I'm in Mendoza with my host family now, but when I first arrived in Argentina I spent a few days in Buenos Aires for both orientation and some sight-seeing.
After driving down la Avenida de 9 de julio and seeing the obelisk there (couldn't get any good pics from the bus, but I'll try again when I go back to BA) we went to la Plaza de Mayo. This is where you'll find la Casa Rosada when the president works.
The plaza is a popular place for protests, including the march of those who lost children, grandchildren, or parents during the Dirty War in the 1970s. This movement, and those affected, are commemorated by images of mothers wearing cloth diapers as head wraps, which are painted around the statue in the center of the plaza.
The cathedral in the plaza holds the remains of San Martin, one of the liberators and great heroes of Argentina.
After the plaza, we headed to La Boca, a neighborhood right near the port that's famous for having many Italian immigrants. Many of the tenements were built with the leftovers of the shipyard, namely the corrugated steel exteriors coated with the brightly colored paint used for cargo ships. Now it's popular with tourists, but there's still a lot of poverty, so we were repeatedly advised not to go alone or at night.
Then we drove to a restaurant on the coast of Río de la Plata. In addition to great food we had a fantastic view of the skyline of Buenos Aires.
Our tour guide, Alejandro, also taught us about mate and let us have our first tastes of this Argentinian tradition. Mate is a strong, bitter herbal tea -- takes a bit of getting used to, but it's growing on me.
That was basically it for our first day of touring. The next day we visited Palermo and Recoleta in northern Buenos Aires. Recoleta is named for the sub-order of Franciscan monks that lived there. The cemetery attached to the cathedral is very exclusive and a huge tourist attraction.
Now when I say cemetery, that doesn't quite do it justice. There are rows and rows of mausoleums built and maintained by the wealthiest families in the city.
It is also the final resting place of famous Argentinians leaders like Sarmiento and Evita.
In addition, there's a sizable population of stray cats hanging around.
Outside the cemetery and church is a fig tree that's over 200 years old. It's so huge that the branches need special supports. It took all I had not to climb up on it, and I can only imagine what Danny would have done ;)
Nos vemos,
Nancy
