In June, Patricia and I took the kids to Buenos Aires for their first visit to the capital city. It was partly a trip to celebrate the birthdays of Patricia and Hans Peter, and fortuitously, it happened a few days into a 5 day period in which the entire city of Bariloche was without natural gas after an accidental break in the main supply line to the area. Winter was approaching, so the nights were cold and heating the house with the fireplace only took the edge off of the chill in the house. And there was no hot water for showers, so it was a little bit like winter camping in your own house!
The trip was planned around seeing Lionel Messi play with the Argentina national soccer team in a World Cup qualifying match against our other favorite team, the Ecuador national team. The game took place a couple days after we arrived, so we had some time for a tour of the city to learn about the history of the city and the early days of Argentine independence. And the kids prepared a short report about the trip to present to their teachers when they returned so they wouldn't feel too guilty for being gone.
We stayed at the Plaza Hotel, a grand old hotel where, in its heyday, visiting dignitaries like Theodore Roosevelt, Charles De Gaulle, and Indira Gandhi stayed.
And we stopped for lunch at Cafe Tortoni, established in 1858.
We visited the San Telmo district where there are street markets and a famous antique fair on Sundays at the Plaza Dorrego.
This gigantic solar-powered flower sculpture has petals that slowly open with the sunrise and gradually close again at sunset.
And then we would eat again! This is one of my favorite lunch spots near the Recoleta cemetery.
From the hotel, we were able to walk to the Presidential Palace on the Plaza de Mayo which has been the center of government since Argentina established independence from Spain in 1810.
Right up there in historical status with Eva Peron is Diego Maradona of the Argentine national soccer team of the 1970-80's. He has his own little shrine down the hall from the President's office.
Patricia, posing with a royal guard on the balcony overlooking the Plaza de Mayo where Eva Peron was known to address large crowds in the 1940's-50's.
And here is evidence of the history portion of our visit to share with Hans' and Annalise's school teachers back in Bariloche.
And then came the MAIN attraction. Since all Argentines are devout national team soccer fans, we shared these photos with the kids' teachers, as well. The anticipation of this game for us was huge. It was hard to believe that we were actually going to be able to see Lionel Messi perform live, before our eyes, and in a game that would help determine whether they make it to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
We arrived after sunset by bus in bumper to bumper traffic in downtown Buenos Aires. The game was held at the Monumental Stadium, home of the popular River Plate club team of Buenos Aires. We walked with throngs of chanting fans for several blocks before entering the stadium to see the bright lights and green pitch, along with the crowd of 50,000 cheering fans.
It was both exciting and a bit sad to see Messi and his team go up against our other favorite team, Ecuador. And we were not sure how the people around us might react if we cheered for an Ecuadorian goal!
At the time, Ecuador had a FIFA ranking of 36 in the world, while Argentina was ranked 7th. There were no surprises during the match with Argentina winning the game 4-0. And Messi was a major force in the game, scoring one of the goals and serving as a constant threat for Ecuador to contend with.
Footage of our walk to the stadium.
Pre-game ceremonies.
If you blink you'll miss the goal early in the clip!
