March 12,

This morning we were up and about by 0700. Jeff did a session with the TENS unit – all that walking yesterday. My knees felt fine though. We set about having our Javas and breakfast. I used the last of my Peruvian coffee that we had bought in Mendoza (so will have to get some tomorrow). We had oatmeal and granola mix for breakfast – best of both worlds. We had to eat inside due to a good brief downpour of rain we had this morning.

Anyway, Jeff had remembered yesterday about…TAXES, of all things. He didn’t want to work on taxes while we are in Patagonia. So he worked on that for a couple of hours, actually getting them done and filed. We ended with a whopping one dollar refund! But he had them put that toward next year – who wants a one dollar check.

At 1210, we went out trekking. Jeff had booked us a guided English tour of the Palace of Congress. The Argentine Congress building has a large lawn plaza out front, which we saw as we arrived. The building itself is large and made in the architectural style that one expects a congressional building to look like. It had a huge dome that is green looking – later found out it is copper-plated, of course. Also that it rises 80 meters above the ground and weighs 30 tons! We were able to get some photos of the outside, as we had arrived a bit early. We found the right doorway entrance for the tour. There were Jeff and I and another couple for the English tour – about double that for a coincidental Spanish tour. Our passports were collected, checked out and returned. Then we met our guide, who spoke great English. She led us through a security set up and Xray then took us to The House of Deputies Debating Chamber.

She did the introductions: where is everyone from, ect. When we arrived, she had us sit in an area that was for what we call “pages.” She explained about their House of Deputies, which is like our House of Representatives. Argentina had two legislative powers: a House and a Senate, also like the US – much seemed similar to our congressional set up. There are 257 elected Representatives that serve for four years and this is where they sit and vote (most of the debating takes place elsewhere). The seating is arranged in a fan shape facing the Speaker. Interestingly, when an official takes his seat it triggers the voting panel to know they are present. They also have to register with a fingerprint system at their small desk. “Yes” and “No” buttons can be selected when they vote. It seemed pretty close quarters for them. The back is lined with three levels of balconies – first for the press and the other two could for general public, but did not sound like that happened very often. The ceiling was a glass sky light with the Argentine coat of arms (but it was being restored so not much light came through).

Next we went into the anteroom of The House of Deputies, The Lost Steps Room. It had five stained glass skylights in its ceiling, representing Justice, Agriculture, Science, Art, and Commerce. There were also two large, important oil paintings flanking the Houses entrance: one of the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1853; the other of Legislative Inaugurates from 1886 with President Roca. Both paintings were massive, but fit the room. Our guide went into deeper discussion of each painting. She also described the three types of marble used in the building and the woods used.
Next we went to the Senated Debating Chamber. It seems more intimate as Argentina only has 72 Senators. The room is set up the same as the House – fan-shaped. But the sky-light here is lit up from the sun, beautifully, with the same Argentine coat of arms. We left here and went to the Eva Peron Room, aka, the Pink Room. It was set up in 1947 when women gained voting rights and then rights of being representatives, which was pushed by Eva Peron. Lastly we were escorted to the Library. This room was completely lined in Italian walnut- walls and flooring. The ceiling through was painted to look like wood (and was showing some deterioation – peeling paint).

The tour ended with us allowed to look through window into The Blue Room. Unfortunately for us a live broadcast was happening. This room was very elaborate, was under the main dome, and houses the original manuscript of the Argentine Constitution of 1853. Overall, the tour was great, and free!

We finished and started back toward our place. We stopped at a Dia grocery store and bought some pesto. When we got back to our place we had the pesto with the last of our chicken, spinach pasta. Then we chilled out the rest of the day. I did some blogging, and Jeff read. Another good day of simply living, somewhere else.