Trigre

  Tigre, Argentina
Saturday, January 13, 2007

For dinner last night I went to an area of the city called San Telmo. This area can be best described as very "bohemian". There are lots of young backpackers with corn rolled hair, and very colourful clothing playing bongos and Peruvian instruments.

In the centre of the area there is a plaza which is full of outdoor restaurants, bars and people selling stuff. I found a restaurant called "Todo Mondo" and sat in the plaza to have a nice dinner outside. It was about 10:00pm and it was still quite hot and muggy. My beverage of choice was an Argentine beer which was frosty cold. To my delight this restaurant had a live flamenco band and dancing. I sat eating my dinner watching the dancers and enjoying my food. I even tried the flamenco dancing, but alas, I have two left feet! And no... there are no pictures of this horrific sight!

I woke up this morning and went down for breakfast. Sitting next to me were three crazy old women from Toronto. They reminded me of Daina, Joy and Lena when there were on their European trip! These ladies have been in Argentina for a month now and gave me lots of tips and suggestions on places to eat. It seems that they were all about wine and food! They are heading back to Toronto today.

Today's adventure is a bit of a change in pace. I have a massive blister on my foot, so I need to do something that doesn't involve a lot of walking. So, I decided to take the train to Tigre which is a town at the mouth of the Rio Parana. Right now I am on the train, sitting on the floor. There isn't much interesting to see. As a friend once said, riding the train is just a cheap tour of poor people's backyards. I see what he meant. Oh and also, there is no air conditioning on the train, so I think there will be a puddle on the floor when I get up.


So I arrived in Tigre and bought a ticket for a boat tour of the delta. The delta is a group of 100 or so small islands that are vacation homes for the Buenos Aries wealthy. So, I guess a boat ride is a cheap tour of rich people's front yards!


The entire tour was in Spanish, so I didn't really understand what was going on. One of these days I need to learn me some Spanish. From what I gathered, this place is much like Venice. The houses are built on little islands with no roads or cars. There are supply boats that bring food, water, gas etc. As well, there seemed to be water taxis, police boats, fire boats. And there are waterside café's and gas bars. There are lots of huge houses. There are also lots of moderate houses (probably for the upper middle class) and some shacks that have seen better days.





At the end of the tour we passed by what seemed to be a boat graveyard. There were 20 or so boats sunk in the river rusting away. I guess they are waiting to be turned into scrap metal?


I took a coffee break and sat in a grassy park. I rather scruffy looking dog came up to me begging for food. Then the little bastard squatted and took a dump right beside me! Gagging, I got up and left the scene.


I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town of Tigre. It was very quiet and peaceful. A nice change from the craziness of the city. Here are some pictures of the town.





My feet are very sore now. When I get back I am going to use the bidet for its second purpose... soaking my feet! 

Apparently there are two trains from Buenos Aries. I got here on the welfare train which is part of the public transportation system. There is also the private train which costs 3 times as much, but is air-conditioned, has comfy seats and a more direct route. Needless to say I paid the 6 pesos for the "posh" train home.

Oh. one last thing... For all you kids out there... Just say no to E!


Adios