Buenos Aires was amazing. Even though it is about 7 times as large as Montevideo, there wasn’t any dog crap on the sidewalks and the air was incredibly clean. It was also very European. For me it was a cross between New York City and Rome. There are Italian restaurants everywhere. It made me miss Europe.
We left for BA via Buquebus at 7 a.m. Friday. We had to take a 2 ½ hour bus to Colonia and then took an hour ferry to BA. We all slept the entire time. We purchased a package at Buquebus that included a hotel stay with transporation to and from the hotel. It was a pretty nice hotel with four beds. They had advertised that they spoke English, but of course they didn’t. They were still super nice so we can’t complain.
After checking in we just walked around BA. We saw the Obelisk which is the landmark of the city in the center of their main street. Then we walked to Plaza Mayo where the Pink Palace (their government building,) cabildo and main cathedral are. We also walked along the port and eventually went to eat at Friday’s which is near the green Mother’s Bridge (which reminded me of the millennium bridge in London.) It was nice to all sit down and eat American food together. However, we all had shakes and they didn’t end up making us feel too well. Kendall was really sick by the end.
We went to the Buquebus headquarters 3 times to try to find Norma (the woman who works at the Spanish school here) to ask here where the cheap places were to buy Puma, Polo, etc. She works at immigration at the Buquebus port, but we never did find Norma. We did go to a huge mall there (where I ate Chinese-it was a big deal.)
Saturday morning we got up early to go on a 3 hour city tour. It was a pretty nice tour. We went to see La Boca where there are colorful buildings and old tango bars, we went to Plaza Mayo again, went to La Recoleta, and through several neighborhoods. Jasmine and I got off at Recoleta to go to the huge cemetery that is there. She is a crazy independent New Yorker and would just walk off so we ended up splitting up because I wanted to go in the old Spanish church. The cemetery was stunning. The Recoleta cemetery is where all the rich of BA are buried in huge houses. Many of the graves have plants growing inside of them. I got lost in the cemetery, but eventually I found Evita Peron’s grave. Apparently her being buried there is extremely controversial because she was not rich or of one of the famous BA surnames.
Eventually I ran into Jasmine in the cemetery and we walked to see the solar flower. It is one of the signatures of BA in addition to the Obelisk. It was designed by an Argentine architect. It is a huge steel flower with petals that is solar powered and opens up during the day and closes at night. Jasmine went off again and we ended up walking all around the flower. New Yorkers; they’re crazy. Or maybe I’m just a Southern Belle. Stephen from the school here always calls me “princess.” All I know is that I would have never just walked off on my own if I was with someone else…I just don’t get it. They did say this program was 50% Cultural immersion.
After walking around in Recoleta we walked to meet Ryan and Kendall at the Zoo at another end of the city. We walked for what seemed like forever. They have a subway system in BA, but it doesn’t go to some parts of the city like Recoleta. Line A of the subway is actually the oldest in South America and the carts were wooden and looked like they really were from the late 1800s.
Jasmine and I couldn’t find Ryan and Kendall when we got there so we decided to go inside since we had walked all that way. The zoo was incredible. They had all sorts of animals. It was kind of annoying that you had to pay extra to see the aquarium, rainforest, etc, but I’m glad I went in all the same. There were animals just walking around everywhere. I have never seen so many peacocks, and never seen so many chased. The S. American kids were hilarious chasing animals and feeding any animals that were fenced. I felt sorry for some of the animals. We went into the aquarium and I wanted to cry. They had about 4 penguins and their habitat smelled bad and was much too warm. They looked so miserable, especially comparing it to the penguins in South America. The polar bear was completely out. I think they had drugged it. It was a ghetto, but still an amazing zoo. I had lost Jasmine at some point and found her when it started to get incredibly cold.
We went to eat at Hard Rock Café that night. I always went to Hard Rock with my friends while we were touring Europe when we could find it, so it was wonderful to go to one. It was nice to hear rock music that wasn’t in Spanish too. Jasmine got a migraine so we didn’t end up going out, but BA had ended up being more expensive that I had thought so I was fine with it.
We walked around for a couple hours the next day after having a long breakfast at the hotel. Everyone followed my lead in eating bread with dulce de leche and kept going back for more. It’s so good! We walked back around the Obelisk and the large mall to find souvenirs and then went back to the hotel to be taken back to the port to go back to Montevideo.
We did NOT want to go back to Montevideo where the air is dirty, there’s dog crap and trash everywhere, and people think it’s too cold to go out (although I can’t really blame them-winter has definitely arrived.)
On the bus from Colonia there was a guy from Florida dissing the states to a guy from Brazil in English so Kendall said something to him and his response was, “well I hate Bush and I hope he’s assassinated.” Wow. Buenos Aires had Argentinian flags flying all over the city. Most countries in Europe were the same way and had a lot of national pride. I know most Americans are disappointed with Bush, but I think we don’t have enough national pride. I am going to buy an American flag when I get back.
Today is Jasmine’s last day here. This morning she packed while I worked on writing for the blog and catching up on my journal. I can’t believe she is leaving tomorrow! Maria pretty much told me that I did something to her hot water bottle that she sometimes gives me on cold nights. I hadn’t used it last week so I have no idea where it could be. Jasmine said she just switched some around and she is probably just trying to get me to buy her a new one. I don’t know. Oh Maria!
