminded that we are no longer young ones! The bars were packed with 20 something locals and foreigners. Upon returning to our hotel we realized that our room faced the street and all its incumbent boisterous madness. Sleep was not quickly forthcoming. Lisa had a work call scheduled for 9am so she was a little worried about the lack of sleep but at 8:30am Sunday she received an email indicating the call was not going to happen till later in the week. A bit frustrating as we would like to get our remaining work commitments out of the way! Sunday morning's weather was a veritable deluge of rain with concomitant thunder and lightning! We thought the day was going to be a write off but the clouds broke around 2pm so we headed off to San Telmo where there is a large antique market every Sunday. San Telmo was great! We wandered about for three hours looking at the various goods available and bought a few minor nick naks. Then we wandered around a bit more and found Plaza Mayo which was very interesting as it had a lot of political banners etc in it. We visited the cathedral which houses the tomb of Jose De San Martin complete with two uniformed honour guards in attendance! We finally made it back to our hotel around 7:30pm and convinced the concierge to move our room to a more quiet one. A the present time we are relaxing in the garden sipping a tasty Malbec and discussing dinner plans.

Partying in São Paulo

Christos arrived in São Paulo on Friday afternoon to a serious downpour! So it may be summer in South America but that doesn't mean sun all the time. We got together around 4pm, grabbed some lunch and then relaxed for a bit before heading off to the Yamana Xmas Party (Brazilian office) around 9pm. The party was a blast although a bit odd from a Canadian perspective. A great live band in the reception area, yummy fruity drinks and lots of well made up Brazilian guys and gals. That was all fine and normal but as the evening progressed it became apparent that Brazilian corporate parties are not like Canadian ones ... In the main hall another live band was playing all sorts of weirdness (CCR cover, the gay anthem "it's raining men", a medley of 50s rock etc) and the dance floor was packed with everyone from the receptionist to senior executives (we doubt Yamana's Canadian CEO would ever get down with such gusto if at all!). No dinner was served although plenty of nibblies. When we left at 1am the party was still going strong and we found out later that a samba band started at 2am! The next day we woke up a little groggy, grabbed a quick bite and then off to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires!

Waiting to start our next adventure

I arrived in São Paulo, Brazil to visit my company office here. I'm counting the sleeps until Christos arrives to accompany me to the São Paulo office Xmas party Friday night. Which I have been told is expected to go well into the wee hours. After that, Christos and I are off on our next adventure - Argentina for Xmas! We hope to be able to update our blog regularly on the trip. Stay tuned.

Oyster Party VII

Although not really a travel for Ctos and Lisa, Oyster Party VII did involve the travel of Aare from Newfoundland as well as James & Ria from BC to make it happen!

The Party started as it does always, doors and the oyster bar open at 4pm ... with only the true gourmands there before 5pm. By the time 7:45pm was reached, a total of 520 of the bivalves had been slurped back! The drinks flowed as did the conversation and all involved had a grand old time.

While the Oyster Party is billed as 4pm to 7pm, these are merely the prime time oyster hours. Inevitably, the Oyster Party goes later; usually much much later. This year, the festivities went to 2am. While most of the revellers drifted out before midnight, a few stalwarts stayed behind and moved the Oyster Party up to the 3rd floor den where some late night DJing, drinking and other nefarious activities took place. As always, Lisa was a trooper and was present for the entire shindig, even if she did drift off into a nap after 1am in the "nook".

Monday... And then Tuesday

Monday was another work day for Lisa with two meetings scheduled before we were to head off for the airport. Ctos spent the morning wandering through a rainy London, window shopping and revisiting Purdey's to drool over tweed. The lure of tweed was too much and he ended up getting a jacket shipped over from the warehouse. After Lisa's work was done we went back to Purdey's and Lisa surprised Ctos by buying the tweed he had planned to buy for himself! We then enjoyed lunch at the Audley, our new pub home. Finally it was off to Heathrow for the flight home, or so we hoped! After several hours delay it turned out our 6pm flight was rescheduled to 9:30am the next day. What a disappointment. So it was back to London for a quick dinner and pints at the Audley before bedtime at 11pm ... We are now in the lounge at Heathrow waiting for out flight. Lisa was able to clean her gitch in the sink but Ctos was forced to buy 25£ underwear at Heathrow! Of course, the one time Ctos did no pack an extra set of gitch and socks is the one time they were required. Oh well, at least we will be home in hours (hopefully). We certainly can't afford another delay as Ctos is off to the Yukon tomorrow.

Sunday of rain

The day started late after the previous evening's frivolity and the lingering effects of jet lag. We finally got out of the hotel around noon and took a cab towards the Tower of London although the traffic was so bad we decided to get out about 3/4s of the way there to walk the rest of the way. Our visit to the Tower was quite fun although the wet weather did put a bit of damper on the day. We saw the White Tower, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Fusilliers.

On the walk back we stopped at St Paul's Cathedral where we happened to be in time for the 4:45pm organ recital; what wonderful synchronicity! We are now back at the hotel relaxing before we head off to a traditional English roast beef dinner at the Prince Napoleon in Notting Hill.

London 7 years! Friday and Saturday

Lisa arrived in London on Tuesday for marketing with Yamana while Ctos arrived on Friday morning. Friday was a work day for Ctos, he presented a silver mining story to Blackrock, while Lisa spent the day on the phone and Internet putting out Yamana fires. Ctos went to his favourite shoe store and purchased a nice pair of brown casual shoes while Lisa purchased two pairs of shoes at a high end store in Mayfair. Thankfully the bull market for precious metals is back! The evening was spent wandering from pub to pub drinking Guinness! What a wonderful evening. Dinner at the hotel was in room and was excellent. The next day we had intentions to go to the Tower of London but ended spending the day shopping. It was a lovely day with a blue sky although a bit chilly. Ctos bought Lisa a cute tweed jacket for the 7th anniversary and then proceeded to visit around a dozen clothes retailers looking for tweed for himself but to no avail. While many tweed jackets were found, Ctos didn't relish any of the fits; he blamed the European cut but the problem was really his growing gut!

We are now back at the hotel resting after the day' s wanderings trying to decide on this evening's dining adventure. While ruminating we watched Doctor Who which was interesting in that the episode referenced both the Savoy (where we stayed last time) and the Tower of London! It seems Doctor Who is sending us a message! Dinner was a 9:30 sitting at the hotel restaurant "Cut" where Lisa had a wonderful Chilean wagu steak while Ctos enjoyed yummy partridge as the hunting season has just begun. It was an amazing dinner! We retired to our room some time after 11pm with plans to visit the Tower of London the next day.