I walk out of the Internet café and I meet the French couple I had met on the 2nd night I reached Buenos Aires who are now living in a different hotel after coming back from their trip from north Argentina. We decide to have a picnic at El Tigre.
The story says that once jaguars used to frequent this place, and in Spanish, apparently, jaguars are called tigres. And so, this place, which is supposed to be the Venice of Buenos Aires, got its name.
Well it doesn’t look like Venice at all except for the water part, but it’s a wonderful getaway from the rush of the city for only a 2 pesos 55 minutes train ride. Filled with trees, grass everywhere and charming villas and the water flowing, it’s absolutely different from the city. You tend to forget that you are still in Buenos Aires. After a small picnic, a long walk, and a small scare of wondering whether our boat would ever come back to pick us up, we were right back in the thick of the city. We couldn't really believe the contrast!
It feels good to see many people walking on the streets after the ghost city of Calafate. New room in the hostel, I got a small balcony giving way to a noisy small street! :)
The bus came to pick us up at around 9am. The city was still dark. The drive takes us along the Lago Argentino, as you slowly see the landscape changing from brown to white.
The first stop, is to admire the lake, shaped as a hand surrounded by mountains as you see the sun rising and the mist slowly disappears.
The second stop is our first sight of the glacier. From afar, it looks very small but you are still taken aback by the purity, beauty of the white.
The third stop is on a boat. And the boat slowly takes you closer and closer to the glacier until it dawns on you as a monster. A huge white beautiful monster. No words to express. I was overwhelmed. Completely overwhelmed.
And finally, the last stop, we go just opposite the glacier where we can see the monstrosity of it. A stretch of 14 kilometers of just ice. And that was just a part of it. The whole Perito Moreno Glacier is the size of the city of Buenos Aires. It is 60 meters above the water and presumably 1000 meters below the water. And you could just stare at its beauty forever and ever and ever. At times we would see small pieces falling into the water with a huge grumbling noise. An amazing experience in totality.
I set out in the morning to explore the town. What I found out was pretty much what I saw the previous day at 5pm. Empty roads. I walked towards the bird sanctuary “Laguna Nimez” and for most of the time, my only street companions were 5 dogs who were following me and jumping up on me to be patted. The sanctuary was closed and so was the town museum. I did however enjoy the walk on the edge of the lago Argentino, the third largest lake in South America, with a view of the white peaks on the other side.
El Calafate is named after a flower which can only be seen for 2 months during the year. It is kind of a desert town. The wind blows from the pacific and gets stopped by the Andes and so El Calafate hardly receives any rainfall throughout the year, which explains the brown mountains. It is cold, but dry. And, so bearable.
I had a very nice dinner with a few hostel mates, where we had pasta and ice cream. Since I was invited and didn't get to help in the preparation, I was the designated dish washer.
Somehow, whenever I find myself in a bus journey and as the bus starts moving and I utter a small prayer for a safe arrival, and as I see the landscapes changing in front of my eyes, I always tend to feel complete… whole. Like this is where I’m supposed to be. Moving, always moving… always in the process of being in the journey.
Today, I witnessed plain fields, rocky mountains, glacial peaks, my first guanaco, a bird which resembles an ostrich and all that along with my mp3 player on, I couldn't help smiling.
El Calafate – at first glance. Beautiful. Small wooden houses lined up one after the other. The shops are wooden as well. From a top view, you can see the lake and the glacial peaks. The town is full of trees. It’s winter and it’s cold. And the town is deserted after 5pm (that’s around the time I reached). I couldn't find a place to eat, and had to make do with a small sandwich.
I first entered the hostel I'm staying at, and like in the horror movies, the door creaked as I opened it and entered an empty hall, an empty reception. I went at the desk and rang the bell. Nothing. I waited and after sometime shouted “Hola!”. Nothing. Very very spooky. I walked around and there were a few room doors opened. I shouted again "Hola!". Nothing. I went back at the reception and rang the bell once again. Still nothing. I finally went out. It seems the hostel has two blocks, and in the winter season only one block is opened.
It’s the southernmost city of the world. The sunrise, as I viewed it from the plane, radiated a tinge of orange over the city which has water in front of it, Glacier Peak Mountains behind it. The mountains are only half white, the bottom is dark gray. But as the plane takes off, you see that behind these half gray half white mountains, is an infinity of just white, white, white, white….and the orange of the sun shines on this white. One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.
