Rosh HaShanah in Buenos Aires

The kids have off of school for Rosh Hashanah from Wednesday afternoon through Friday and they've gotten more than their typical dose of Jewish New Year themed lessons this year so we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and go to Buenos Aires.  We figures that the 5772nd Jewish Year could start out with the sweetness of dulce de leche in addition to honey this year and that we'd take a break from the traditional services and seek out something else on the banks of el Rio de la Plata (tashlich?).  What we didn't plan on was that our kids are not real city walkers and we have had a day of kvetching...I kept threatening that the alternative to walking was finding a local synagogue ;-)

Since we had so much "success" with short-term apartment rentals in Santiago we found one in Buenos Aires for four nights in La Recoleta.  It look nicer in the photos but is in a great location and is twice the size as a hotel room and has a kitchen (and is much less expensive)  http://www.bytargentina.com/re/propview.php?view=4394

We got to the apartment earlier than expected so went to a little cafe on the corner and had some lunch.

Lunch - Renee is drinking a submarino (steamed milk with a chocolate bar dunked in)

Once we settled into the apartment, we set off for a walk to visit one of the two buildings where Rob studied Civil Engineering at the University of Buenos Aires.  Although it resembles a gothic cathedral, it apparently was originally built as a law school but is now the engineering school.  It had not changed in the 20 years since he went there (or for probably 50 years before that).  We all agreed that it was kind of a creepy place but it had its charm.

The creepy classroom

To continue on the creepy theme, we walked over to the Recoleta Cemetery where many famous Argentines are buried.   If you have never seen it or pictures it is laid out like city blocks with the "houses" actually elaborate mausoleums.  Many are really architecturally interesting but many others are in disrepair and have broken glass or cobwebs everywhere.  After the initial interest, the kids got a bit freaked out by "too many dead people."  Perhaps it may have captured their attention better with an interesting tour guide.  Ah well.

La Recoleta

Tomorrow I work on getting pictures of the dog walkers!  We saw people walking 11 dogs (and not tiny ones) at once today.  One of the best parts of returning home next summer is that we will finally get a dog.  I realized that I was not "freaked out" in the cemetery because we used to take walked with our family dog through a local cemetery.  What was that about Mom and Dad????

שנה טובה