Saturday, December 21, 2013

Don't Cry For Me, Argentina

The truth is...I left.  I left Meghann and Michael to work while I took a 4 day trip to Buenos Aires.  M&M had already visited what turned out to be a very rainy city, so I left on my solo adventure, umbrella in hand on Sunday evening.  The flight was....turbulant.  So turbulant, in fact, that the flight attendants never got up from their chairs...and the entire plane erupted into applause when we safely landed.

The hostel I stayed in (Hostel Suites) was in a good location - walking distance to shops, parks, restaurants..pretty much everything.  Plus it had an old school elevator (the kind that only fits 2 people and you have to close the outside and inside doors).  My first full day was spent walking around the city - enjoying the parks and statues.

(hehe)

This gigantic steel flower is in a gigantic park.  It opens up during the day and closes each night:

I instantly fell in love with the old architecture the city had to offer AND these rubber trees:

It started to drizzle that night and continued to rain on and off (mostly on) for the rest of my trip.  On day 2, I decided to take the yellow tourist bus (recommended by Meg) throughout the city.  It's a hop on hop off bus which allows for a little exploration.  About 2 stops into the tour, the bus stopped.  After a little bit, one of the bus guys came up to inform us that we would all have to get off.  As it turns out...the bus had taken an early turn (I mean ONE street early) to avoid traffic.  This would be no big deal to the ordinary person, but a particular woman was extremely displeased (she was wanting to take pictures down the other street).  She apparently went to complain to the driver and proceeded to yell at him...and PUSH him.  WHO DOES THAT?  The police got involved, the lady continued to yell.  In the end (about 30 minutes later), the lady and her friend were kicked off the bus and we continued on our way.  As the bus pulled out, some passangers began applauding and one of the "ladies" flipped everyone off as we drove away.  Classy, on everyone's part.

Anyways...the tour continued on without any further problems.  I hopped off in the colorful neighborhood of La Boca, where buildings are painted bright colors and the restaurants have tango dancers on small stages.



Walking in the rain a little later that day, I came across this awesome pedestrian bridge:

That night, I went to a tango show/dinner.  It was an amazing experience!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures....but trust me: awesome.  We were served a 3 course meal, with a bottle of wine for every 2 people.  After dinner, the tango dancers came on and wowed the audience, backed up by a small band of 3 violins, bass, piano, and accordian.  We also saw an accordian band (wowza!) and a gaucho dancer (my favorite part).  This was my favorite experience in B.A!

For my final day I braved the wind and rain, finishing up the half of the tour I didn't see the day before (my ticket expired at 11 AM...I jumped on at 10:45).  I was one of only 3 people on the top level, but I had a good set up going on and managed to stay pretty dry!

I hopped off close to the end to find Evita's grave in Cemeterio de la Recoleta.  This cemetary is where the rich people of B.A. come as their final resting place.  The tombs were ellaborate..some included windows and personal possessions...and it seemed to go on for ages!  It was quite incredible.


...and I eventually found Evita's tomb:

I finished up my trip to B.A. at Cafe Tortoni, which opened in 1858!

I flew out the next morning...of course it was beautiful and sunny outside!  And so ends my time in Argentina.  B.A. was a lovely city!

~Jac



  








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