Hello readers, I am happy to report that your humble correspondent has arrived in "The Paris of South America" and has already put in a pretty good first day.
For starters, the internet in my hotel room won't work for some reason, so I am stuck using the hotel lobby computer, which has a confusing keyboard layout. Regardless, I got to my hotel from the airport with relative ease, utilizing the services of the Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle services. It was pretty cheap, the service was quick and reliable. If I find myself back in BA, I will for sure use the same service again.
I took some time to get settled in, including getting some groceries at a nearby market, but I care to let time fall by the wayside and I was out the door to do some exploring at around two in the afternoon.
Being a Sunday, things seemed pretty quiet, not many people or cars were on the street, at least in the general vicinity of my hotel. I am situated in the Congresso and Tribunales district, so decided to dedicate my first day to this area. The National Congress is just a stone's throw from my hotel, so I set off in that direction first. After checking out the impressive Congressional building, I took a quick stroll through the Plaza de Congresso, appropriately named, being located right in front of the Congress. The Plaza contains one of the casts of Rodin's "The Thinker". From there I ambled onto Avenida de 9 Julio, which is probably the largest boulevard I have ever seen in my life. It is seven lanes in lenght. On the boulevard stands the city's huge Obelisk, built to commemorate the founding of the city. Following that I went on to see one BA's most famous landmarks, the Teatro Colon. It is an old opera theater that is supposed to have an impressive design. I wasn't all that impressed though, I invite you to Google it and tell me what you think, but I didn{t find the outside to be all that special (I didn't go in, didn't look like you could).
I was walking in a loop that would encompass the main sights of Congresso and Tribunales, and the numbers of pedestrians and vehicle traffic wer beginning to pick up. I also saw the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, the main Catholic church in BA and the Plaza de Mayo, a big plaza located in front of the Cathedral. From there I came across a street known as La Defensa. La Defensa serves as a huge outdoor market, with booths lining the whole street with items ranging from fly market stuff to actual souvenirs for tourists. Along La Defensa I bought a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from some dude who makes it right in front of you. Best purchase of the trip so far. Definilty worth 7 pesos (less than two bucks). I had something interesting happen to me near La Defensa though:
I stepped off the street, which was just packed with tourists, to a side street to consult my guidebook. As I was looking down I felt something wet hit my neck, I already knew what was up, but I turned around to see a women behind me acting like bird shit or something hit me from the building. I wasn't having any of it, and immediately walked away. Another women behind me called "senor" a few times, no doubt to tell me I had something on my neck. Well, I had done my research and I knew this to be a scam. Someone sprays something on you, I had read mustard or mayonaisse, but they used sunscreen on me, then a couple people offer to help you clean up the mess, distracting you so someone can surreptiously rob you blind. I just ignored the lady and she gave up pretty quick and I walked on. I turned around after a few feet to see the two ladies looking at eachoter in a frustrated manner. I had to smile at that. A market owner was kind enough to give me paper towels to wipe the stuff off my neck. It did get on my bookbag though, and now there are white spots all over it. Its okay, gives it a rugged look, like I am a painter or something. Ironically, it was really hot today, and the sunblock would have been of use. They must be pretty stupid criminals to try and pretend it is bird shit, as I could smell right away it was a lotion of some kind. This is actually the second time someone has tried to scam me but I wasn't fooled because I did my research prior to my arrival. The first time was in Istanbul. I guess that makes it Adam 2, rip-off artists 0. This was a bit of a sweeter victory, I got them to waste some of their damn sunscreen.
That pretty much rounded out the excitment for the day, I have to say I BA looks to be a huge city. I walked around for 4+ hours and only covered a small part of the city. I will probably be utilizing the subway (or subte, as they call it here) more often. There is a very European feel to this city though, both in its architecture and layout. Of what I have seen, some of the architecture is very impressive. Definitely a cosmopolitan place. Interestingly, BA residents, or Portenos (meaning Port People, this is a city by a major waterway, afterall) say Ciao, and Grazie, instead of their Spanish equivalents, no doubt an influence of the early Italian immigrants.
More tomorrow, cheers folks.
