A Monday wander...

So today was spent walking around looking at architecture and leather goods; two things they do very well here. We walked from the hotel to the main downtown area through a few parks with the requisite impressive statuary, full of still flowering trees, in search of a leather coat for Mom and we both ended up getting one! Her's is being custom made overnight for tomorrow pickup. Mine was off the rack with a slight alteration. We both look quite good, if I do say so myself. I totally wasn't going to do the leather thing, but fell uncharacteristically in love with a little jacket, so there you go.



We then walked a bit of the main pedestrian mall, crammed with people like 5th Ave at Xmas but without the rush or rudeness. People just seem to move along here at a slow pace and make way for each other.

Along this way there are two shopping malls one Galarias Pacifico is more than impressive.


They do seem to take their shopping very seriously here. The food courts have cloth napkins and real silver on all the tables, at least at the upscale malls I've been seeing, then you get your food and find a place to sit.

We also stumbled across this:


I had to check it out! I had a nice conversation about it with the manager there, about some wonderful laptop bags that I had never seen before and he is going to find out about them for me, took my card and everything. I wonder if I can call this trip a business venture and write it off?


The one thing I am personally loving is the fact that EVERYONE crosses against the light if there are no cars coming. Whole crowds, but only when there were no cars. No one dodging through traffic like they do at home. And the car are going slowly enough on the narrow side streets that there is time to get across. On the major boulavards its another thing -- cars go whizzing by there, but two that we crossed were twice as wide as Park Avenue so you wouldn't be trying to get across in one go anyway.

There are Starbucks (they just got here in the last year or so but already they are spreading like the kudzu they are) and MacDonalds, and Burger King but no Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Nike, Merrells, Timberland, Puma and Levi's but no Gap or Express. Of course the high-end clothes stores are well represented.

We are about to get ready to go out for dinner and a Tango performance. Can't wait to check out that quintessential Argentinian art-form.