We left for BA via Buquebus at 7 a.m. Friday. We had to take a 2 ½ hour bus to Colonia and then took an hour ferry to BA. We all slept the entire time. We purchased a package at Buquebus that included a hotel stay with transporation to and from the hotel. It was a pretty nice hotel with four beds. They had advertised that they spoke English, but of course they didn’t. They were still super nice so we can’t complain.
After checking in we just walked around BA. We saw the Obelisk which is the landmark of the city in the center of their main street. Then we walked to Plaza Mayo where the Pink Palace (their government building,) cabildo and main cathedral are. We also walked along the port and eventually went to eat at Friday’s which is near the green Mother’s Bridge (which reminded me of the millennium bridge in London.) It was nice to all sit down and eat American food together. However, we all had shakes and they didn’t end up making us feel too well. Kendall was really sick by the end.
We went to the Buquebus headquarters 3 times to try to find Norma (the woman who works at the Spanish school here) to ask here where the cheap places were to buy Puma, Polo, etc. She works at immigration at the Buquebus port, but we never did find Norma. We did go to a huge mall there (where I ate Chinese-it was a big deal.)
Saturday morning we got up early to go on a 3 hour city tour. It was a pretty nice tour. We went to see La Boca where there are colorful buildings and old tango bars, we went to Plaza Mayo again, went to La Recoleta, and through several neighborhoods. Jasmine and I got off at Recoleta to go to the huge cemetery that is there. She is a crazy independent New Yorker and would just walk off so we ended up splitting up because I wanted to go in the old Spanish church. The cemetery was stunning. The Recoleta cemetery is where all the rich of BA are buried in huge houses. Many of the graves have plants growing inside of them. I got lost in the cemetery, but eventually I found Evita Peron’s grave. Apparently her being buried there is extremely controversial because she was not rich or of one of the famous BA surnames.
Eventually I ran into Jasmine in the cemetery and we walked to see the solar flower. It is one of the signatures of BA in addition to the Obelisk. It was designed by an Argentine architect. It is a huge steel flower with petals that is solar powered and opens up during the day and closes at night. Jasmine went off again and we ended up walking all around the flower. New Yorkers; they’re crazy. Or maybe I’m just a Southern Belle. Stephen from the school here always calls me “princess.” All I know is that I would have never just walked off on my own if I was with someone else…I just don’t get it. They did say this program was 50% Cultural immersion.
After walking around in Recoleta we walked to meet Ryan and Kendall at the Zoo at another end of the city. We walked for what seemed like forever. They have a subway system in BA, but it doesn’t go to some parts of the city like Recoleta. Line A of the subway is actually the oldest in South America and the carts were wooden and looked like they really were from the late 1800s.
Jasmine and I couldn’t find Ryan and Kendall when we got there so we decided to go inside since we had walked all that way. The zoo was incredible. They had all sorts of animals. It was kind of annoying that you had to pay extra to see the aquarium, rainforest, etc, but I’m glad I went in all the same. There were animals just walking around everywhere. I have never seen so many peacocks, and never seen so many chased. The S. American kids were hilarious chasing animals and feeding any animals that were fenced. I felt sorry for some of the animals. We went into the aquarium and I wanted to cry. They had about 4 penguins and their habitat smelled bad and was much too warm. They looked so miserable, especially comparing it to the penguins in South America. The polar bear was completely out. I think they had drugged it. It was a ghetto, but still an amazing zoo. I had lost Jasmine at some point and found her when it started to get incredibly cold.
We went to eat at Hard Rock Café that night. I always went to Hard Rock with my friends while we were touring Europe when we could find it, so it was wonderful to go to one. It was nice to hear rock music that wasn’t in Spanish too. Jasmine got a migraine so we didn’t end up going out, but BA had ended up being more expensive that I had thought so I was fine with it.
We walked around for a couple hours the next day after having a long breakfast at the hotel. Everyone followed my lead in eating bread with dulce de leche and kept going back for more. It’s so good! We walked back around the Obelisk and the large mall to find souvenirs and then went back to the hotel to be taken back to the port to go back to Montevideo.
We did NOT want to go back to Montevideo where the air is dirty, there’s dog crap and trash everywhere, and people think it’s too cold to go out (although I can’t really blame them-winter has definitely arrived.)
On the bus from Colonia there was a guy from Florida dissing the states to a guy from Brazil in English so Kendall said something to him and his response was, “well I hate Bush and I hope he’s assassinated.” Wow. Buenos Aires had Argentinian flags flying all over the city. Most countries in Europe were the same way and had a lot of national pride. I know most Americans are disappointed with Bush, but I think we don’t have enough national pride. I am going to buy an American flag when I get back.
Today is Jasmine’s last day here. This morning she packed while I worked on writing for the blog and catching up on my journal. I can’t believe she is leaving tomorrow! Maria pretty much told me that I did something to her hot water bottle that she sometimes gives me on cold nights. I hadn’t used it last week so I have no idea where it could be. Jasmine said she just switched some around and she is probably just trying to get me to buy her a new one. I don’t know. Oh Maria!
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