For starters, the internet in my hotel room won't work for some reason, so I am stuck using the hotel lobby computer, which has a confusing keyboard layout. Regardless, I got to my hotel from the airport with relative ease, utilizing the services of the Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle services. It was pretty cheap, the service was quick and reliable. If I find myself back in BA, I will for sure use the same service again.
I took some time to get settled in, including getting some groceries at a nearby market, but I care to let time fall by the wayside and I was out the door to do some exploring at around two in the afternoon.
Being a Sunday, things seemed pretty quiet, not many people or cars were on the street, at least in the general vicinity of my hotel. I am situated in the Congresso and Tribunales district, so decided to dedicate my first day to this area. The National Congress is just a stone's throw from my hotel, so I set off in that direction first. After checking out the impressive Congressional building, I took a quick stroll through the Plaza de Congresso, appropriately named, being located right in front of the Congress. The Plaza contains one of the casts of Rodin's "The Thinker". From there I ambled onto Avenida de 9 Julio, which is probably the largest boulevard I have ever seen in my life. It is seven lanes in lenght. On the boulevard stands the city's huge Obelisk, built to commemorate the founding of the city. Following that I went on to see one BA's most famous landmarks, the Teatro Colon. It is an old opera theater that is supposed to have an impressive design. I wasn't all that impressed though, I invite you to Google it and tell me what you think, but I didn{t find the outside to be all that special (I didn't go in, didn't look like you could).
I was walking in a loop that would encompass the main sights of Congresso and Tribunales, and the numbers of pedestrians and vehicle traffic wer beginning to pick up. I also saw the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, the main Catholic church in BA and the Plaza de Mayo, a big plaza located in front of the Cathedral. From there I came across a street known as La Defensa. La Defensa serves as a huge outdoor market, with booths lining the whole street with items ranging from fly market stuff to actual souvenirs for tourists. Along La Defensa I bought a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from some dude who makes it right in front of you. Best purchase of the trip so far. Definilty worth 7 pesos (less than two bucks). I had something interesting happen to me near La Defensa though:
I stepped off the street, which was just packed with tourists, to a side street to consult my guidebook. As I was looking down I felt something wet hit my neck, I already knew what was up, but I turned around to see a women behind me acting like bird shit or something hit me from the building. I wasn't having any of it, and immediately walked away. Another women behind me called "senor" a few times, no doubt to tell me I had something on my neck. Well, I had done my research and I knew this to be a scam. Someone sprays something on you, I had read mustard or mayonaisse, but they used sunscreen on me, then a couple people offer to help you clean up the mess, distracting you so someone can surreptiously rob you blind. I just ignored the lady and she gave up pretty quick and I walked on. I turned around after a few feet to see the two ladies looking at eachoter in a frustrated manner. I had to smile at that. A market owner was kind enough to give me paper towels to wipe the stuff off my neck. It did get on my bookbag though, and now there are white spots all over it. Its okay, gives it a rugged look, like I am a painter or something. Ironically, it was really hot today, and the sunblock would have been of use. They must be pretty stupid criminals to try and pretend it is bird shit, as I could smell right away it was a lotion of some kind. This is actually the second time someone has tried to scam me but I wasn't fooled because I did my research prior to my arrival. The first time was in Istanbul. I guess that makes it Adam 2, rip-off artists 0. This was a bit of a sweeter victory, I got them to waste some of their damn sunscreen.
That pretty much rounded out the excitment for the day, I have to say I BA looks to be a huge city. I walked around for 4+ hours and only covered a small part of the city. I will probably be utilizing the subway (or subte, as they call it here) more often. There is a very European feel to this city though, both in its architecture and layout. Of what I have seen, some of the architecture is very impressive. Definitely a cosmopolitan place. Interestingly, BA residents, or Portenos (meaning Port People, this is a city by a major waterway, afterall) say Ciao, and Grazie, instead of their Spanish equivalents, no doubt an influence of the early Italian immigrants.
More tomorrow, cheers folks.
BA sounds lovely. Glad you're enjoying it. If you could bring a camera cord along on your journeys and maybe upload 2 or 3 pictures to stick in your blog it might give us a better idea of the areas you're describing. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Hayley
ps. buy me something cool. juuust kidding