Buenos Aires, Argentina 26 March - 3 April
At the end of March I made a short trip to Argentina. It was my first trip to South America. It is not often that I have enough time to make long trips - this was my first journey out of Europe since returning from Africa in 2004.
The journey to Argentina was long, with a stop-over in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I spent around 20 hours travelling from Paris to Buenos Aires.
When I arrived in Buenos Aires (or Bs. As. to the locals) I made a small tour of the centre while waiting for Christian, my host, to finish work. The first stop was the main railway station. Apparently the rail network in Argentina was construicted by the British in the early 20th Century:
There are many statues adorning the streets of Buenos Aires - In Argentinian history there have been many influential liberators and unifiers, generals and politicians:
Buenos Aires is quite a green city. This area is near to Florida Street, the main shopping street in town:
Looking back towards the railway station you can see this tower built by the British:
This obelisk is on one of the main boulevards in the centre of Buenos Aires:
And here's another view:
The cathedral in Buenos Aires is small. It is located on a big square just opposite the presidential palace:
Here is the presidential palace. It is also known as the pink palace. It looks nice and bright compared to the neighbouring office buildings:
This is the square where the cathedral and palace are located.
Another statue and the palace:
San Telmo is the Buenos Aires answer to Montmartre. There are some nice little cafes and it is traditionally the artists area:
Puerto Madero is located between the city and the River Plate. Nowardays it is not really used as a port - though there are a couple of nice old sailing ships. You can also take a boat to Montevideo, across the river in Uruguay from here. The old warehouses have become nice apartments and fasionable bars and restaurants:
One evening I went to a festival called "Night of the bookshops". When I was walking around I ran into the Mayor of Buenos Aires. He seemed quite friendly and talkative and agreed to let us take his picture:
...And then I started to notice him everywhere:
At the festival there was some nice live Argentinian music. It reminded me of some of the cultural events that are organised in Paris:
While visiting the festival, a taxi caught fire .. I think the crowd became more interested in that than the bookshops!
I stayed in a suburb of Buenos Aires called Vincente Lopez - it's about 15 minutes by train from the centre. I stayed there with Christian and Mirta from Hospitality Club. I really enjoyed staying with them. It was great to stay with local people and to see the city from the local perspective. Their apartment was just a couple of blocks away from the River Plate:
Christian, Mirta and Cynthia were great hosts... they gave me good advice on where to go and what to see:
During my stay, the weather was not too good, but I still had a lot of fun - especially for all the nice people I met...
...And another statue:
During my stay I met up with quite a few people from Hospitality Club... they were all really friendly and nice to talk to. I also met with a few foreigners living in Buenos Aires. Here are some of them at a gathering in the Palermo district:
Buenos Aires is made up of several distinct districts. I visited some, but not all... but that's a good excuse to make another trip!
In the middle of Bs. As. is this big park... it is a nice area for picnics or just looking at the exotic flowers:
Christian invited me to a Placebo concert. I had never heard of them before, but apparently they are well known. Their music was a bit too dark for my taste, but the evening was fun:
My holiday passed too quickly and soon it was time to return to Paris. My trip home was even longer than coming out. I had two stop-overs - one in Sao and another Paulo in Rio de Janeiro... it was interesting to see Brazil, even if I didn't have time to really visit it - maybe next time...
posted by James at Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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