South American Journey - Days 4& 5

I like Buenos Aires. It is a big city, a lot of heritage and culture. There are monuments everywhere! It is summer time and I love the trees. There are a lot of good restaurants and the people appear to be warm and friendly.

Above is one of my favorite spots during our visit. Its a park named for Jose San Martin the general who led Argentina to be free of Spanish rule. I like this broad walkway that is covered with a canopy of trees.

The 'Casa Rosada' (Pink House) is the Argentine version of the White House, the working office of the President of Argentina.

A significant part of the city's heritage is the tango, a dance that was born in this neighborhood in the southern part of the city where poor imigrants from Italy and Spain lived in the late 1800's. Interestingly, I read that 60% of the people have Italian heritage.

The tragedy is that for a city with a population of 14 million, there are many, many lost people here. The have the semblance of religion, but I doubt there is a genuine faith and comitment to Christ.

"Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of the Father in Heaven."

Matthew 7: 21

South American Journey - Day 3

Day three was spent in Buenos Aires looking around and doing some shopping. Mostly we just relaxed.
It looks like Charlotte is studying something very hard. It is a puzzle book!

Our room is on the top floor and we have a patio attached to the room. This afternoon the temperature was around 82, but there was a gentle breeze and it was very pleasant. No, I am not praying, I am trying to read and not go to sleep! Charlotte took the picture.

The people here are serious about their meat! This was a grill in a mall food court. Last night Charlotte and I ordered a rib-eye steak that was 500 grams. After thinking about it we realized that it was one pound of steak so we decided to share!

The British have a long relationship with Argentina. The bell tower in the distance is a memorial to a major immigration of British in the early 1800's. However, the Faulkland Islands War soured that relationship. In the foreground is a memorial to those who died in the war over the Faulkland Islands (which Argentina calls Malvinas Islands).

So, Argentina built their memorial to those who died in that war directly across from the clock tower built in honor of the British many years before.

Another impression I have of Buenos Aires is they have a lot of beautiful trees. Here are more of the huge trees with large trunks, similar to the one we mentioned yesterday.

For years Argentina struggled through political turmoil. Then there was the Faulkland Island War. Fortunately, Argentina is fairly calm and there is a relatively good standard of living for many.

I am reminded of Psalm 46: 9-10

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exhalted among the nations, I will be exhalted in the earth.

South American Journey Day 1 & 2

Charlotte and I will be traveling through Argentina, Uruguay and Chile for the next three weeks. I hope to post some pictures on a regular basis that will give you some idea of what we are experiencing.

We flew from Richmond to Miami on a small American Airlines jet. Note the gate agent watching the captian as he went through his preflight procedures.

When we left Richmond it was cloudy with a light rain. As the altitude increased we went through multiple layers of clouds.

The nice thing about flying is that no matter how cloudy and rainy the weather is on the surface, if you can get high enough you will always find sunshine.

It reminds me of the phrase from Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

We flew through the night landing in Buenos Aires at 7:30 AM. When we got to our hotel, our room was not ready, so we found a side walk cafe and I enjoyed a good cup of coffee!

Out hotel is located across the street from the Plaza San Martin which commemorates the exploits of General Jose San Martin who was the key military leader in liberating Argentina, Peru and Chile from Spanish rule in the early 1800's.

At the center of the park we found this ancient tree. I have no idea how old it is, but I do wonder about some of the history it has seen.

A nice treat to being in the southern hemisphere in February is that it is late summer here. Today the temperature was near 80 degrees with bright sunshine. It was a beautiful day in the park and lovers were out enjoying the weather and each other.

Psalm 19 concludes saying:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.

More tomorrow!