Summer is here...

Today we were going Christmas shopping. It is hot out, like close to 90 and blazing sunshine . So we got a few blocks from home and I was wilting. I didn't want to look in windows and I didn't want to walk out in the heat. So the Alvear Hotel was right there ! What better than to stop and have a drink... something to cheer a person up, cool a person down.
We sat in a corner on a sofa with pillows and faced the bar and the room, where a family took up two tables , having lunch, laughing and drinking and enjoying themselves. They spoke Spanish so my imagination was working ... residents who just decided to all get together and have lunch at the Alvear ? Tourists ? There were ladies with very low cut dresses and very high heels having lunch, talking on their mobile phones..Then of course, the waiter came over to us and asked us what we wanted, in English.
I ceased to be La Señora and became, Madame. But but ... I live here ..... So we had a Bloody Mary ( my tonsils are still burning) and my husband had a glass of a very good Malbec. ( "Muy bien," said the waiter..)
After drinks, I took a better look at the tree in the lobby... what an amazing sight , how beautiful and wonderful. A Make A Wish Foundation Tree, all white branches and tiny white lights, it was at least 20 feet high and huge ... so very beautiful and so very worthy a cause.
The Lobby Bar .. beware of the tendency to over Tabasco your Bloody Mary !

The Alvear Hotel Lobby.

We came home and took Pup to the park, which did not last very long. Sitting in the shade was not that cool, there were bugs biting and even Pup kept looking like he was ready for air-conditioning. He missed seeing the mounted police as they rode through the parks. So we came home, loaded down with fresh sweet cherries and scones from the bakery. Summer is here.