i made it home today, just a little later than planned. i was supposed fly from Buenos Aires to SFO via Dallas. i got to Dallas no problem, went through customs, rechecked my bag, and went to the other terminal to get a coffee and wait for my flight.

while i was making my way toward terminal A from terminal D they cancelled my flight. all flights to SFO and San Jose for the rest of the day were sold out. they could get me on a flight at noon Monday though, would that be ok? uh, no. so they ended up changing my carrier and i flew from Dallas to Oakland via Phoenix. i was actually happy to go into Oakland, put me just a little bit closer to home. but by the time they got to me in line at booked me on the flight it was 8:00 AM and the flight was due to leave at 8:25 AM, from terminal E. i did the mad dash through the airport and got on the flight. my bag on the other hand went on the 10:10 AM flight to SFO, sigh.

they say that my bag will be delivered to work tomorrow. i don’t have high hopes of that really happening. i’m trying to look on the bright side though, least i didn’t have to spend all afternoon doing laundry.

i’ve been in Buenos Aires for the last week, and it was finally today that i felt like i belonged here. when i left the apt. this morning, i knew exactly where i was going and how long it would take to get there. when i arrived at my subway stop i knew which exit to leave from and when i came above ground knew which way to turn without even thinking about it. i thought it was quite the accomplishment!

i had heard a lot about the opera house, Teatro Colon, and thought it would be a good thing to see on my last day. i had no idea how awesome it would be. the opera house was closed from 2006-2010 for renovation, an endeavor that cost close to $100 million US dollars. every part of the building has been restored to the original look and feel of when it opened in 1908.

the original design was by an Italian architect, and had a completion date of three years. unfortunately it took 20 years to build the opera house. the original architect died two years into the project, and the next architect met his demise when he was shot by his wife’s lover (the butler), shortly after taking over the building of the theater. an architect from Belgium was hired and it was under his management that the Teatro Colon was finally opened in 1908.

it really is a beautiful theater, and the restoration incredible. we were able to see the main entry, the performance space, and the VIP box seating. there are three floors beneath the ground level where all of the workshops are housed. in addition to having some of the best acoustics in the world, this theater is one of the few that manufactures everything to with their shows on-site. sadly the workshops and backstage aren’t part of the tour.

while we there the sound crew was preparing for a symphony performance tonight. we heard the organist playing music from Phantom of the Opera and it sounded incredible. “see a show at the Teatro Colon”, that goes on the list of things to do next time i’m here for sure!

ok, time to finish packing……….my ride will be here in 30 minutes!
ciao ciao Argentina!

right, like i’ve been in a saddle anytime in the 30 years. i’m pretty sure the last time i sat in a saddle was while riding a camel at Marine World USA. i was 12.

today not only did i manage to get on a horse, i was able to ride a little bit before lunch. mind you i had to get the horse facing the right way and get it to actually move, but after that small challenge……piece of cake.

i was at Santa Susana which was a working ranch at one time but it’s now mainly used for group events. it was a pretty fun way to end my trip, there was horseback riding, lunch, a dance show and then a horse & rider show.

i expected gauchos to look more like our cowboys, but they didn’t. maybe that’s because gauchos were originally soldiers, first fighting for the freedom of Argentina and then in their civil war. it was after the war that they started to work the farms.

 the guide suggested we read an epic poem by Jose Hernandez called Martin Fierro to understand more about the gauchos and their importance to Argentinian culture. i think i’ll try and download it for a little airplane reading tomorrow.

ok, i had it all basically planned out. i was going to get up, have breakfast, go to the opera house, then go to the Evita Museum for a visit and lunch.

well, i made it to the opera house, but they didn’t have any open tours for today, so i bought a ticket for Saturday. while i was in line i started to feel a bit faint, so after the purchase i sat down in the lobby for awhile. after hanging out for about 30 minutes i felt better and decided to make my way back to the apt. thankfully the subway ride was fine and i made it back safe and sound.

it was really humid and warm today so maybe that’s what made me feel ill, i’m not really sure, but after a long nap, shower and meal i am feeling better now. tomorrow i have plans to check out a ranch, so although i missed a day of sightseeing (again), i still have high hopes for my last two days!

