Today we felt rested and took on the city. We started with a tour of the U.S. Ambassador´s residence which Richard had arranged through the State Department before we left. The house was built 1917-1927 by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Bosch, who was married to Eliza d Alvear (hers a hugely important family in Argentina--her grandfather was one of the generals responsible for Independence), and designed by French architect Rene Sergent. Robert Woods Bliss (of Harvard and Dunbarton Oaks) was ambassador here and talked Bosch into selling the house to him. One story is he won it at a card game. Bosch's wife was furious at him for years--everything in the house, marble, paintings, Louis XIV furniture, silk on the walls, gilded moulding--had been imported, and it all transferred with the house. It is a stunning house, and the gardens are beautiful as well.
We later toured a home of the same vintage designed by the same Frenchman which belonged to Alvear´s sister and is now the National Museum of Decorative Arts. This family was unbelievably wealthy like so many of European descent from that period. The house is loaded with 17th C and earlier European art--the whole thing was sold to the Argentine government on the couple´s death.
The final stop was the Evita Museum. We now want to read up on Eva Peron! The cafe here is absolutely delightful, too.
I have been shopping while Richard slept. Tonight we are off to a Tango show!
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