Lesley and Stuart's Travels: Monday February 1

Monday February 1

Buenos Aires

Yep – dodgy tummy resulted in the runs again, mostly for Lesley! Note to self – no dairy (hot choc and cheese yesterday afternoon, and the ice cream last night, the probable culprits!). Still, feeling relatively OK apart from this.

We went on a bus/walking trip today, taking in the city highlights. We have only been in and around the city centre but Buenos Aires is a lovely city. Very open, clean, lots of green space. One main road is HUGE with 12 lanes in one direction only, then there was the other side! Another was 5 lanes each way, with bus lanes and parkland in the middle – 5-6 (we can’t remember which) sets of lights to get across it!

huge metallic flower that opes and closes during the day

Buenos Aires is called the Paris of South America and when looking around you notice the BIG difference between it and other cities we have visited in Sth America (even Rio de Janeiro) large well-kept buildings, clean roads and parks. Everyone looks to have a job or is doing something. A good public transport system – subway and buses where passengers use tap-on cards to pay for travel.

protest in the square

Eva Peron's windows, to the left of the five widows above the entrance

The Casa Rosada was where the Perons lived, and the square opposite it is traditionally the place for protests. This was full of protesters, all camping there, peacefully but with huge banners and placards. One groups has been there for several years, wanting pension rights for soldiers of the Falklands war. The other group is recent, protesting the gaoling of an opposition leader for her beliefs, following the recent elections. Our guide says that she won’t be released. Our Tour Director (Mother) wasn’t happy about letting us loose in the square with this going on but we all played tourists and ignored the politics going on around us. She didn’t lose any of us.

We visited, and walked around, the city’s main cemetery. This is Catholic and was full of big mausoleums, among which was the final resting place of Eva Peron (about whom the musical Evita was written). She is under the name of her own family, not Peron. She died aged 33 of cervical cancer. Another one had a statue of a young girl trying to open a door - story is she had a heart attack when she was 16. They thought she was dead and was placed in the mausoleum. She wasn’t dead, and awoke screaming (as you would if you found yourself in a coffin!). The cemetery workers heard her, but she had another heart attack and was dead by the time they got to her. Wonder if the cemetery workers continued working there??

We continued our bus tour of the city, marvelling at the large and beautiful buildings and monuments, before arriving in the earliest settled part of the city, near the port, where we visited an historic house, watched a Tango display and looked at the resident’s art and sculptures. Afterwards it was across the road for an Argentine lunch – meat pastie, chicken fillet, rump steak, pork chop, rib bone followed by ice cream. Way too much to eat. Lesley had some bread sticks, whilst Stuart eat the meat pastie, chicken and rump steak which was mostly fat & gristle.

these buildings all made from leftovers from the port - paint, metal, and wood.

Following the two hour lunch, we walked around the block, got on the bus and returned to the hotel. As we were bloated and needing a walk, we met up with another couple and walked into the main city area, specifically to a three level shopping centre – very ornate inside. The city area has a lot of narrow lanes which have either been converted into pedestrian malls or one way streets with bikes using one half of the roadway. We felt safe during our walk, although a passer-by suggested we hold our cameras more securely.