Visiting the cemetary of the rich and famous in Buenos Aires was a highlight for me. Many influential Argentinians are buried here, including Eva Peron who was the first lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952. This is the door to her mausoleum.



What first caught my attention was the number of stray cats in the cemetary. Every color and coat you could imagine seemed to guard the entry. Laura Turnbull talks to one here.



The cemetary is like a mini city and streets are lined with mausoleums made of granite, marble, brass, bronze, and glass. Some were in disrepair, others were impeccable.




One of the family mausoleums had this statue outside in memory of a young lady who died on her honeymoon.

Unfortunately, due to a possible farmers strike in Argentina, our business visit was cancelled. Check out the CNN Article.

We took advantage of our extra free time and did a little more shopping, sight-seeing and sleeping for some!

The waiter's response when we tried to order another round. He was afraid that someone might be driving...

Named after Laura & Karen... why didn't they have a chicken & cheese empanada already on the menu? And why do the rest cost 4 pesos and the "karlara" costs 100 pesos????

Our visit started off at the mall in Buenos Aires to see the newly redesigned Wrangler & UFO stores and the Wrangler display in the Falabella department store.

Len & Richard at the newly redesigned Wrangler store:

Jason at the Wrangler display at Falabella:

Tim at the UFO store:


After the mall tour, our fabulous hosts (pictured below with Chuck), gave a presentation about the marketing strategies for Wrangler, Lee and UFO. They discussed their segmentation and targeting strategies for each brand.

We were lucky enough to experience a true local soccer game - Vélez vs. Boca. We were sitting in the Velez section, so we were cheering for them (or we might have been killed). The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. The fans were insane. There is no alcohol in the stadium or it can not be sold within a 2 km radius of the stadium. When the game ended, the Boca fans were forced to leave first then the Vélez fans could leave once the Boca area had been cleared. When we asked our guide about it he responded with one word "violence." Fútbol  the second religion! The pictures don't do it justice... you'll have to see the video! Final score: 1 - 1.

After another late night, we were able to sleep in a little. We headed out to Florida Avenue for more shopping. Leather shops are everywhere and by the end of our stay in Buenos Aires; I imagine that most of the group will have some sort of new leather item. Below, a picture of Len and his new favorite outfit (if you can't tell it is a three piece pin-striped suit made of denim).

Absolutely amazing! The food was excellent (if you were sitting at Chuck's table). Before dinner, the dancers offered brief tango lessons, so most of us jumped on stage to take advantage of the opportunity. After dinner, a four-couple tango show spun & flipped around on stage for our entertainment. During costume changes, a native flutist played some traditional Argentinean folk music and a gaucho performer. The gaucho spun "bolos" (I think that's the word  little balls on the end of ropes) and bounced them of the floor to produce a unique rhythm. At times his mullet fluttered at the speed of the bolo spinning. It was quite entertaining.

City tour of Buenos Aires  we set off for the Boca area where there are lots of open art fairs & craft items. We also toured the Boca soccer stadium. It's a lot colder here in Buenos Aires, but I definitely like Buenos Aires more than Brazil.

What a difference! Buenos Aries is vastly different than Brazil -lots of green areas with trees and open spaces. The architecture is similar to European cities like Paris or Barcelona. We toured the city and saw the Eva Peron monument and the cemetery where she is buried.

We had an early dinner at the Buller brewery and then dancing at Asia de Cuba. Wesley negotiated two private tables for the group and we enjoyed the atmosphere and sushi. Then at about 1 am Club Cubana turned from a restaurant to a dance club, complete with a belly dancer and smoke machines. It was a late night for some...