September 30 - Buenos Aires
At 9:45 my alarm clock rang. I just got up, turned on my computer and skyped with my parents and my sister from 10:00 to 11:30. Then I had a short chat with Christoph and I asked him if he would mind travelling from the aiport to our downtown hotel on his own (of course I would find out the safest and cheapest way how to get there). But because he would arrive at 7:30 in the morning and I still needed a lot of sleep and the early morning hours and late evening hours were still really cold in Buenos Aires I asked him that favour. He agreed (thank goodness) and I promised to let him know the best way the following day.
Then I took a shower, ate breakfast and at 13:20 I left the house for my first real sightseeing day. At 14:20 I arrived in the city (sooo fast!) and the first place I went was Plaza de Mayo. Here I took some pictures and then I saw that people were entering "Casa Rosada" where the office of the President of Argentina is. After a security check I could get inside too and figured out that everybody could take part in a guided tour. The tours started every 15 minutes and lasted 1 hour. In broken Spanish I asked if there would be a tour in English too. The woman who answered me that she would just speak a little English turned out to be my English tour guide later on. And her English was very good!!!
She guided the tour in Spanish and English and I was the only one who needed the English version:-) => very nice service, just to explain everything in English for only one person!!!
Piramide de Mayo that obelisk was erected to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Argentina's independency from Spain |
First room of the guided tour:
The room was painted in the colors of Argentina: light blue and white. The paintings were painted by Argentine painters (except two, these were from French painters)
The 2nd room we visited was dedicated to Jose Hernandez, a bookwriter. The room was called "Sala Martin Fierro (=epic peom, written by Jose Hernandez):
by Ricardo Carpani the huge hands symbolize the hard working people and the poor who mainly work with their hands |
The 3rd room we visited was dedicated to the women of Argentina:
Then we saw the gallery of famous idols:
and the explanations who these guys are:
The next room we entered was "Salon de los Cientificos Argentinos del Bicentenario". Here pictures of Argentine nobel prize winners can be seen and the balcony facing Plaza de Mayo can be entered:
view from the balcony (backside of Casa Rosada) to Plaza de Mayo Presidents and the Argentina's national soccer team use that balcony for important events |
From the balcony we went to "Salon Eva Peron":
and a very important room for celebrations:
And finally the presidents office:
The actual entrance hall of Casa Rosada is full of busts (of former presidents):
and finally the presidential lift:
our tour guide on the left |
painting on the ceiling: the woman breaking her chains symbolizes the emancipation (f.e. right to vote) for women |
And finally the presidents office:
The actual entrance hall of Casa Rosada is full of busts (of former presidents):
and finally the presidential lift:
main entrance (front side) of Casa Rosada |
The tour was from 15:00 to 16:00 and then I visited the street market on Defense Street from16:15 to 18:15. I walked along Defense street til Plaza Dorrego which is famous for its antique market and the free Tango shows on the place. Tango dancers show their skills and at the same time it is a kind of advertisement for their Tango lessons and a way to earn some extra money: after every dance the audiance is expected to donate some money!
The market is just on Sundays and most stalls sell handicrafts.
beginning of the market |
impressions of the market_1 |
Basilica Nuestra Senora del Rosario |
mate tea cups |
freshly squeezed orange juice could be bought everywhere |
impressions of the market_2 |
it was very crowded |
more mate tea-cups |
impressions of the market_3 |
funny city tours:-) |
impressions of the market_4 |
elderly tango dancers on Plaza Dorrego |
and a younger and more sexier dancing couple |
pose at the end |
amateurs dancing:-) |
antique market on Plaza Dorrego |
on the way back |
people going around and selling food and drinks |
woman selling food and drinks |
I bought Alfajores: cookies filled with dulce de leche (= caramelized milk) very sweet and delicious:-) |
At 20:00 I was back home. Victoria had just arrived before me and was a little bit in a hurry. So we had a quick dinner and after that I watched a corny movie again, as well as "Der Spreewaldkrimi" and "Tatort".
At 02:45 I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep that well. (I also started worrying about my visa for Cuba: So far I had sent 2 emails to the Cuban embassy to ask them if if it was possible to get a visa there and if yes, if I could just drop by to buy the visa or if I needed an appointment. But no answer so far...)