Awoke to no WiFi, due to the rain which had been coming into the power cabinet, or something! Not quite clear what. We had stuff to do on the internet, but sadly that was not to be. We had tickets for a tour of the Theatre Colon, fortunately, as everyone else thought this was a good idea, given the weather. We walked, despite the rain as Brian had been chatting with Jeff, a new guest, so rushing was better than waiting for an Uber.
The entrance hall to the theatre, mostly made in marble from Italy
It was a beautiful theatre, though not that different from the one we saw the show in in Montevideo. A good wet weather activity, but relatively expensive for what it was.
The chandelier in the main theatre. Apparently the chandelier can be lowered on a chain to the floor for cleaning. The auditorium apparently has amazing acoustics, on par with the best opera houses in the world
We decided that despite the rain we should get an Uber and go to La Boca as it was now or never. We were not alone, it is really very touristy, and very expensive. We had a drink, shared some chips and watched a guy dancing on his own, who was good, and a singer and guitarist we could have done without!
The golden French room in the theatre. Apparently when the theatre was new you had to be able to speak French to enter this room. That you could speak French in a Spanish speaking country showed you were sufficiently wealthy and well travelled to enter
It was still raining so we headed back to the hotel on the off chance the WiFi would be back. It wasn't, so we repacked our cases and chilled. The WiFi did come back, but we were past it by then.
The stage is off to the right, you can just see the stalls and the various balconies range in cost to the very cheapest at the top where you have to stand. I think our guide said you can get standing tickets for US$10 to about US$200 for the most expensive. You can see the curve in the wall which helps the acoustics
We decided to go back to the bar we had eaten in yesterday as it was close and had a nice feeling to it. We invited Jeff to join us as he is having a bit of a hard time. His phone got stolen in Colombia which is everyone's worst nightmare. He can't pay his bills or change anything as everything requires the OTP that banks etc send to your phone. He'd bought a new phone, at great expense as his company said they would be able to give him an eSim, only not that model! Fortunately the phone shop took it back and refunded him the money. Online chat was going round in circles telling him there was nothing they could do, which wasn't what he'd been told when he rang from his friends phone, hence why he'd bought a new one..... It all goes to make us even more paranoid about our phones!
We listened to this tale of woe before moving on and having a pleasant evening.
El Caminito in La Boca, Buenos Aires on a wet Monday. It was a holiday on the lead up to Lent, so lots of people about despite the rain
Day 131 Tuesday
And we are off again. Uber to the airport to fly to Santiago. Yes we do seem to be going round in circles. Definitely a feeling of deja vu as we went through immigration, again. Taxi to the Pajaritos bus station to get our bus to Valparaiso. The 20 minute taxi cost about 3x the hour and a half bus which is one of the weird things about travelling. We are only going to be here a couple of nights before going back to Santiago for our flight to Easter Island (must call it Rapa Nui), but it's somewhere new, it's not BA and it's not raining.
All the buildings in this area are brightly painted. It was a fairly rundown area until the locals decided to do something about it, it's now a very popular touristy area and they are making lots of money judging be the prices they are charging (US$17 for a coffee at one establishment!)
I'm not sure what I thought about BA, it had been built up as being very unsafe, phone theft through restaurant windows etc, but didn't feel any worse than anywhere else. There were a lot of people sleeping on the streets, seemingly with nothing to their name. Which is always horrible, but particularly when It rained as much as It did. It was dirty and full of rubbish, not helped by the homeless going through the bins on a regular basis. It was also expensive. We enjoyed the tango but fortunately neither of us are as obsessed by it as many of the people we met. With our new shoes (which were a nightmare to pack) we will continue with lessons in Barnt Green when we get back. We'll just have to hope we remember something of what we learned!
We did manage to find a tango show
A taxi from the bus to La Galeria our BnB and a very friendly lady. She wrote us out a list of local restaurants, but I'd already found a pizzeria that scored highly and having had no lunch except for a packet of crisps and a cereal bar on the plane, off we went. We got there as it opened the doors but was very quickly packed, and slightly noisy, but a great pizza and couple of pints.
