Today, while the weather was still nice, we took a group tour of the city. Before we started the tour, however, we walked down la avenida Florida. I had told everyone that I was determined to leave Argentina with a flag, so when Mike saw a guy selling flags, he let me know. We walked over and asked how much it cost. The man said 20 pesos, which is roughly 5 dollars. Mike im
mediately started bargaining and asked for 15, and the man agreed. The flag wasn't as big as I wanted, so I said "no, gracias" and we left.Our first stop on the tour was Plaza de Mayo, a big open space surrounded by important government buildings. Today was a national holiday (25 de mayo) that commemorated the independence of Argentina in 1810. At right is a picture of the plaza with the Casa Rosada (Pink House). Our tour guide talked (in spanish the whole time!) a lot about the history of Argentina while our group stood around...but I just wanted to explore around. In the end, I listened for a while, then zoned out for a while to take a few photos. This continued for a good amount of time :) In the black and white photo, a man is selling "maiz" or corn to feed to the flocks of pigeons. One little girl took a handful of corn and threw them up in the air, showering the tour next to us with corn kernels.
The next neighborhood we checked out was La Boca, which literally means "the mouth". La Boca is one of the poorer neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, but definitely one of the most vibrant. There were vendors selling crafts and artwork along both sides of the cobblestone street, and all of the buildings are brightly painted.
Our tour guide said that all of the houses are made with a cheap wood and corrugated metal. There was a couple dancing the tango on the street, a "bronzed man" acting (?), young people playing instruments. The neighborhood absorbed such an energy from its people that clearly emanated all around. Funny thing about the bronze man is that the first time I saw him, I actually thought he was a statue placed on the side of the street, and when I walked back, he moved, and I realized he wasn't a statue at all.
We drove through San Telmo, but didn't get out of the bus, probably for time purposes. Our last stop was La Recoleta, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. Eva Peron was buried here. We saw her tomb. The entire cemetery is like a little city. The plan is grid-like, with tombs that look like little buildings lining the side of the walkways. Cats also enjoy being at La Recoleta, because there were a few stray ones meandering around. It started raining, and by 5:00, we were all exhausted. Ana is having her eldest daughter over for dinner tonight, as well as her ex-sister-in-law and her daughter.
I'm ready for bed though!
