March 18, 2014
After less than 24 hours in Iguazu Falls we boarded another Argentinian domestic airline and flew back to the Buenos Aires regional airport. It was a less bumpy ride than the one the previous day. Shortly after landing we met up with Carlos again. Carlos met us not far from the luggage carousel, in the airport and drove us into central BA where he deposited us at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel. We would see Carlos again in about 36 hours because he was going to give us a personal tour of the city on our last day in Argentina.
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| Carlos: Our gracious host |
The Four Seasons' hotel is a gorgeous property in downtown BA. It is located in the Recoleta district of the city which we were slated to see more of on March 19. The main tower of the building was built in 1992 in the front yard of the former Alzaga Unzue property. The French Renaissance-styled mansion that Mr. Unzue built in 1920, still stands behind the main tower and it has been beautifully renovated as part of the hotel, containing 27 opulent hotel suites. In between the main tower and the mansion is a courtyard and underneath the courtyard, is the Elena restaurant. Named after the bride of the Unzue mansion, this stunning eatery is just off the main lobby of the hotel. It was here that we started our day on the 18th, a day that would prove to be very stimulating and at the same time very tiring. We were to cover a lot of ground on that day.
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| The main tower of the Four Seasons Hotel |
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Behind the main tower is the Unzue Mansion
which now houses 27 hotel suites |
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In between the main tower and the masion is the courtyard.
This shot is taken from our room in the main tower and it shows the
pool on the right and a skylight under which sits the Elena restaurant. |
Continuing along with the 2014 theme of exploring south-eastern South America and not wasting a minute of our time in the process, we decided that we would explore activities that Argentinians were famous for and we executed on a couple of good ideas. We were going to check out the sport of Polo and later, experience some Tango dancing.
Again, Andes Drifters' organized everything but today it wasn't a guide that picked us up, it was a polo player. We were to leave the city and drive into the surrounding countryside to experience an 'Argentina Polo Day'. I encourage you to Google that and you will discover that according to Tripadvisor that 'Argentina Polo Day' is the #2-rated thing to do in BA. This turned out to be an excellent experience! However, when I signed up for this excursion, I did not realize that we were actually going to play the game! But we did and that is what really made this a fantastic experience.
Arriving at the polo grounds, we met the other guests and a very charismatic guide gave us a condensed tutorial on all things polo. He reviewed the various polo equipment, described the nature of a polo pony and summarized the rules of this very complex and unique sport. Then we watched 4 chukars (segments) of a game between opposing teams of polo club members, including our driver, who played a match of polo in the morning, like most of my friends might play a round of golf. Our instructor stood on the sidelines and continued the lessons as the match unfolded in front of us. Then it was our turn and we headed back to the clubhouse to get suited up, grab a mallet and a mount a pony. After a little bit, we were out there smacking balls around that regulation polo field which is about six times larger than a football field. We were out there for quite a while and it was a good workout, chasing those balls on horseback and swinging that mallet. The ponies we rode were wonderful for amateurs like us and they were well-trained to participate at half-speed so we could make contact with the ball. What amazed me more than anything about these animals was that they seemed to have as much fun as we did playing the game. The ponies were wary of us though and to our amazement they knew when to turn their heads to avoids a lick on the side of the cranium by an amateur's over-enthusiastic follow-through. Each team of participants included a couple of club players to keep the game going and to encourage the guests and it was a ton of fun. I even scored a couple of goals. However, soreness aside, it was a wonderful day and it was as fulsome an exploration of the sport of Polo as any day could have been.
Note: I do have some shots of us playing and will add them when I can find them
After the match, we rode around the property and then enjoyed a wonderful late afternoon, Argentinian BBQ in a beautiful outdoor setting, adjacent to the polo field. After lunch and on the way back into the city, we toured another property owned by the same people that was being developed to host groups of polo students in style, at a fantastic "polo camp" that featured luxury overnight accommodations and top notch polo training grounds.
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| Lunch Seating for our little group of amateur polo players |
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| the accommodations at the 'polo camp' |
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| interior of 'polo camp' accommodations |
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| a bedroom at the 'polo camp' |
We then sped back into town and as sore as we were, we only had enough time to shower and change into our best dining attire before another driver came to pick us up for the Tango show. Again this was pre-arraged through Andes Drifters and it was a fantastic evening at Gala Tango (www.galatango.com). The dinner was first class and our table was just a few feet from the stage. The dance troupe and the accompanying musicians were extraordinary. The expert concertina player must have been 80 years old and there was even a gaucho bolo performance thrown in as a bonus. Everything was wonderful except for the fact that a little Spanish would have gone a long ways to improving my evening because some of the staff had limited ability in English.
Warning - Argentinians eat big portions. They also eat huge amounts of red meat. A steak serving is substantial. If you want a fist-sized serving, the smallest they serve is a serving the size of Shaquelle's O'Neal's fist.
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a wonderful meal and a great show but unfortunately we
could not take pictures during the performance |
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| the stage prior to the performance |
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| the musicians played from this area |
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| the interior of the Gala Tango dining room |
After the Tango show, we returned to the Four Seasons and slept very well that night.