Another walk round to look at the colourful houses
Day 132 Wednesday
There was a tours for tips leaflet downstairs, and Brian had read about them in the guidebook so, after breakfast, we set off for the 10.00 tour. Jocelyn our guide was excellent with great English. This was the "off the beaten path" tour and was well worth doing. We (9 of us) learnt a lot about the history of Valparaiso, how UNESCO status isn't always helpful, the dictatorship in the 70's, and the Disappeared amongst other things. We had to wait for a bus at one point, so although we had been told not to pet the street dogs, mostly because they then just follow you, she hadn't mentioned cats so I saw nothing wrong with cuddling the kitten that was trying to pounce on pigeons, about the same size as it was.
Before fining somewhere for lunch where a lone dancer and a band entertained us. He wasn't shy in asking for tips for him and the band. We gave up on the rain after this and went back to our hotel
We finished at the bottom of one of the 6 running funicular railways (there used to be 31) where another of us was going to go up to a fish restaurant that Jocelyn had recommended to her yesterday on the afternoon tour. We went together and had a good, and interesting, lunch talking with our new friend about all sorts including her work with the Peace Corps in the Gambia.
Time to move on and here we are on our flight from BA to Santiago, passing over the Andes. We wondered if the mountain on the right is South America's highest, Aconcagua, and whether that valley is the one we'll be walking along when we do our base camp trek in just over a week. We've no idea really, I suspect it's not as it doesn't have enough snow on it
We left her and went back to the Central Plaza to pick up the afternoon tour. This time with Felipe. He took us, and Alex from Poland also staying in our BnB, to the port before telling us a lot about the architecture of the plaza. Up another funicular to the two touristy areas, one of which we are staying in, to look at the street art. We had already seen and photographed some, it's impossible not to see it, but it was really interesting to learn about how it started, in the '80's, how some of the artists are now widely travelled. He had recognised some street art in Shoreditch on a trip to London to prove that point. He also spent a long time explaining some of what was going on in a very political piece which would have meant nothing to us without him. This was enhanced by the artist doing some work on the mural. No photograph as he was wearing a balaclava as it's not strictly legal and he's a private person. The tour finally finished directly outside our BnB which with aching feet we were very pleased about. I recorded both walks (with bus and funicular. It shows just over 13km, but we walked only about 8.5km) on my Relive app and there's a short video with some photos of it: click here
On the street where we live. This was our arrival in the fabulously colourful port city of Valparaiso, built on steep hillsides. Our hotel, La Galeria, is just down there, no wonder the taxi driver dropped us off at the top, his car won't fit down there!
We looked at 3 of the restaurants in the list we had been given yesterday and went out to dinner. I had a 'starter' of 7 langoustine in oil, chilli and garlic which were very good. Thoroughly enjoyed them, though I did get a little messy. Brian had a crab pie which was also good. On the table next to us the man on his own had had a meal and a glass of wine, but then moved on to a cocktail and dessert, which came with a candle in. We wished him Feliz cumpleanos (happy birthday) which seemed to really touch him. He was 50, a doctor (still wearing his stethoscope) who has been working on his own for a year. His girlfriend is in Santiago so he wouldn't properly celebrate till the weekend. Oddly though he has to understand some written English for his job his spoken English was probably worse than our Spanish, but we all did our best and he seemed not quite so sad when we left. A thoroughly enjoyable day, so although we go back to Santiago tomorrow it was worth making the effort to come.
First evening in Valparaiso at MaliZioso pizzeria, a proper pizza restaurant and excellent they were too!
Day 133 Thursday
The plan was to mill about looking at some more murals but as my watchstrap had suddenly self destructed we had to go and look for a new one. Despite our two walks we hadn't actually seen any shops and strangely this proved harder than expected. After asking the guides for the 10.00 tour at least we knew which direction to head in. Finally found a shop with a few and a lovely girl who at least understood that I had to be able to see it without my glasses on but that I didn't want too big.
Waiting in Plaza Sotomajor for our first 10:00am Tours4Tips 'off the beaten track' tour
Drift up the hill towards Concepción and found our way back to the hotel via routes we had been or seen yesterday. Grab an empanada and call an Uber to the bus station for our return to Santiago £1.99 each this time on the bus!
