Last Day in South America.

Our friends left yesterday while Brian and Clare stayed one more night to break up the long flights.

The next morning, we thought to get breakfast somewhere besides a hotel, so we marched out onto the streets.

Buenos Aires, at seven AM on a Saturday morning is a lonely place. The streets were empty. None of the shops were open. But the lonely feeling was more than that. For a few weeks, we had visited new places, and everywhere was a friendly face, someone we knew.

We ended up getting breakfast at a McDonalds, the only place we found that was open. The food was different than in the U.S. but OK.

We went back out later to get a jigsaw puzzle that Clare admired at the beginning of this trip, and found a German restaurant for lunch.

We were scheduled for an English-speaking tour of the famous theater and opera house across the street from our hotel. The theater is known for excellent acoustics. Most of the performances are streamed on YouTube. The tour guide was informative, loving any questions we asked. She told us why the building had so many doors: depending on the price of your seat, you use different doors. People with the least expensive tickets have to stand throughout the performances.

The guide showed us various parts of the building, which was originally completed in the early 20th century.

They recently renovated the building, including the furniture. They tried to replicate the original cloth as much as possible.

One hallway featured busts of famous composers whose operas are performed in the opera house.

Inside the main theater, workers were testing the lighting for an upcoming performance. We were allowed to sit quietly in boxes to watch for a while.

Brian sampled some beers, us usual!

• Chile & Argentina