Click here for more photos of our trip to Argentina
Argentina
Click on photos below to see full size
Buenos Aires
We finally arrived in the big city - Buenos Aires. Now Pam can speak the local language! (Mike knows the important words -- vino, cerveja, baño.) We became acquainted with a woman on the bus who lives near our B&B, so we shared a taxi from the bus station. They were expecting us at B&B Olleros3000 and we settled in quickly.
We decided to spend our first day exploring, so we hopped on the subway and headed for the center of the city. We arrived at Plaza de Mayo, which is surrounded by federal buildings including the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the Presidential Palace. President Sarmiento is said to have painted it pink (around 1870) in an attempt to make peace by blending the red of the Federalists with the white of the Unitarists. Perhaps we should repaint our White House!
We were a little surprised to see a line of Police in riot gear behind a
barricade. Everything seemed fairly peaceful,
and they
were letting tourists like us around the barricade to get closer to the
Government buildings. They were just being careful to keep the demonstrations
at a safe distance.
We
heard music and shouting from the other direction, so naturally we went to see
what was going on. We found a fairly small demonstration about unemployment,
housing and child care. They were passing out leaflets and beating on drums,
waving
banners, etc., but quite restrained. We got into a conversation with a
bystander and were told that, in the past, demonstrators had caused a lot of
damage to public buildings. This has turned many of the locals against them.
At any rate, things are more calm now.
While we were downtown, we stopped at one of the city's famous sites,
Tortoni's Coffee House. Open since 1858, this
is supposed to be the oldest coffee house in Argentina. We sampled their Hot
Chocolate and Churros. On weekends they have dancing (the tango, of course) but
when we were there it was full of people just enjoying their morning coffee.
We
decided to take the subway (called the Subte) back to our lodgings and rest up a
bit before dinner. Buenos Aires has a very nice subway system,
clean and
easy to understand. The trains run about every four minutes during the day and
rides are a fixed price regardless of destination -- 70 centavos (about 23
cents). There are shops and other interesting sights in some stations, such as
these entertainers. They were quite good, playing classical music for tips.
This was not unusual to see in Buenos Aires.
That evening we decided to go for dinner at 7:30. As we were leaving we
learned that none of the restaurants are open for dinner until 8:30 or 9 PM. We
decided to kill some time by walking around for an hour. (The restaurant was
about
a half-hour walk away.) On the way to the restaurant we discovered that there
are a lot of dogs in the city, everyone seems to walk them in the evening, and
nobody picks up after their dogs. You quickly learn to watch where you are
walking.
We also discovered that everyone drives by intimidation. The major intersections have stoplights but most do not. We have yet to see a stop sign. The only rule seems to be that whoever arrives first, or whoever has the best nerves, has the right of way. It's great fun to watch from the sidewalk but not so much fun as a passenger in a taxi. Click on the photo to the right to see some Buenos Aires drivers in action.
As
we were walking to dinner that evening, we passed the “Mercardo de las Pulgas”,
which is a permanently established flea market. We went back the next
day
to investigate. We were shocked by the beautiful antiques at ridiculously low
prices (by US standards). Of course, the shipping costs would have been
astronomical.
We visited Ricoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. We were quite
impressed by the ornate mausoleums in Argentine cemeteries. There must have
been some fortunes spent on these structures. Many have three or more levels
below ground. Most have glass doors or windows so that you can see the coffins
and flowers. At right, Pam is peeking in the entry of Evita’s mausoleum. Just
checking to ensure she is still in there. There are fresh
flowers every day. Juan Peron remarried after her death, and he is in his
family’s mausoleum in another cemetery, the Chacarita Cemetery.
A lady spends her day next to Peron's family mausoleum telling tourists about
his
family
history (and collecting tips). She was anxious to share her opinions about a
variety of subjects. One of the tidbits was that his hands were not buried with
him. They disappeared somewhere along the way after he died. Someone kept them
as a souvenir. Meeting her added a little local color to our visit to Juan
Peron.
While we were chatting with her, a teenage couple dressed all in black and
with multiple
pierced body parts walked by. Our self-appointed guide said, "They look like
they live here!" Our cultures aren't all that different!
These two
cemeteries are like little cities with very ornate tombs. Lots of money invested
in family prestige here. Peron’s mausoleum goes down 15 meters and has five
subterranean levels.
We had a nice lunch at a sidewalk café then walked to the leather district. (Probably not one of our better decisions budget-wise.) The guidebooks talk about Florida Street as being the place to shop for leather bargains. Our host at the B&B directed us to a different area (she called it the “leather district”) where we found more leather stores and lower prices.
Pam
got her birthday present a couple of days early.
This has been a walking tour, and we are really enjoying it. Tomorrow we head for the Palermo district to see the street fair. Sunday we fly back to Rio for two days, and then home on Tuesday.
It has been a great visit.
