Happy Birthday to Me…..!

I had the best birthday! The long saga of the missing suitcase came to a happy conclusion, but not after more frustration. The day started out with Mexicana not calling at 8am as promised so getting up “early” was a waste! Later in the day we called and called the airport baggage number. Again, no one answered. The main office of Mexicana opened but our new good “friend” Augustine was not in yet. Miracles of miracles the airport answered their phone about noon. Great…well….not great! No one was there who could help. Finally Elisabeth called back to the main office and talked to Augustine who was again very sympathetic. He was able to get Fernando to call us back – (yes…someone new in the mix). He said our claim had been closed! What!!!!! Our bag had been delivered. Excuse me – but that was only for one. I guess we had been calling for three days just for fun? He promised to contact Mexico City and get back to us on Saturday – but oops…he would not be working then but would have someone else call us. Sure! Of course, people had been promising us for days they would contact Mexico City.

About an hour later, Fernando called again and….surprise….the suitcase had been found!!! Wonderful birthday present! Where is it? In Buenos Aires! It was delivered to the apartment about 4:30pm. We have a feeling it was in BA all along. Well – now I feel human again. Clean everything.

I have had my first birthday ever with warm, balmy weather thanks to the southern Hemisphere! It was a beautiful warm day but with nice breezes through the apartment. At 6pm we went to the Hotel Alvear Palace for their famous Tea in the L'Orangerie Restaurant. The hotel is one of the most elegant in Buenos Aires if not South America. The Tea was served in an indoor garden in beautiful surrounding. When we ordered two teas, they advised to only order one – with an extra cup of tea. Good advice. First we chose from a long list of teas. The waitresses were dressed elegantly with white gloves. The teas were loose leaf and it was quite a production – hot water poured in the tea pot, steeping for 3 minutes, and then it was poured into elegant china. Then the food began – finger sandwiches, a three tier cake stand with scones, savory and sweet petit fours, lemon curd, marmalade, and strawberry jam. Well that was a feast…and…then they brought the dessert cart! The patisserie was as beautiful and as good as anything in France! Elisabeth agreed! So…did we break the bank? Mais non! This is Argentina. 112 Pesos for the two with tip….or…. (Drum roll)….about $15 a piece!

After tea we walked through the elegant shopping mall of the Hotel and then back toward our apartment. On the way we stopped at the BA Design Center – a shopping center but mostly with modern design shops – very interesting high style things. We then took our stroll with the rest of Recoleta in front of the Recoleta Village – outdoor cafes, cinema, etc. I was reminded of Spain on a summer evening. People watching was the BEST! Kids, dogs, old people, young people, families…a cross section of humanity. We stopped at a sidewalk café for something to drink and listened to a guitarist who was set up on the sidewalk. The breezes were balmy. The whole thing was like Paris – but warm! We got “home” about 11pm. So far - Buenos Aires is fabulous…and even better with a suitcase!!!