Buenos Aires, Argentina

This was my third visit to Buenos Aires, and I was so excited to spend a few days here because it is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is also an important place for my dissertation, as I am writing about two authors who lived here during the first half of the 20th century: Victoria Ocampo and Norah Lange. I love the mix of old and modern elegance, the bohemian spirit, the melancholy of its music and literature, and especially how you can be at a bookstore crowded with people at one in the morning.

Let's start our journey to some of the places and things that you would definitely see as a tourist in this lovely, hectic city.
George Bush has the White House (though not for much longer!), and Argentina has the Pink House. And a woman President at the moment, though a good many people are not happy with her right now. (And no, there is no correlation between her sex and the color).Buenos Aires is situated at the mouth of el Río de la Plata, which in Spanish means "river of silver" because it was believed to have run through fertile areas for mining silver. The English translated the name as the River Plate (a common word back in the day for silver). It is brown because of the sediment having traveled from deep in the heart of South America to spill out into the Atlantic. In reality, the river is the largest estuary in the world, being the place where the Uruguay and Paraná rivers converge.The buses in Buenos Aires are what we would call in the States, vintage. Each one is painted different colors with lots of personality. Borges, a resident, once wrote about the painted carts he would see in his youth on the streets of city. I think the buses have filled that role nowadays. The Recoleta Cemetery has been called the city of angels, because it really feels like a city, only much quieter. However, like a city, some of the mausoleums are better taken care of than others, and I was shocked to see broken windows, partially opened coffins and garbage-strewn floors in some of them. For the most part, though, they are in fairly good shape to immaculate, as these belong to some of the most important people in the history of the country. Evita's grave was definitely the most popular with the tourists. (Sorry no pic)San Telmo is a bohemian neighborhood with a famous market on Sundays. There are lots of cafés here, as well as antique stores selling anything you can image. Lately, some more hip, artsy botiques have moved in, too. I loved just wandering the streets and peeking in the windows.
These glass bottles are called sifones. You fill them with still water, press the metal lever and out comes bubbly water! I love sparkling water, so I appreciate their use, but they are also gorgeous items that I would love to have decorating my kitchen. Next time, I am DEFINITELY bringing some home with me. (I say that every trip, but this time I mean it).These are mates, gourds that you fill with hierba mate, a tea-like herb that is similar to green tea in taste and health benefits. Unlike green tea, though, you sip this through a metal straw called a bombilla. Passing the mate is a social activity that inevitably happens whenever you are with Argentines and Uruguayans.Everyone associates Buenos Aires with tango. And yes, you can see men and women on the most tourist-populated streets all decked out and dancing, but I actually didn't get a picture of any. Nor did I go to La Boca, this time, as seeing it once was plenty. I'm much more interested in how the real people dance, and we went to a milonga one night where we could watch, though some of us got dragged up to dance, too. I thought someone took a picture with my camera, but I couldn't find any pics, so if I come across some later, I'll post them. I remember another occasion when I was in a shopping mall and they had a space cleared so people could dance, which was cool to see as they were mostly older couples there. Here, a group plays tango music for the tourists shopping in the market.I hope you have enjoyed our walking tour of the city. My next entry will cover my favorite part of Buenos Aires, the people.