Safely arrived at the bus station and Uber to the hotel by the airport. Journey from Valparaiso to here £16.32 and from Santiago to Valparaiso £31.72. It all goes to show what a difference using Uber is to taxi's. Not to mention that you don't need money, and don't feel worried about being ripped off. Phil and Jackie paid for a taxi in Santiago, it showed as £16 but actually took about £600 from his card, to pay for the groceries. He got it back, but it happened without him even knowing.
This is on our first walk and a stop in the port area, passing the first funicular, the Vilaseca. See the stairs at the side? That used to be the only way up before the funicular. 167 steps we're told. This area has a fearsome reputation as being unsafe, it didn't feel that bad, but it is a bit rundown. It's a pity as it could be a very vibrant area with many fabulous building, but they need a lot of work. The UNESCO listing is detrimental in many ways as it means nothing can be changed from the original, which can be expensive and very limiting in what they can be used for
This photo was taken from the top of the new market building. To the right is the port and in front a non-working funicular, making the ascent muscle burning up stairs. The old market building collapsed in an earthquake in 2010, it measured 8.8 on the Richter scale. It took 12 years to rebuild this three story structure in the same format as the original, but in that time all the traders had found other places to sell their wares so, at the moment its empty and our guide doubted it would ever be used.
Another view from the market rooftop and here's a building that was gutted by fire and lies abandoned as there's no money to rebuild it. It used to be a centre for entertainment and, when it closed a lot of trade went with it
The church stands on the site of the first church built by the Spanish and, originally it stood at the edge of the ocean. The market building on which we are standing was in the sea, now reclaimed land
Jackie finds a kitten that was trying to savage a pigeon, while we waited for our bus. Jocelyn, our guide there, told us not to stroke dogs, but said nothing about cats!
At a viewpoint at Plaza Bismark where we got off the rollercoaster bus
We're up high with great views of the coast (but is was a bit misty and, looking straight into the sun, the photos aren't good) this is the other way, which is still much higher. See that block of flats? There's a stairway you might see coming down just to the left of it. Jocelyn told us that last Sunday Red Bull sponsored a downhill bike ride down there, past us and steeply down to the harbour a long way below us. Apparently the winning rider did it in about 2.5 minutes!
This used to be a prison and we were told of horrendous torture and killing of political prisoners during the years of the Pinochet dictatorship. between 1973 and 1989. She told us that the left leaning, democratically elected president was overthrown in 1973 by the United States CIA who installed Pinochet as their puppet president, instigating the terror. He was removed from power in 1989 as the country reverted back to a democracy (although it's far from perfect she told us). The building is now used by theatre, arts and performing arts companies on a free or low cost basis, being a community facility, which is a nice way of using it
Apparently this is a much used view in publicity for Valparaiso
On our way to our afternoon Tours4Tips tour which is the 'highlight', covering architecture and some of the murals that decorate the city
On our tour with Felipe and we went up a funicular to a high viewpoint overlooking the port. See that old building down there with a new glass rectangle sticking up through it? The shipping company who owned it threatened to move their headquarters to San Antonio, an hour away, unless they could erect that. 'You won't see it' they told them, 'its glass'. There was such horror that it would set a precedent for new modern buildings that it helped propel their application for UNESCO status to protect the city. Now new buildings are not allowed, old buildings must be preserved but, the irony of it is that that building with it's glass rectangle is also protected so, if it fell down in an earthquake it would have to be rebuilt exactly as it is!
Palacio Baburizza, originally built by a millionaire who made his money from mining, now an art museum with a huge private collection of art
There is a massive amount of murals everywhere and we were taken to look at a few. The artists are well known and have gone on to do major works of art. This is by a couple, Unkolor and Distinta and they always paint a male and female in their murals
This is a famous one and features in a lot of material about Valparaiso
This red door appears on a lot of peoples Instagram accounts. The wall surrounding it is fabulous
This mosaic of mirrors and coloured glass only appeared overnight last October. It tells the story of a massacre in 1907, but I can't remember all the details now
We'd walked past this several times without really looking. It's actually huge and spreads well off to the left but it's difficult to capture as it's a narrow alleyway. The artist was there touching it up but I wasn't allowed to take his photo as they are all very secretive and his face was covered. Details in this section concern the USA and their unwelcome interventions in Chile. There's a US drone top right and just beneath, the current world richest man (EM) is shown atop a helicopter with the president of Latam airways dead at the bottom. The parachutist is to illustrate how the US arrives unwanted into other peoples business
This one commemorates the firemen of Valparaiso, all volunteers. The winding red hosepipe illustrates their difficulty in reaching fires in these narrow, hilly streets with tight turns
Another dig at the US. The man in the blue suit with yellow hair is the current US president atop the Chilean army and holding in his hand the Chilean navy
The Brighton Hotel, an English designed and built hotel that's been here and still open for as long as our guide has lived (he only looked about 30!)
