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  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Saturday, April 11, 2009

I have some photos to share, so I will write, too.  The photos are from two days of sightseeing.  First off, I think it was on....Wednesday, after class, that I wandered in the direction of the Barrio San Telmo (Barrios are neighborhoods, San Telmo is the name of the neighborhood), which  is south of downtown.  I loved San Telmo, it's my favorite barrio.  I might go back today. It's one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and was the home of the rich colonials until they discovered that yellow fever was worse nearer the river and they moved on.  It has lovely old buildings with character, no skyscrapers and less traffic. And cute shops.  Argentina is well-known for its leather goods, and my plan is to buy a swank handbag as my personal souvenir, but until San Telmo, I had only found the sorts of handbags that I could get back at Macy's, and I was uninspired. But in San Telmo, I found one...in a small shop, where they seem to make the bags on site and by hand.  It's lovely.  I didn't buy it, but it's calling me...

So, the photos:  First, there are a couple of churches.  I see lots of churches, as you can tell from the photos.  They seem to me to be an ongoing record of history.  Later, as I was strolling the streets,  I took a photo of some flowers, and a man commented as I walk by.  I note his American accent, and so comment back in English.  I have been trying to do this more--notice when I hear americans then strike up a conversation.  We get to chatting, and eventually retire to a sidewalk cafe where we talk about books and movies and Argentine culture for hours.  It turns out he's an American expat who he has no intention of returning to the US.  He just wrote a book, and wants to get it published.  But I wrote about him earlier.  It was a lovely interlude, and great to have a nice long conversation in English.

Yesterday (Holy Friday) was a big holiday here in Argentina.  Some people attended to religious rituals, but a lot of Portenos seemed to use the day to get out of town, if they hadn't left already.  After I resigned myself to the hopelessness of my efforts to go to Iguazu or Uruguay, I decided to go to La Plata, a nearby city about an hour away.  I took two subtes to get to the big bus terminal.  This was my biggest culture shock yet.  I climb the stairs from the subway, and all of a sudden I am *definitely* in Latin America.  Dusty hot crowded noisy smelly, with vendors selling all sorts of crap that someone must want because otherwise they wouldn't be there.  And buses everywhere, and no clear sense of how NOT to get on the one that will take me to say...Bolivia.  Since I am now writing from my apartment, I did manage it :)  The bus was great--very cushy.  Better than most planes I have been on.

La Plata was a disappointment.  Its claim to fame is that it was so carefully planned in the late 1800's, after Buenos Aires became the national capital and the province needed it's own.  Apparently Jules Verne gave the city a medal for urban design at the Paris World's Fair.  The city does have nice parks, but altogether it was...just another city.  I did have a lovely lunch at a 100 year-old tavern (tortilla espanola, for those keeping track), and read my book in the park, and visited the Cathedral.  The Cathedral is a lovely Gothic affair, and I really wanted to take some real photos, but it was the middle of a Good Friday service and I thought that would be rude and just like an American tourist, so I waited.  When the service was over, the light was gone...and so you have snapshots :(.....    THEN came the bad part.  I got so, so, so hopelessly lost.  I walked for hours, following buses to what I hoped was the bus terminal. I don't know where they were going. It got dark, and I just kept walking to nowhere. I did ask directions several times, and was always told it was a few blocks in some likely direction. Finally, I took a cab, which was the best idea I had all day.  Three dollars later, I was at the bus terminal.  I love that cab driver.

On the way home, I saw the Walmart.  I knew there had to be one!

And so that's it so far.  I am off to have ice cream with my classmate and look at some exhibition of some sculptures of birds.  She's from Poland, and keeps trying to talk to me in Polish.  Perhaps I can convince her to find the Polish cafe with me?  It's somewhere in Palermo.

that's it!

Slideshow Share

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

La Plaza Moreno (La Plata)	windows	On the front of the cathdredal	on the front of the cathedral
La catredal de la Inmaculada Concepcion	Grafitti	battle scars	The convent of Santo Domingo
Still at the Convent	Inside the convent	A side altar	Statue in Santo Domingo
Same Statue	Doesn't she look ferocious?	pretty window in San Telmo	Robert
The 109 Bus (collectivo)	My apartment	View from my balcony	Cordoba Street, where I live

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