I am not going to Ushuaia, I was fortunate that the plane landed there before returning to my destination (Rio Gallegos). The airport is on the edge of the water, so, as the plane lands, it seems like you're landing on water and heading straight into the mountains.
All the streets of Buenos Aires were filled with supporters of the Farmers’ government party today. They were demonstrating for their rights, equality and more pay. The streets were filled in Blue and White, with Evita and Che's pictures in flags and banners - all leading to la Casa Rosada, the place where Evita would address the public.
I thought I even read some signs about vegetarianism. My Spanish is nowhere close to good, and so, am not sure, I got that right.
Most of the shops were closed because of the demonstration. It’s the third one I see since I’ve been here. Taking these into account, the weekend and the national flag holiday on Monday, there hasn´t been much work going on here!
The Irish have conquered our room. Which means there was a lot of drinking and cursing in the room. Drinking is actually not allowed in the room. But the Irish promised the reception that they wouldn’t drink in the room and got their confiscated Vodka bottle back. When they entered the room, they were like “Are they crazy to give us our bottle back? Don’t they know we’re Irish?” The new curse word I learnt "Fuckin Wall Bitch"... According to them, it means a woman who has been around....A LOT. I woke up with a headache.
I finalized my trip to El Calafate. I leave on the 19th and am back at Buenos Aires on the 22nd. The agency that booked my ticket, gifted me a free wine from Mendoza! :)
Ecuador vs. Argentina – World Cup 2010 qualifiers Buenos Aires, River Plate Stadium
For around two hours, I kept repeating to myself in my head “I can’t believe I’m here, I can’t believe I’m here.” 65000 people, shouting, singing, emitting the same energy at the same time - that was strong! I was just completely overwhelmed.
There are many songs that the Argentineans sing at stadiums, a few of them go like this – “Ohé, Ohé! Vamos Vamos Argentina! Cada dia te quiero mas!” “A eso putos tenemos que ganar! A eso puto tenemos que ganar!” And the one which all the turistas had no problem following was when the Ecuadorian goalkeeper took a goal kick and everybody would go “Oooooooohhh.....Puto!!!!" The match in itself was not the greatest, Argentina were down most of the second half by a goal and had to wait till the last minute of extra time to equalize.
The deserted streets of San Telmo wake up on Sundays. It’s not a good sign when you hear every other person on the streets saying “Hace muy frio”. I’ve had a running nose since last night. And this morning the streets were cold. The sun, however, is still shining.
San Telmo on Sunday noon – becomes a flea market. Small vendors on the streets. Music everywhere. Poor artists showing off their art and attempting to sell them. Poor people toasting for world peace. And bunches of tourists and locals looking to buy some cheap souvenir or artifacts. The smell of bread. The smell of mate. Cobbled streets with no traffic. People walking at no hurried pace. It felt like Sunday – and that to me is good.
I walk in the streets and already three people stopped me and asked for directions. I opened my mouth and they understood that I was not from around here.
As I visit the Internet café of the neighborhood, called “Locutorios” over here, the owner now just says “numero siete amigo!” before I say anything….I’ve become a regular customer of a store.
As I walked on the streets, the stand of one of the street performers fell off. Both the pedestrians, who were passing by him, immediately went to help him. I haven't noticed that in other big towns yet.
As I was walking today, I felt someone behind very close to me. A girl was walking very close. I looked at her and she side stepped. And took some distance. I looked at my bag - she had tried to open the zipper. Fortunately, she didn't manage to get anything. My first close shave.
I already walked in a café and saw someone I knew inside. Another person staying at the hostel.
I´ve been asked if I was from Israel, South Africa and two other locals actually got it right.
At the café in Avenida de 9 Julio, called “Mate Bar”, I asked Natalio, the waiter, for some mate and a brownie. Natalio lives in a provincial suburb of Buenos Aires, and loves his city. He likes to entertain his customers, obviously to get a better tip, but it's not hard to like him as he gesticulates with exaggeration and tells you “Anything, you need, any help you want, you ask Natalio!” I look at all the utensils he brings to my table and I stammer “No se como se hace!?". He responds no problem. And, he starts to explain - you take the pot, called mate, put in a lot of leaves (called Yerva and pronounced something like Cherba) up to the brim, pour in a bit of cold water and a lot of hot water. And you mash it with the pipe as you sip through it. Natalio asked me “do you like it”? I gave him two thumbs up!
