Buenos Aires June 13th

Ron and I are still figuring out how to load my photos on this site so there won't be photos until later. I've referred to this trip as an adventure but I didn't know just how prophetic that would be. Friday started at 9:30 a.m. when Merry drove me to the Portland Airport. The plane departed at 11:30 for Atlanta Georgia and the flight went well. I had a very short lay-over so I just barely made it to the new gate when I learned that the airport has shut down because of an electrical storm. Windows were shaking with thunder and lightning and an amazing heavy downpour of rain that lasted for some time before we were allowed to board the aircraft. Once we were on the runway, the pilot announced that another storm was approaching and that he would have to turn off the engines to conserve fuel until the storm ended. Two hours later were were in the sky but by then we were all very tired and hungry. Dinner was served at 11:30 p.m. and finally at about 1:30 a.m. I decided that it was time to sleep. That wasn't going to happen, however, so the past 24 hours seem like the longest day of my life.

When the airplane landed we were given face masks and told to wear them while going through Customs. We also had to stand in front of a machine that could read our body temperature so the Swine Flu still appears to be a health issue.

I'm presently at the apartment with the Lutzs and there is no question that I'll be getting to bed very early tonight to try to catch up with my rest.

I arrived here by taxi about 11 a.m. so first we celebrated with champagne, then we walked next door to a darling cafe for lunch. Ron had filet, Rosanna has risotto and I had beef tenderloin (my first good food in 24 hours) with a fabulous bottle of Malbec.

Rosanna and I just returned from a walk to a "super market" where we picked up some groceries for tonight's light dinner so we'll stay inside tonight.

This city is beautiful and the weather is in the low 60s. This is the start of winter so as we were driving to the apartment, it seemed odd to see trees shedding their golden leaves - much like the U.S. in November.

Tomorrow we are going to a service at the Cathedral and then to either the antique or craft street fair (maybe both if time permits).