We walked past it today from the other side and saw how its built over the edge of a cliff. You just don't get that impression from the photo above
The piano stairs, we like these!
What about this for a work of art? It's actually a staircase and the artist has created this on each of the stair risers. There are two footprints in the ground over which you must stand to get all the risers to line up to show the picture. Our guide told us that, whenever you walk down some stairs (of which there are many), turn around and look back, there will probably be some art painted on them that you'd miss coming down
A fabulous line drawing. This artist has done quite a few murals around the city and we like them all
I could go on, there are so many fantastic murals, but I'm going to finish here. I'm not going to put on the one Jackie took.. Actually I was going to but I can't find it. It's one of cats and dogs along a wall. You'll have to imagine it (unless she moans at me and tells me to put it on, in which case it'll appear below magically in a moment). Other than that, see you in Rapa Nui (Easter Island)!
Us with the famous Pepe Lopez, maker of fine Argentine tango shoes
Day 125 Wednesday
Morning was spent doing the blog while I talked to one of our fellow guests who appears to be one of the many ridiculously keen tango dancers who come for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, every year. He has three lots of lessons a day, with different teachers and asks them all to teach him the same thing!
Inside the classic Cafe Tortoni ordering lunch
Anyway we finished our jobs and went to collect our new dance shoes via Cafe Tortoni that had just been recommended by my new friend. It was an interesting place, firmly dated in the 30's, looked amazing, but shouldn't have gone for the burger which wasn't the best, but was enough that we didn't need dinner. Despite eating and drinking far too much on the ship we have dropped back to our usual habits remarkably quickly, which is a relief.
A mural of Evita Peron on the side of the Ministerios de Salud y Desarollo Social building. We are in the 'poor' side of Buenos Aires in the San Telmo area where Evita is shown smiling to the people. On the other side (photo below) is a more aggressive image on the less popular 'rich' side. The building was the only one to survive the development of the Avenida 9 de Julio (named after Argentinas independence day), which is said to be the widest boulevard in the world at 140m. Others dispute this, but if an Argentinian says so, you agree!
Got to the show shop to find no one home. We knew Pepe wasn't going to be there, but did expect his daughter. Fortunately we will still be here tomorrow!
Followed a bit of Jackie and Phil's walking tour to the Casa Rosada officially the office of the president on the Plaza de Mayo where we also stopped to look at the Cabildo, now a museum, used to be seat of the council and the Belgrano statue that has a collection of rocks around it with names on, and no explanation. Turns out these were all people who died in COVID. A pint on the way back to the hotel rounded off what had felt like a bitty day!
Here's the mural on the other side giving a quite different perspective on Argentinas most well known first lady
Day 126 Thursday
To make up for yesterday we seemed to go a bit mad. Went to collect our dance shoes from the lovely Pepe, and bought our open top bus tickets for Friday. Went to the theatre where he couldn't sell us tickets for March!
The obelisco in the middle of Avenida 9 de Julio, the place where crowds gather to celebrate anything. See that avenue? We are told its 140m wide and we found it impossible to cross in one change of pedestrian lights. You might be able to if you run, but not walking, even very fast. I timed the lights, they are on 'walk' for 53 seconds. It means you would have to walk at 9.5km/h - no chance to walk at that speed. You can call me sad for working that out if you want!
Then dashed back to the hotel for 12.30 class. Stretching and balance as well as some footwork, so a little chance to put my new shoes on.