24 hours on three different planes, across 3 continents.
Mumbai, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires. When I reached, the city was cold – 7 degrees. I felt energized. Finally, I am in Buenos Aires. In a dormitory with 7 other people, my first objective was to beat the jet lag. It didn't take long for me to sleep.
10.06.08
I’m awake. Everybody’s asleep. I twist in my bed. I really need to piss. Will I disturb them if I wake up? What time is it? I twirled around my bed for 1 hour until I couldn’t hold it anymore.
La Boca – I went on a walking group tour organized by the hostel I’m staying at. La Boca is one of the poorest areas of Buenos Aires. The shape of the waterway is a mouth, and hence its name. Once a rich area filled with Italians who disembarked here as they immigrated to Argentina, the place slowly fell apart as the richer moved to other areas of Buenos Aires. The residents of la Boca had no option but to use the metal of the unused ships to build their houses. This added color to their homes, and I guess their artistic intuitions followed up. Like a painting, the houses of various colors are lined up one after the other – a picture perfect postcard.
La Bomborena – the home to Boca Juniors Football Club. The place where Diego Maradonna grew up with Football. The place where they still argue over the hand of god. Our guide said "if the referee doesn't see it, it doesn't count." The place I should go back on Sunday to watch Argentina play against Ecuador. I can hardly wait! Another thing I can scratch off my list – watch a live football match. I need to get my Argentina jersey!
Tango – At first, the Tango was danced amongst men. Then, the men danced with prostitutes and as part of keeping up the tradition, the attire of the women who dance the tango is a bit naughty. The Tango now is the pride, sensuality and beauty that perfectly describes Argentina. Buenos Aires is the city that gave birth to Tango. I was lucky to go to one of the most famous cafés of Buenos Aires – Café Tortoni - to witness a spectacle of Tango. The dance was absolutely fantastic. The grace, the posture, the movements and the music are just … there’s not really a word to describe it. It was simply wonderful!
11.06.08
Walking in Buenos Aires. It very much has a feel of a European city. A combination of buildings with French architecture, and tall buildings, they somehow manage to intertwine with each other and fit to make a very beautiful city. A combination of small lanes, à la Parisienne, and the largest avenue of the world - Avenida de 9 Julio – which has 7 vehicle lanes for each way, along with the roadside cafés, make this city a joy to walk in.
San Telmo – the oldest part of the city. San Telmo is supposed to come alive on Sundays (will report back on Sunday). It’s also supposed to be the best place to watch free Tango. It is adorned with many art shops, a market with old artifacts and typical French architecture. I couldn’t help but look like a tourist as I looked on my left and my right in awe. I will go back on Sunday.
Sitting at cafés – It’s called the cortado - a small coffee with milk. I decided that everyday here I will go to a different café and just sit there for hours. It’s the best place to observe the porteños (port city dwellers), the locals. So far, the impression I've gotten on the people here, is that they love to talk, they like to joke and have fun, to laugh, and they are very good looking. So many good looking women! They usually give a free pastry and a free soda to go along with the coffee. Needless to say, the pastry is yummy!
12.06.08
The thing about sharing a room with 7 other people is you tend to go through the same thing every morning. Specially, if the people come back from their parties at 7am and you’re an early riser. Will I disturb them when I wake up? The whole room is so dark; How will I find my underwear for today? Am I going to step on somebody’s clothes on the floor? Although, I’m getting a bit used to this, and now it takes me only about 30mins of twirling around before I finally wake up. I don’t depend on how soon I’ve got to go….
I love walking. Today, I walked for almost 6 hours and yesterday pretty much the same. I take breaks at parks where I sit under the sun and in cafés where I spend a long time just reading, looking, writing, breathing…
I visited the Cementerio de la Recoleta, the cemetery where Evita (Eva Peron) is buried. Her tomb is not as extravagant as compared to the others there. The whole cemetery is filled with very impressive tombs of the upper class dead of Buenos Aires. It felt like I was walking around Père Lachaise all over again. Another reminiscence of Paris. After the cemetery, I walked towards Puerto Madero, the port area of the city which faces all the sky scrapers.
