La Boca

Today we went to 'La Boca'... la tourismo central, si si! Just a couple of photos for now, perhaps a full blog later.

 Yesterday we awoke to the sounds of car horns and sirens. We had fallen asleep talking about the amazing protests the day before and naturally we thought that perhaps they were continuing. When we ventured out of the hostel our little laneway was banked up, police on each corner directing traffic and all of the roads to the left blocked off to all vehicle traffic. We saw these police bikes on one of the side streets, heading towards the main road, that was blocked off. All of the police were inside an "Open 25 hrs" shop (similar to a 7/11 back home!)

 We kept going and saw the entire main drag blocked off, fenced off and, hundreds of police milling around in groups of 10 to 20 on every corner. At the end of the road, in front of the Congress, we saw a big crowd. We chatted to a local who told us that the first of March is the only day of the year that the President enters Congress. The crowds were in support of the president, and the road was blocked for her safety. To make the traffic matters worse the 'Subte' was closed, the train drivers on strike.

 The gap between rich and poor here is so apparent when just walking down the street, it is so confronting to see young families with four or five children living on the street. This is a view of Av Callao, towards the wealthy end. Just before this we had walked past a lady sleeping on the street, her daughter sitting with her, about 7 years old, spoke to us, and grinned like a cheshire cat when we told here we didn't understand Spanish. She smiled and waved, we smiled back but I felt a bit sick in my stomach for hours afterwards, there are so many kids on the street here, I would love to bundle them up and give them the best but it seems impossible...

Though it wasn't impossible for Evita Peron, each street kid she came across, she bundled them up and gave them only the best in her own home for 10 days, before taking them to a group home where they were given food, clothing, education and love.

Evita Peron is a national hero, a little like robin hood, loved by most but hated by some... She is entombed at Recoletta Cemetery, after her body was retrieved from a fake grave in Italy 20 years after her death. It is a place where no expense is spared by the rich to ensure that their status is not forgotten long after their deaths...

 We spent a good few hours wandering around the amazing monuments and crypts at the cemetery, but despite the grandeur and the riches, everyone who resides there does not leave their air tight metal box within their casket. Each crypt has one or two basements, with up to nine bodies laid in each. Many of the crypts have fallen into disrepair and the coffins are clearly visible down the stairs to the basements. When the crypt gets full the family removes the oldest bodies and cremates them, so the next generation can fit in too.

 These plots are quite literally prime real estate, families can sell the plots, crypts and all, but must remove the bodies which are then cremated. The costs vary depending on the size, location, and beauty of  the ornamentation. A basic plot costs around $45 thousand US dollars.









I found this particular monument quite moving... A statue of an Italian migrant stepping off the boat, the name on the boat 'Ayudate' (pronounced "Ay-ju-dar-tey") meaning to help yourself, be alone and stand on your own two feet, have no one to rely on...





Many of the crypts have beautiful stained glass windows, plaques and artworks depicting important moments of the occupants life and religious symbols to help guide the spirit. Here are some more photos of amazing sights around the cemetery...

   

In other news...

After coming close to having a panic attack yesterday while trying to buy some sausages for dinner, we have booked into a 5 day Spanish course next week! 

Constitucion building of Congress. A very impressive and imposing structure. All parts were imported from Europe for it to be built.
Don't piss these guys off, they mean business!!!!! Policia Federal Argentina.

WHERES WALLY????? A street graffiti stencil.

This is my first blog since I have been in Sth America. Buenos Aires is a wonderful, crazy, magic, surprising, weird city. It has huge apartment buildings. Today, we saw a house on top of one. Yes, a house. It was at least twenty stories up on the roof. The reason why? Because a rich business owner in the past wanted to have his siesta close by to where he worked. 'So hey, lets put it up here' he said. And they did.

It is very different to Melbourne. For instance, people don't use bins, they just throw their rubbish on the ground. This is because the bins are already overflowing with rubbish. I saw a rat last night, and it was the biggest rat I've seen.

