Evita Museum

The Evita Museum is worth visiting. In addition to the numerous artifacts and photos, I enjoyed the news reel footage of showing the public Evita at historic events.

Tigre

Tigre is a town located north of BsAs in the estuary of the Rio de Plata. In the old days, there was an epidemic in the city and people fled here to escape contamination. I took a pleasant ride on the train to get here. There are many rivers and islands in the area. Companies offer excursions by boat to various locations. It is more of a real estate tour, than a view of nature. I like seeing all the families escaping the hot city for a weekend getaway.

Boca

No es Cristo,, ni Buda
No es Ala, ni Mahoma
El es del pueblo Argentino
sin duda...
Diego Armando Maradona

Boca is a characteristic BsAs neighborhood or "barrio." You can visit the river, art museums for the famous painter Quinquela Martin and other tourist attractions. But in the end, it is the home of the soccer club, Boca Juniors and more specifically, the legendary Maradona. Unfortunately, the season was over and I couldn't see a game. But the stadium and small museum are worth a visit. Various memorabilia are on display and you can watch various historic matches using computer equipment and video displays.

Recoleta Cemetery

Evita is buried here as well as many of Argentina's founders, presidents and generals. Coffins lying in open mausoleums and vines growing on statues of departed ancestors remind me of our ultimate destiny--and the need to enjoy life now.

Obelisk

The Obelisk is the geographic center of Buenos Aires. It sits at 9 de Lulio and Corrientes. 9 de Julio is an enormous boulevard, reportedly the widest in the world, maybe eight lanes in each direction. Corrientes is the Broadway of town.

My apartment was one block from Corrientes. The first walk I took in BsAs was to the Obelisk about 1.5 kms (ten city blocks equal one kilometer). The traffic is one way. The street slopes downward to toward the river. The stores consist primarily of cafes, restaurants, theaters, bookstores and kiosks.

The Saturday night before Christmas, the booksellers had a fair. Corrientes was closed. At midnight, the area was filled with people buying books for gifts.

On Christmas Eve, a tree was decorated beside the Obelisk.

On New Years Eve, there was a fireworks display.

One New Years Day, the Dakur Rally began at the Obelisk.

The day before I left BsAs, I walked by the obelisk to a movie theater.

San Telmo

San Telmo is a "barrio" or neighborhood in BsAs. It is older and more intersting than many. On Sundays there is an artisan crafts show in the plaza and a large street fair stretching toward La Plaza de Mayo.

Street musicians, tango dancers and puppeteers entertain. Vendors sell everything from knit clothes for Barbie to cattle hoofs shaped into mate bombillas.

Commute to school

Each morning the alarm rings: coffee, shave, and shower. Books, water bottle, sunblock--or do I need an umbrella today? At 8:30 a.m., elevator down, walk two blocks past my friends at the Vero Cafe, into the subte at Pasteur. Catch the train. "Permiso" with a push (not a shove) will get you in the car. Ride four stops. Escalator up. 8:50 A.M. Walk Florida several blocks. See the Galleria. Elevator up. "Buenos dias." "Buen dia." "Hola." "¿Que tal?" Get a cup of coffee. "¿Que hicieron ayer?" pregunta el profesor.