This is Carolina's dancing school with a male professional dancer on the floor. Carolina Bonaventura is just walking off on the right. We had no idea who she was when we booked, but she's quite a celebrity and very well regarded. She helped develop the dance, has competed extensively and is now a judge. She has owned the hotel and ballroom we are staying in for the past 18 years after retiring from competitive dancing. Our room is just above this. Reading on Google an interview she gave in 2017 it appears the traditional Argentine tango, of being passed from father to son and men dancing together and occasionally with women, almost died out during the years of the Junta between 1976 and 1983 as groups of people of more than 2 were banned. It was resurrected as mainly dance school based learning and only developed since then. Carolina was in at the start of this rejuvenation and helped shape it
We followed this with grabbing a couple of empanadas on the way to a free guided tour which was very popular. We even met a couple from the cruise also signed up. There were a lot of people but Martin coped very well and was very interesting. He didn't shy away from any topic. Told us that the people hadn't wanted to fight for the Falklands and that the soldiers hadn't really been an army but the 18 and 19 year old boys on national service. He gave us a potted history of the financial state of the country and told us our timing was really bad, which we knew. Inflation has risen 200% in the last year, so everything is now much more expensive for us, as well as the locals. We have seen many people sleeping on the streets and going through the bins so it's pretty obvious they are having a really hard time.
Arriving at the start of our walking tour. This is the National Congress of Argentina, a very impressive building
By the end we had covered 10.5km, some of it at a great rate of knots, so we thought we deserved a nice dinner. Martin sent anyone who asked an email with all sorts of useful information in it, including a good recommendation for a parilla not far from home. Oh my goodness, we shared the chips and salad, and bottle of wine and we should really have shared the steak too. I really don't want a pound of meat! We both brought some home, which has made some great sandwiches!
Casa Rosada (pink house), the Federal Government building. It was from that balcony that Evita gave her impassioned speech 'don't cry for me Argentina...' to thousands of people not long before she died of cancer
The Cabildo on the opposite side of Plaza de Mayo to the Casa Rosada. It's gone through many alterations over the years, but the lower part is still original. It was much wider and the tower has been rebuilt. Today it is an interesting free museum that we walked round
Day 127 Friday
Up bright and early for the first day of our open top bus ticket. Fortunately the driver stopped to pull the roof across as it poured with rain. Definitely the place to be, seeing all the sites of the city without getting too wet. It had stopped by the time we got to the stop for the Recoleta Cemetery so we got off. Stopped for a light lunch in a little cafe which suddenly had a couple dancing tango just outside. This is what we were hoping for. Went into the cemetery, where many people recommend a guided tour, but we just went for a wander around looking at the huge mausoleums some people have erected. There were also some not so grand, and some fallen into complete disrepair. We finished up at the Duarte family tomb, where Evita was finally buried more than 20 years after she died. In the intervening years she had been embalmed, kidnapped, abused, displayed, buried in Italy, been returned to Argentina, repaired and finally buried under 5m of concrete to ensure that she finally does get to rest in peace.
We stopped for lunch by the Recoleta cemetery and were treated to a tango show. There's a youtube video of it and the show at the Milonga below
We went back to the hotel for a siesta as we were due out for the evening. We were due out from 21.00, the show was at 00.30 and the dance on till 03.00. So after a nap and one of the worst meals I've ever eaten, we shared a cab with David, a fellow resident who I shouted at in the street to wait for us, to the Yira Yira Milonga. A Milonga is a social tango dance which has many rules. We knew about only going anticlockwise, not overtaking and forming circles within circles. We didn't know that no one asks anyone to dance, it's all eye contact and smiles and moving to the floor, so at this point the woman has the power. You also don't dance for just one dance, or just tango. There is tango played in 4's, Milonga (a faster tango) and Val's (waltz?) both played in 3's. These sets are called tanda and give you the chance to get to know one another and your strengths and weaknesses. A man should really only make eyes during the first dance, into the second it is just acceptable but into the third very rude as you are not having a fair go. Once on the floor to leave before the end of a tanda is definitely not on. Between records is a short gap for talking and between each tanda something completely random to clear the floor. David had to explain all of this to us!
Evita Peron's remains in the families Durante mausoleum in the Recoleta cemetery. They were interred here 20 years after her death (which was on 26th July 1952) after being abused and moved to Italy after General Peron was overthrown in a coup
We had a little go, but having just about got to grips with a few figures it was almost impossible to use them there were so many people on the floor. So mostly we sat and watched. There was a lot of shuffling going on, interspersed with some interesting footwork. We were joined by others as Carolina had reserved 2 tables as it was her company putting on the show. They all turned up about 23.30, her dancers halving the average age and performed wonderfully. We left shortly after they finished as did many others.
