Unread post
by aaardvarky » Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:15 am
16.
Raul brings breakfast to the terrace early. Here we find Lars checking out a pair of binoculars (presumably to inspect the side elevations of the house they are to view) and N smooth-brushing her hair, tiny strands of which are floating away on a light morning breeze. L arrives shaved, but looking tired. Eva, who has overnighted in her uncle’s quarters, is helping him with the coffee.
A voice sounds on the intercom. It is Horacio. He has found a taxi. Lars grabs a medialuna, N sips the last of her orange juice, and L holds open the roof door as our team processes towards the lift, leaving Eva behind to assist Raul.
Their radio cab heads out along Av del Libertador, passing their favourite cafe, La Biela, into Av Alvear and out along the impossibly wide Av 9 de Julio towards Av San Juan. San Telmo is one of the older barrios, the bohemian beating heart of Buenos Aires with its street markets and hidden tango clubs. It could not be more different from leafy, bourgeois Palermo.
The taxi stops outside an imposing turn-of-the-century frontage rising three stories, with balconies facing them along the second elevation. The street door leads directly to an ornate marble and wrought iron staircase that curves around a vintage lattice lift. At each level, light flooded balconies lead alongside the living quarters, at the end of which the servants’ staircase returns to the ground floor.
The proportions of the rooms are magnificent, with high ceilings, mirrors, chandeliers, revolving fans, and polished block floors adding a sophisticated coolness. Antique furniture completes a period style.
As they reach the roof, their breath is taken away. This is not so much a roof as a garden in bloom with trees, shrubs and flowers. At the far end is an oval shaped, top-shaded pool. Whilst the selling agent mops his brow, our team gathers by the cool walls of a roof-top villa to discuss their find.
‘We just have to do it, we won’t find anything like it again’, announces N, to which L instantly agrees.
‘It’s perfect….and goodbye to cold Norwegian winters’, says Lars with a nod and a smile as he surveys the rooftops through his binoculars. ‘Horacio, pass me the papers if you would be so kind’, he continues as he checks the plan against the detail.
It appears that the main members of our cast have made a decision that promises to be life-changing. Some might say that their agreement was impulsive, and they may be right, except that Buenos Aires seems to withstand the most challenging of observations or expectations. One can see why the early immigrants were drawn to the city, and having arrived, stayed.
Since inspecting the house they have returned to the apartment in Palermo. It is now that L calls down to the kitchen to speak with Raul.
‘It’s decided, and the deposit has been transferred, so bar an earthquake, it’s a done deal’, says L. ‘The question is, might you leave your job here and come with us?’ ‘Of course, Eva can come too for we will have need of her services’, he adds ambiguously, but a possibly deciding factor for the elderly retainer.