'All About Clarke Day' in Buenos Aires...
April 29, 2007
We arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday. Clarke treated me to a night at a boutique hotel called BoBo in Palermo SoHo as an early
birthday present to me. Of course, he had himself in mind a bit when arranging this – this was where he and Michelle stayed a year
or so ago when they came out here. They really loved the place. He wanted to stay there again. It wasn’t part of my budget plan. He
made it part of my budget plan (‘free’ fits into a budget quite nicely). I indulged in a bath and some little turndown chocolates –
things that used to be more common to me but are now seen as total treats.
This was reason enough to declare today ‘All About Clarke Day’. A day devoted to Clarke’s wants and needs. (This is the kind of
holiday that happens when a person only has one day to spend in a city.)
We actually kicked this unofficial holiday off last night when we let Clarke pick the restaurant for dinner (sadly, he less ‘picked’ the
restaurant than agreed with something Michelle and I found that looked really good).
But now it is time for me to reflect on our day in this city with Clarke (imagine sappy sad music playing)…
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
You will see why in just a few minutes…
Clarke wanted to leave Buenos Aires with a leather jacket. This called for a trip to Florida Street in downtown Buenos Aires - not
the most scenic of areas but the main part of town that specializes in this sort of stuff. We went into some large, tourist-trap leather
shops. These stores made me realize the last thing I wanted was a leather jacket. But it wasn’t about me today. After all – it was
‘All About Clarke Day’. It was whatever he wanted to do and where he wanted to go. And if it was a leather jacket he wanted, it
would be a leather jacket that we would look for.
Just like always Michelle was prepared for the situation. She came equipped with a name and address of a leather shop that she had
read about. This one was much smaller. This one custom made leather jackets. This one had some colors I had never seen before.
This one had the oh-so-soft lambskin leather. And yada yada yada…I pick mine up on Friday. (Oh yeah. Clarke also found one
here.) This qualified as ‘the best of times’ for the day (there was also the added bonus of Michelle and I finding great leather purses
just a few minutes prior to this).
It was already time for Clarke to eat his last Buenos Aires meal. We went to a restaurant in Palermo SoHo. And this would be where
‘the worst of times’ story comes in.
It was time to leave. We were gathering our stuff. Clarke realized that his camera wasn’t sitting next to him any more. He started
searching the area. Gone. Then we recalled a little runt of a girl who tried to sell us something while we were eating. We all ignored
her and turned away. This had to have been the time that it was swiped – it was sitting right next to the edge of the booth. This was
not the type of neighborhood or restaurant where anybody would have thought twice about where you placed your things. But then
again…this is South America. As I have said before – it is just easiest to assume that anybody in this continent could be a potential
thief.
Anyway, this was how our ‘All About Clarke’ day ended. Just minutes later it was time to get his bags for him to go to the airport.
He left still loving this city. But it was just soooo not right that his time here had to end like that…
We arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday. Clarke treated me to a night at a boutique hotel called BoBo in Palermo SoHo as an early
birthday present to me. Of course, he had himself in mind a bit when arranging this – this was where he and Michelle stayed a year
or so ago when they came out here. They really loved the place. He wanted to stay there again. It wasn’t part of my budget plan. He
made it part of my budget plan (‘free’ fits into a budget quite nicely). I indulged in a bath and some little turndown chocolates –
things that used to be more common to me but are now seen as total treats.
This was reason enough to declare today ‘All About Clarke Day’. A day devoted to Clarke’s wants and needs. (This is the kind of
holiday that happens when a person only has one day to spend in a city.)
We actually kicked this unofficial holiday off last night when we let Clarke pick the restaurant for dinner (sadly, he less ‘picked’ the
restaurant than agreed with something Michelle and I found that looked really good).
But now it is time for me to reflect on our day in this city with Clarke (imagine sappy sad music playing)…
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
You will see why in just a few minutes…
Clarke wanted to leave Buenos Aires with a leather jacket. This called for a trip to Florida Street in downtown Buenos Aires - not
the most scenic of areas but the main part of town that specializes in this sort of stuff. We went into some large, tourist-trap leather
shops. These stores made me realize the last thing I wanted was a leather jacket. But it wasn’t about me today. After all – it was
‘All About Clarke Day’. It was whatever he wanted to do and where he wanted to go. And if it was a leather jacket he wanted, it
would be a leather jacket that we would look for.
Just like always Michelle was prepared for the situation. She came equipped with a name and address of a leather shop that she had
read about. This one was much smaller. This one custom made leather jackets. This one had some colors I had never seen before.
This one had the oh-so-soft lambskin leather. And yada yada yada…I pick mine up on Friday. (Oh yeah. Clarke also found one
here.) This qualified as ‘the best of times’ for the day (there was also the added bonus of Michelle and I finding great leather purses
just a few minutes prior to this).
It was already time for Clarke to eat his last Buenos Aires meal. We went to a restaurant in Palermo SoHo. And this would be where
‘the worst of times’ story comes in.
It was time to leave. We were gathering our stuff. Clarke realized that his camera wasn’t sitting next to him any more. He started
searching the area. Gone. Then we recalled a little runt of a girl who tried to sell us something while we were eating. We all ignored
her and turned away. This had to have been the time that it was swiped – it was sitting right next to the edge of the booth. This was
not the type of neighborhood or restaurant where anybody would have thought twice about where you placed your things. But then
again…this is South America. As I have said before – it is just easiest to assume that anybody in this continent could be a potential
thief.
Anyway, this was how our ‘All About Clarke’ day ended. Just minutes later it was time to get his bags for him to go to the airport.
He left still loving this city. But it was just soooo not right that his time here had to end like that…
| The man of the hour. |