If you speak Spanish you don't need a translation of part of her final 'don't cry for me Argentina' speech
Day 128 Saturday
We still awoke at our usual time and hopped on for the second day of our bus. Today we went to the Eva Peron museum and the Eco park, both very interesting, but entirely different. The museum was small but told of Evita, her upbringing, meeting Peron and her getting involved in politics. She died at 32 of cervical cancer splitting the country. The poor loved her for her welfare reforms, but the rich didn't like the Peronist ideals.
While we're at the cemetery, there's a few other tombs of note. This is Liliana Crociati's tomb. She died on her honeymoon in Austria in the 1970's. Her parents reconstructed her bedroom complete with piano within her tomb and at the entrance you can see they placed a bronze statue of Liliana in her wedding dress with her beloved pet dog at her side
The Eco park is on the site of the old zoo, so although there are a few animals left, a couple of giraffe and hippo most of them have been moved to other zoos and the space taken over by walks among native plants and free roaming and enclosed animals with a few mechanical ones thrown in for good measure. It was a lovely place with a really nice feel about it.
And how about this for everyone's worst nightmare: this is the tomb of Rufina Cambaceres from the early 1900's. It was built in Carrera marble by Rufinas mother after it was discovered that Rufina had mistakenly been buried alive. The tombs design bears all the hallmarks of her family's terrible grief. Local workers had heard screams a few days after her burial and when her coffin was disinterred, scratch marks were discovered on her face and on the insides of the coffin. It was later thought she had been in a coma
We hopped back on and off to buy tickets to see the theatre Colon on Monday and walked back to the hotel just in time for the last lesson and practice dance. I enjoyed the practice more than Brian as it is much easier for the lady, particularly as he has trained me to follow, so the two tandas I did with some of Carolinas company were a joy. Obviously it is so much harder for the man as not only do they have to have a repertoire they have to lead the lady. We left before the end, having managed about 3 hours, with fried brains. Again
Looking through the glass inside the tomb of David Alleno. He worked for 30 years as a grave digger, carefully saving his money for his own plot and a statue of himself. It is said that as soon as the architect he had commissioned for the statue had finished his work Alleno went home and killed himself. Apparently you can still hear his keys jangling as his ghost walks the cemetery's narrow pathways at dawn
Day 129 Sunday
Went out for breakfast and then onto the famous San Telmo Sunday open air market. We probably only covered half of it but it stretches for 2 miles, so someone told me yesterday. We got to one end of it and found ourselves at the Pink House again where he wanted to get a better picture.
Unfortunately not all tombs are looked after. This one was completely overgrown
While there we became aware of the preparations going on for filming. Originally assuming it was just news, as lots of news vans have been in evidence, I guess for Carnaval, it became obvious it was more than that. A steady cam mounted on a quad bike, a road closure and diversion of the open top busses and cars and people from the 50's. We went to have a nose, via the cathedral as we were passing.
They are quite a few in a state of collapse, with coffins dangling precariously
I asked a random man, in my best Spanish if this was a movie. "No Spanish, only English", that's easier anyway. Yes, it's a post second world war movie in Serbian and Spanish called 'The Hand of Justice'. He was joined by a lady so we took their photos, with and without me and they wandered off. We then did the same with a couple of blokes, local extras who said they had also been filming in the Pink House. We then stood back as it was obvious things were about to happen, the quad bike was in position, the drone was up, the motorbike had been push started. Brian filmed as they came down the road, and that was it. So much time spent for seconds of movie.
And one we saw that looks like a shed with a bit of corrugated iron for a roof. A very interesting visit, but a bit disturbing too!
What Brian didn't spot was that leading the movement, was the motorbike, with the couple we had spoken to on it. I reckon they are the stars, in the front, not speaking Spanish etc. Brian obviously didn't believe me, but a quick Google search on our return proves that they are indeed Aleksandar Gavranic and Tamara Ristoska and are the stars of this movie. We don't think we will ever see it, and even if we did it was a blink and you miss it moment, but interesting all the same.