The free city tours have been great, learning the history of some of Argentina's most powerful people. I can't remember the names as there are so many. Argentinian's are very patriotic people. On every building there is a flag and in every shop there are flags. On cars there are flags. some checkout attendants even have flags on their uniforms. It is a lot different from what I'm used to.

It is that difference that I am enjoying the most. Being able to see something that I'm not used to is, honestly, a little nerve racking, but it is exciting and an adventure at the same time. The food, culture, language, they are all new to me and I'm loving it. I had a 'Super Pancho' today. It's a hotdog with mayonaise, salad and then....chips. Potato chips on top as a garnish. I don't know who invented it, but they certainly weren't thinking of cardio-vascular disease at the time!!!!

How do they taste? Great!!!!!

I will go now, and try to upload some photos of today's tour, and try to remember their names.

Bye for now, James.

Some photos

Land at last!

Some sights we have seen on a city tour with bafreetours.com. Sol was a wonderful tour guide!

The pace of life in the city. A professional Dog Walker.

A view down 9 de Jullio Av. to the Obeliske

Recoletta church.

Dinner with a fellow Aussie on his last night in South America.

The atmosphere at dinner

And a little taste of our hostel...

The stairs at our hotel... What with the hours of walking we have done and the up and down these stairs multiple times we are likely to get fit quick!

A gorgeous mural, as seen from the balcony outside our room.

The first 48 horus

We traveled through a day and a night, back to the morning where we started, 12295 kilometers away. I always imagined we would fly right over the pacific, just North of New Zealand, straight over Santiago  to Buenos Aires. No matter how well you know and believe something, it isn't meaningful until its applied. I have looked at map after map of the world, yet never anticipated the rout we would take, as I never pictured the earth being round, even though it's something I inherently know. So we flew by the coast of Antarctica, then over Tierra del Fuego and over the Southern most parts of South America to Buenos Aires.

We walked through Buenos Aires in a daze, attempting to orientate ourselves before realising that was impossible due to the city being so large, 13 million residents, more than half the population of Australia in a single city. We eventually conceded defeat at around 3pm and after a very decent feed at a cafe opposite our hostel we fell into bed, hoping to sleep until morning. I woke around 7pm, convinced it was morning already, but soon fell back to sleep. Again I woke at 10:30pm, with the realisation that the hostel must be located adjacent to a Comedy Club of some sort, according to the roaring laughter of an obviously large crowd.

At around midnight I thought I was about to die. I woke with a start to what I automatically thought was the building exploding around me, I'm sure James has bruises from where I grabbed him, though he was just as terrified. It is amazing how easy it is to assume the worst when your surrounded by the unknown, listening for screams and sirens we realised that it was only thunder. Perhaps the loudest thunder that I have ever heard, but thunder all the same. The night proceeded with a spectacular storm, which we managed to sleep through, and it rained for the whole morning.

It has been everything and nothing like we have imagined it to be. Inside the hostel is a piece of paradise, clean, friendly, comfortable. And I must admit that so far we have stayed in more than we have been out. Heading out the ornate locked door of the hostel, look to the left and you see a narrow car lined laneway, to the right a small family sleeping on a large mattress, with the above scaffolding providing shelter from the rain...

The architecture is beautiful, just stunning. Today we saw the Congressional Plaza, a beautiful monument about 3 stories tall, flanked by amazing statues, yet we couldn't get too close as it was surrounded by a cold, high, fence. I wondered why this was cut off so nothing except stray cats and mangy pigeons could enjoy its close up beauty.

We walked further on, to the Plaza Miserere, where there was another beautiful statue, this time not caged. This was covered in graffiti, nothing inspiration or beautiful as some graffiti can be, but disrespectful, words we couldn't understand but I have no doubt they had little meaning anyway.

Soon we will head out on a free guided tour of the more wealthy neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires... Photos to come!

A couple of photos

Just a few of the people who we will miss (and send postcards to!)

Thanks for a lovely day today