When we last left off, your heroine et al. were on their way to Buenos Aires, Argentina to spend four days before heading back to Toulouse, France. It was understood that Philippe had a friend/address/etc. in Buenos Aires. So it came as a surprise at the airport in La Paz when he said "Uh-oh."
I don't like uh-ohs.
Turns out that the hotel he wanted us to stay at was full our first night in Buenos Aires. "That's OK," he said as he and Alexandja were escorting us to the gate, "you have a reservation for the following night."
I started to panic when the Argentinian taxi driver turned and asked us incredulously "you don't have a reservation for tonight?" as we were flying through the streets of Buenos Aires. Seems that every football match, congress, and seminar was being held that weekend.
We had to take two taxis due to the amount of baggage we had. So image the two taxis going from hotel to hostel to hotel looking for a room, any room. Finally I begged JN to contact Chubbie. Now Chubbie is our ex-brother-in-law with whom we had not had contact with in the last five years. Last thing we wanted to do is to contact Chubbie in this context. Invite him to dinner, yes. Show up on his doorstep with a ton of luggage and friends in tow, no.
Well, as luck would have it, we had his portable phone number on us, the driver had a portable phone, Chubbie ANSWERED his phone, and he said that he could meet us in 20 minutes.
There we were after the two taxis pulled away. Sitting in front of his building, a mountain of bags blocking the sidewalk, Ryan coloring while sitting in a doorway. What a welcoming sight we were going to be. And it was hot. The temperature was in the 80°F. Thank God we were wearing our ski socks.
Chubbie came around the corner and broke out laughing his famous laugh. You know those toys that you turn on and they have an infectious, almost to the point of annoying, laugh? Well, that is Chubbie's. Boy, did he think we were funny. Boy, were we happy to see him.
He took us (and our bags) up to his appartment, offered us water, and started looking for a place for us to stay. Not finding anything on the internet, he took off on foot to check out the local hotels. He came back a half an hour later and said he found a place, but we would all have to share a room, would that be OK? Yes, yes, yes, yes!
That is how we ended up being thrilled to be sleeping five to a room (SB on the floor) and all sharing the same bathroom. We ended up being able to invite him to a restaurant and share a great bottle of Argentinian wine (Norton) and ate great steaks. With enough oxygen to breath and soft places for all of us to sleep for one night, what more could we have asked for?