We continued to walk towards the Puerto Maduro and the puente de las mujeres, an iconic bridge, in theory with tango dancers around and about. It had looked like a nice area, reminiscent of Bristol as we passed on the bus, and so it was. We stopped for a quick snack when sadly the forecast rain arrived. There is no point in going to La Boca and el Caminito, an open air museum and general ambling area, in the rain, so we came back to start the blog and check in for our next flight, to Santiago, on Tuesday
Our visit to the Evita museum. A small museum, but very interesting. She lived only 33 years, made one film and changed the history of Argentina forever in her own very humble way. When she died on 26th July 1952 and it was written that 'she transcended to be Eva, immortal. Although her name was forbidden and her body was kidnapped and assaulted, throughout seven decades her memory could not be erased. She is present and multiplies in thousands of images that evoke her'
At our Friday night Milonga. Jackie's written about it so I'll not go into detail. It was fun, social and great to just people watch. We did get up there and have a go but, without realising it, commited the gravest of sins: we left the floor after one dance! What would people be thinking? Ah well, we'll never see them again!
There is Carolina Bonaventura, our teacher (very hard on me and my posture - for which I was very grateful), along with the very able lady to her left, who I danced with a bit in class. Carolina had choreographed the dance all these professionals performed. There's a youtube below of a bit of it along with the couple who performed outside the cafe at the Recoleta cemetery earlier
Free roaming peacocks and the young at the Eco Park
These are Mara. Not deer at all, as I thought but a Patagonian hare. There were lots of them roaming freely in the ex zoo of the Eco Park
This little chap I thought was a beaver, but Google Lens tells us its a Nutria or Coypu, a semiaquatic rodent of South America. He was really enjoying what looked like cabbage thrown there for him. There were also still giraffe, hippo's and other animals still there that I didn't take photos of as we've seen them in their natural habitat's. They have yet to be found homes, but there were also a lot of abandoned cages amongst the greenery showing the progress they are making
This is the San Telmo indoor market, occupying a whole block. It's a great place to walk round with a great vibe and lots of places to eat. In the end we ate elsewhere as it was quite hot in there
This is the Sunday outdoor market. There's two miles of street stalls to wander round making it a great stroll on a Sunday
After our wander through the stalls we found ourselves at Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada again. This is the Cathedral, where the current pope used to be a bishop
Inside the cathedral
Close by we came upon the police closing the main Avenida Presidente Roque Saenz Pena and saw some old cars and people dressed in 1940/50's clothing
We were going to walk away but Jackie saw this 'steady cam' on a quad bike and decided filming must be taking place. She's the ex BBC engineer, who am I to argue, lets go back and have a look
There's more cameras and a drone, this is proper filming
Lets ask this couple, which we did in our best Spanish. Turns out he doesn't speak Spanish so asked us to speak in English. Think he must be Serbian. Turns out they are the stars of this Serbian film being made, the Hand of Justice
Here's some locals hired as extras. We had a chat to them and they posed for this photo. Actually the guy reading the newspaper now lives in Germany with his girlfriend but was back in BA at the time this job came up. The pay was worth it he told us
We had to hang around for the action and here it is with our heroes out front on the motorcycle...
On our way to the docks going past the Casa Rosada again
Past a Malvinas sculpture. Malvinas Nos Une: 'Malvinas Unites Us'
Round the back of the Casa Rosada
To the very impressive Puente de la Mujer (womens bridge). The centre swings to allow shipping in and out of the old enclosed docks. We'd heard tango dancers often perform on the bridge, but not today, it had started spitting with rain and the afternoon forecast was not good
From the bridge a nice view of the ARA Presidente Sarmiento, formerly a naval training ship, now a museum
Other forms of artwork on the bridge. The man with no head is a real human, he waved to us as we went past
The vibe was very good round here, it reminded us very much of Bristol in the UK with lots of restaurants, good humour and life. That's a floating restaurant
Cormorants on the steps of the dock
Nice tail feathers! We have one more day in Buenos Aires tomorrow and we hope to go to the very colourful Caminito in La Boca after our booked tour of the Colon Theatre. We intended going to La Boca today but rain stopped play so we came back to our room to write the blog. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow, so we'll write about that next time. We're flying out to Santiago and on to Valpariso on Tuesday, we have an overnight there then on to Easter Island. It might be a few days before the next one....
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