Chillin' in BA

We spent the first few days visiting different parts of Buenos Aires. We had created an itinerary of possible places to visit each day. It was quite ambitious...but in the end I think we saw most of what he planned: the art museum, the neighborhood where the cattle slaughter houses used to be, the hippy neighborhood with antique and vintage clothing stores, the old port remade as a tourist destination like South Street Seaport in NYC, the downtown with lots of colonial architecture, a nature preserve right downtown...We were busy!

Below is me at the Plaza de Mayo. P.deM. is one of the very few things I had heard about Argentina before I met Alejandro. During a period of terrible repression in the late 60s and 70s, many young leftist activists were kidnapped and killed by government operatives. For a long time no one spoke out, for fear of being "disappeared" themselves. Eventually, a group of mothers of the disappeared began to congregate once a week in the Plaza de Mayo for a silent protest. The Plaza is right in front of the Casa Rosada (the equivalent of the White House). They wore white head scarfs to distinguish themselves. Their protests drew international attention and contributed to the downfall of the regime. The brickwork at the Plaza is decorated with white scarves in their memory.

We visited a neighborhood called San Telmo, where there are a lot of stuff sold on the street. Because there was not a strong indigenous culture in Argentina, their aren't as many crafts like textiles or pottery as other places in Latin America. Instead, there is a booming business in Second Hand Stuff. It's kind of like the Housewares section of Goodwill, set up in booths like Saturday Market. It must be targeted at locals, 'cause it mostly seemed like junk to me.

Here I am in a restaurant Ale said was "classic Buenos Aires." It reminded me of a pub - dim, lots of woodwork, early 20th century photos and lettering on signs. There was a drum circle/parade going on right out the window, so I stuck my head out to watch.