Weekend Fun and Games

This weekend has been a fun, although busy, break from the weekday school routine. Diego and Bianca finished up their second full week of school Friday. I think everybody enjoyed to opportunity to sleep in on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon we hailed a cab in front of the apartment for a 10 minute ride to Palermo Viejo (Old Palermo), the location of Yaos, (http://www.yaos.com.ar/) the event hall hosting a birthday party for Bianca’s classmate Joaquin Cora. The majority of the children were dropped off by their parents, but because of the distance from our apartment, Silvia and I decided to stay for the duration of the party. The kids enjoyed themselves with the the basketball hoops, slot car racing, and other games. The pinnacle was the magician, including a couple of real white doves.

(Magician at Joaco's Party)

(Diego Driving his Slot Car)

We had a nice time at the other end of the hall with the other adults, mostly the immediate family of Joaquin. The staff kept us well supplied with coffee and sodas, a great selection of sandwiches, and some incredible cakes. Marcelo and Laura, Joaquin’s parents, were extremely gracious, and a lot of fun to talk to. I would venture to say Marcelo’s English is much better than my Spanish!

We headed back to the apartment after the party ended at 630 PM. Next on the agenda was to get Silvia her Mexican food fix. Like many of the restaurants here, our restaurant destination didn’t open until 830 PM. We grabbed another cab ride back to the Palermo Viejo area, and arrived at the Mexican restaurant Xalapa at 840 PM or so.

The food was quite good; good enough to impress even the skeptical Silvia. She had Enchiladas de Pipian, and I had Carne Tampiquena. The kids were satisfied with some quesadillas. Being that we were running very late with young children, we headed home soon after the meal, just about the time the restaurants were starting to fill up.

The Palermo Viejo restaurant scene itself is worthy of its own web log post. However, any good Buenos Aires guidebook or travel website can give more detail. Suffice to say, Palermo Viejo, with its subdivisions Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood, offers some of the most interesting and varied dining in the city. Anything from traditional Argentine parillas to just about any ethnic cuisine you could ever want is available. The only drawback is that the prices are a bit higher than the standard B.A. eateries, but still a good deal by U.S. standards.

Continuing on with the weekend festivities, today (Sunday March 18) was our day at the Zoo. To add to the enjoyment, today featured outstanding weather, which is forecast to continue through midweek: Sunny, light winds, and about 80 degrees F / 28 C. This marked our third trip there since October. Always a fun time. We made a point of arriving at 1230 PM, since our last visit two weeks ago was late in the afternoon, and we didn’t get to see everything.

(Plaza Italia - Near Zoo Entrance)

(Zoo Fountain)

(Diego at the Snack Area)

(Bianca and Diego at the Snack Area)

(Feeding the Zebras)

(Family Photo inside the Rainforest Building)