African Elephants 🐘
Asian Elephants 🐘
White Rhinos 🦏
Walruses
Black Rhinos 🦏
and the amount of luggage it takes to get 10 girls, 3 moms and a Grandma Hat to Argentina
Friday, December 20th, 2019 was the start of our Christmas travel season. Everyone at the Anseth house wrapped up their chores and was ready to go when the SJ Airport Shuttle Service picked us up. This service has been very reliable for us over the years.
At the airport we fell into the usual routine. I carried the luggage, Kari organized the documents, Ashley complained, Katie snapped and played games on her phone and Grace calculated how to smuggle her scissors past TSA.
The look you have when you move stuff around in your bags and your big bag still tops 55 lbs.
Once through security I tried to get a family selfie
You can judge the success for yourself. The way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing pound enough for others to hear!!!!
The TBswissswag crew managed to escape Boston with minimal distraction and are currently working on 2 projects, 1 involving Tom Brady’s pliability and the other calculating how to get the Red Soxs under the salary cap luxury tax.
Lance, Mary, Grandma Hat and the girls day resembled a dumpster fire on top of a tire fire. 3 hour delays, missed connection, an extra visit to the Sao Palo airport and 2 hours in line. I don’t know how much wine they have in Argentina but the surplus may be at risk. We are hoping they arrive safe and sound with no more deviations from the plan.
Well the plane landed in Bueno Aries at 8:30ish. We collected our gear and headed to immigration and Passport control.
This photo is blurry cause all five of us were arguing and we had waited in line for 40 minutes to get to this point. In another 1/2 hour we made it through immigration and passport control. We grabbed our checked bags and prepared to head out.
We met TB, LB and the Butner girls between the Starbucks and the McDonalds. That seemed like a fitting location.
By the time we landed Grandma Hat and EP Butners had spent most of the night in Miami. American Airlines has decided to ship them to San Paulo Brazil where we they got to spend 8+ hours and then maybe they would get to fly to Buenos Aries.
With Lance, Mary, Hat and the crew sequestered in Brazil, we had no choice but to continue on our tour.
We met Ándres, our guide. He was awesome. Originally from Buenos Aries. He has guided in Patagonia but he has never had 2 dudes on a tour with this many teenage girls.
Our tour bus. Argentina 🇦🇷 2019. The band is back together. 2 shows nightly 7 & 10. Try the veal.
From the airport we journeyed to the Plaza de Mayo. It is in Buenos Aires de facto city center. It draws its name from the May revolution during which Argentina established a local government free from Spanish rule.
Highlights included the following.
Buenos Aries Cabidlo which was essential the first governmental structure in Buenos Aires. It is now a museum.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.
We need to get this crew to church. Lance, Mary, 🎩 and the girls need some serious praying for.
Mausoleum of General San Martín. He was essentially the liberator of Argentina 🇦🇷, Peru 🇵🇪 and 🇨🇱 Chíle
His ashes reside in the Mausoleum and it is guarded on three sides to represent 🇨🇱, 🇵🇪 and 🇦🇷.
The main Nave.
I am continually amazed at the architecture and the ornate beauty of these churches. In retrospect, maybe a little less ornate and a little more to help the people would have been in order.
This guy used to work at the Metropolitan Cathedral but he left to take another job. Seems like a nice guy, I hope it works out for him.
Pirámide de Mayo is the oldest monument in Buenos Aires. Notice the white symbol in the tiles. This represents the mothers who would come and protest in the square wearing white scarves after their children were abducted during the dictatorship which ran Argentina during the 1977 to 1983. You should look up Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, it might be under courage in your dictionary.
Liberty on top of the Pirámide de Mayo
Butners in front of Casa Rosada. The pink government house is asymmetric and pink. That is what happens when you mix cows blood with the white paint. Some think it was painted pink to sooth the opposing political parties whose colors were red or white.
The Anseths in front of Casa Rosada. The balcony behind us is where Evita Perron address the people of Argentina. Don’t cry for me Argentina, these girls are almost having fun.
Our tour bus. Locked and loaded for our next stop.
Next stop was La Boca. A working class neighborhood in Buenos Aries. It his home to Boca Junior, one of the major soccer clubs in Buenos Aries. The colors are blue and yellow from a Swedish ship which was the first on the team organizers saw in port.
Prosciutto for lunch
Boca Junior street art.
Our little Italian restaurant. Amazing food in a small cafe. Thanks Ándres.
Beer, wine, squid ink pasta with calamari. It was muy bueno.
La Recoleta Cemetery. Its filled with beautiful ornately decorated mausoleums. I would say I was not jazzed to go but in the end this place ended up being amazing.
Evita Perron crypt. The light was not great for this picture. Do not judge me too harshly PB.
Outside the mausoleum the girls started to breakdown.
Literally breakdown as our bus driver ran our tour bus over a rock designed to keep traffic off the pedestrian walk way. Ándres has to push a rock under the tire to get the car to rise up and clear the pilon.
If you look closely at this photo the tuft of white hair turning the corner is Grandma 🎩 and the rest of the Butners arriving to the ship at 9 PM. They packed their own bags up the gangplank, skipped immigration service and needed a Purel show after spending that much time in São Paulo.
A few 🍻 and a few more 🍻 and everyone got themselves into a bed. As I laid my head down to sleep I asked Kari if she had seen my 👓.
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