Margaritaīs aunt came over to the hotel after we got settled amd We went for lunch at a restaurant about one block from the hotel. The food was decent, but the cost of sodas was high and the incidental charges (like the bread) were ridiculous - this is a common thing, though, and we were warned about it.
While Margarita and her aunt ordered dessert (as I later learned), I took Michaela to the playground at Plaza Martin. The surface of the playground consisted of lots of little broken sea shells, which donīt seem to do much to break oneīs fall and presented a bit of a challenge for Michaela to crawl on. The playground didnīt have much to offer. The climbing structures (including the slides) were all too tall and difficult for Michaela to climb. The swings didnīt include any infant swings and sheīs too young for the teeter totters. The one thing she could deal with was the merry-go-round. However, it didnīt spin very well and required constant pushing - you couldnīt just spin it and let it go. She had fun on it, but seemed most to enjoy following other kids around.
After Margarita and her aunt rejoined us, her aunt went back to her home and we went back to the hotel, where we promptly fell asleep for a few hours. I woke up, knowing that if we continued to sleep, our sleep patterns would be completely off, so I woke everyone up. Margarita was less than pleased, but Michaela seemed well-rested. We got dressed and walked over to Margaritaīs auntīs apartment. During the walk, Margarita noted how little had changed in the 20 years since she had last been in La Plata. One observation she had numerous times: it seemed so much larger before. That applied to the cathedral, her auntīs apartment and to the items in her auntīs apartment.
After catching up with her aunt - and filling up on sandwiches, we headed back to the hotel. Her aunt suggested that we take a taxi, as everybody seems to be worried about crime, but we decided to walk as it wasnīt far, and we werenīt carrying much of value. On the walk back to the hotel, we noted quite a few people on the dark streets, including parents with their children, so we stopped worrying as much.
So now off to bed I go after nearly an hour of typing on a computer that has Windows XP installed on a machine that is way too slow for it. In addition, it has some nasty spyware installed (gator?) that brings up Interner Explorer pop-up ads even when Internet Explorer is not running. Grrr..... Good night!
Posted by mike at May 2, 2003 06:29 PM