Travel with Indigo

Following the departure of Kitty and Grant, I am invited to lunch at the Alvear Palace Hotel by Marta Gaucia, a wonderful grand dame of Buenos Aires whom Kitty and I met at the New Year’s Eve party at Carlos Pedro’s mansion.  Also there are Toribio “Toby” Ayerza, his lady friend Adriana Supervielle, and an American living in BA part time, Talbot Spears.  It’s a great lunch with much convivial talk led by the irrepressible and charming Marta who, though 81 years old, has lost none of her spirit.  Toby and Adriana invite me to join them a few days hence for an overnight trip to Toby’s family estancia (country estate), which I eagerly accept.  Following lunch, we all adjourn to Indigo for guided tours and more wine and laughs.

At night, during these days, I have dinner at Carlos Pedro’s favorite restaurant, Oviedo, maybe the finest in BA.  I have drinks at Casa Cruz, which cannot accommodate me for dinner, even at the bar, it’s so popular.  And one night, taking leave of my senses, I attend a tango show at the Hotel Faena, which is entertaining and much better than I ever would have guessed.

On the appointed day of my trip to Toby’s estancia, he and Adriana pick me up and drive us an hour and a half into the flat fertile countryside north of BA.  Toby, like most Argentines, likes to drive fast, often at speeds over 100 mph on two lane roads and over 120 mph on four lane roads, making for a somewhat harrowing trip.  The estancia consists of 5000 acres of fine farm land growing corn and soybeans mostly, but its attraction for us is a forest of trees selected and planted in 1915 when the home was built.  Today these are enormous and of widely varied species taking up several hundred acres as elegant parkland interspersed with ponds and dotted with statuary and flowering shrubs and annuals.  The understory is carefully managed and the grounds well-mowed grass.

There is a swimming pool, paddle tennis courts, polo fields, a croquet court and other diversions.  The home, designed by a German architect, reflects European tastes, with vaulted ceilings, archways and ornate trim, all in a local sandstone.  Ceilings are about 20 feet high and supported on the corners in the main salon by groupings of three stout doric columns.  Fireplaces with massive mantels occupy prominent positions in the three or four largest rooms.  Furnishings are overstuffed upholstery with an English country house look.  Toby takes out magazines from Paris dating back into the 1930s that are still in excellent condition due to the dry climate and high quality of the paper.  The home and its grounds are not the primary residence for Toby or any of his family, but a week-end getaway that these days is not often used.  And so it has fallen into some disrepair and has not been modernized in some respects.  Still, with no phones or TV or air conditioning and only minimally lit, it’s a fine place to escape the heat and hub-bub of city life.

Lunch is served around 3PM in the gallery, a roofed but unwalled courtyard.  We have wonderful steaks cooked over an open grill with fresh vegetables and great Argentine wines followed by the inevitable espresso and dessert.  Then it’s nap time.  Later that night, we have another meal, about 11PM, of cold cuts, cheeses and of course, more wine.  Next morning, breakfast is mostly fruits and cheeses.  After a guided tour of the forest area, with pockets of sheep, small herds of polo ponies and grazing cattle, we return to BA fully relaxed.

Toby, like many young Argentine men from wealthy prominent families, left his home and went to NYC to work with a major U.S. bank and later an investment bank, using his connections to advantage.  He traveled often to the world’s greatest cities in his investment banking business, partied hard, played polo, raced cars, met and dated beautiful models, generally having a fine life as a playboy, marrying several times along the way.  Now at 63, his playboy days are behind him but he lives well in one of the finest cities in the world.  His companion, the elegant Adriana, is divorced from Argentina’s most important and wealthiest banker, and has a son, Jack, now 19 years old, who is headed soon to the U.S. for college.  She is originally from Croatia, speaks five languages, earned advanced degrees from Columbia and distinguished herself in the area of international finance before settling down to married life.

While in the country, Carlos Pedro called to invite me to lunch, but when I couldn’t make it, he sent over a manuscript he had written on religion.  After advanced degrees in law and philosophy, he is not what you would call a devout Christian and the manuscript belays that.  He also sent me a note wishing me well along the way and offering his help should I need it.

Finally, after an eventful stay in BA and meeting some wonderful new friends, it is time to depart for our next destination, Mar del Plata.  On a beautiful day with light breezes, Indigo sets out from the harbor at Puerto Madero in downtown BA, hoping to reach our next destination within twenty-four hours.  Hugo, our driver and security man while in BA, hopes to be able to drive the four hours to Mar del Plata and meet us at the marina so that we will enjoy knowledgeable, safe and comfortable transportation there.  Later, unfortunately, it turned out that he could not join us because Esteban (his employer) needed him in BA.     Finally, after an eventful stay in BA and meeting some wonderful new friends, it is time to depart for our next destination, Mar del Plata.  On a beautiful day with light breezes, Indigo sets out from the harbor at Puerto Madero in downtown BA, hoping to reach our next destination within twenty-four hours.  Hugo, our driver and security man while in BA, hopes to be able to drive the four hours to Mar del Plata and meet us at the marina so that we will enjoy knowledgeable, safe and comfortable transportation there.  Later, unfortunately, it turned out that he could not join us because Esteban (his employer) needed him in BA.