Now to catch up on the past few busy days!
Saturday - I helped out Rodrigo in the morning and had a quick ride on Jour. It was a beautiful sunny day and I watched the other girls and one of Martin's clients ride around the new course in the ring. Since the Series horses had been schooled over fences the day before, they had the day off, so the morning finished up quickly. Brian offered to drive us into town, so Katie and I grabbed the chance to walk down the riverside in Buenos Aires. Rio de la Plata is the largest river in the world apparently, and at some points is 21 miles wide! It was like walking along the ocean, breeze and all! Katie said parts of it reminded her of her home coastline in Charleston, South Carolina. Once we reached the airport we got on to Avenida Sanmiento and walked all the way down to Plaza Italia, through a BUSTLING crowd. I have never seen such a crowd in a city. People were playing soccer, running, roller blading, playing street hockey, skate boarding-- in every nook and cranny! It was incredibly lively and invigorating.
Once we reached Plaza Italia we snagged some ice cream and wandered round the shops for a bit before catching the "good ol'" 57 and making our way back to Moreno. Bus success! (Although it was due mostly to the kindness of strangers who let us use their Sube card... one of these days we'll get it right...)
Sunday
This was a red letter day for me. I watched a 24 goal polo match at the beautiful Argentine polo field in Palermo. Rodrigo, Katie, Alice, Javier and I all trooped on down and first watched a match, La Dolfina vs. Ellerstina-- and on Ellerstina? Gonzales and Facuno Pieres... two ten goal players! I think my jaw was dropped the entire time, and apparently this is nothing for the area. My fingers are crossed that I will get a chance to watch some of the qualifiers for the Argentine Open that is coming up. Both games that we watched were incredibly close, neck and neck right down to the last chukker.
After the polo matches we headed up to La Tigre, a destination that Rodrigo chose that was kind of a touristy market with shops and a casino and amusement park. It was absolutely packed, and like the park the day before, super vibrant and a fantastic spot to people watch. We ate some pizza and wandered around joking and teasing each other for a while, taking in the sights. It really was "que linda dia!"
Monday
Ah, today. Early start! Up at 4:45 to start riding at 6:00 AM. Since the forecast is for rain (goody) we needed to give all the Series horses a good workout. We were derailed once slightly by Nixon lipping open the walker door and giving every horse in the carousel an opportunity to escape and cavort about the property for a while. Once they were all rounded up we continued with the plan so that we could head to the Haras Windcrest auction in the afternoon. It was my first auction and very cool to see. The highest selling horse went for about 62,000 USD! It's also catered, which was a cool treat. Have I mentioned that for some reason the coffee here is extremely good? As in, I actually quite enjoy the taste of a small black coffee. More than I can say for Starbucks! (Though I do enjoy the hipster atmosphere.)
Anyway, I'm zonked now so off to bed... the rain is coming down...
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