i couldn’t have a post without a photo, so thought i’d show a little neighborhood flavor. old meets new.

it seems like just yesterday i started planning for a month long trip, and now the month is coming to an end. crazy how quickly time flies.

i have seen and done so many wonderful things during my time in Argentina, it’s been hard to capture it all, but i think i’ve managed to hit most of the highlights. of course when you talk to a local they ask if you’ve seen all the things you haven’t, and you start to wonder about all of the places you missed. guess i will just have to make notes and visit again some day.

today i had lunch with a colleague who lives here in Buenos Aires, which was a lot of fun, and that pretty much sums up my day. i caught up on email, chatted with friends, and spent some time hanging out at the park reading, which really made it feel like vacation. i’m midway through book one of the Game of Thrones series………yep, sucked me right in, and i’m going to have a hard time reading anything else for awhile.

but i only have three days left here and there is still so much i’d like to see. the Teatro Colon is the recently renovated opera house and has some of the best acoustics in the world. they offer tours, so i’m going to try and get there tomorrow. there is also the Museo Evita and the Casa de la Cultura, which someone told me i should try and get to. i’d also like to try and get out of the city to visit one of the ranches i’ve read about.

sounds like i may have to get up early the next couple of days. or, maybe i will get up when i wake up, enjoy some coffee, and see what each day brings.

side note – the photo is of some finger puppets i saw in a kids store in Colonia. there was a whole wall of them and i couldn’t resist taking pictures.

today’s activity was taking the high speed ferry over to Colonia, Uruguay. the high speed ferry takes an hour, the slow ferry takes three hours.

i didn’t know how crowded the ferry would be, so i bought my ticket last week. the buying a ticket part was pretty straight forward. since i was buying in advance i was ushered to a nice onsight travel office. when my number was called i went to the ticket agent, sat down, booked my ticket, went to the cashier, paid, and took my ticket home.

getting onto the ferry was a little more time consuming. you need to be there an hour in advance, so you have time to go through customs and check-in. the thing is, it’s not really clear what you do first. now i know you check-in downstairs, get a boarding card, then go upstairs, fill in the customs form, go through customs, get your passport stamped, and then board. plenty of coffee and snacks aboard the ferry, which was good since i missed breakfast. leaving port reminded me a little of home.

 i didn’t sign up for a Colonia tour of any kind, it looked liked it was doable via a walking tour on my own. since i was walking, i kept to the old town, but there was enough to see and do for an afternoon.

Colonia was first controlled by the Portuguese, then the Spanish, and it changed hands eight times in the 19th century. there are eight tiny museums throughout the town you can visit that talk about the town and it’s origin. the photo below is of the Convento de San Francisco ruins and the still functioning faro (lighthouse). and what trip to a lighthouse is complete without an interior stair shot?!

i just liked wandering the streets, hanging out by the water, and enjoying the quiet. my apt. in Buenos Aires is nice, but it is really loud all the rime. i had lunch at a great place called El Drugstore, very cool decor and tasty food!

lunch was so good, i saved my leftovers for dinner. when i got back to Buenos Aires i had to go through customs and sadly my leftovers were flagged, and had to be thrown away. but not before they took down my passport number and had me sign a form. am i now on some kind of list of bad US citizens that try to bring leftovers into Argentina? if i can’t get back in the US on Sunday, it is most likely due to the Great Gnocchi Conspiracy 2011.

some people seek out museums in every city they visit. i’m not that person. but that doesn’t mean i don’t enjoy the occasional visit now and again.

i was a little sore from my million mile walk yesterday, so i decided to keep my sightseeing simple and close to home today. according to the map, the Evita Museum was the closest, but closed on Monday’s. so i picked the second closest attraction which was the Malba Museum.

there were two exhibits, one by Carlos Cruz-Diez and the other was the Arte Latinoamericano display, which contained pieces from a variety of different artists. the photo below is part of the Carlos Cruz-Diez exhibit and it’s made of plexiglas.

there was also this cool bench which joined the second and third floors. sorry for not giving artist credit, i forgot to write down the artists name.

in addition to a little artistic enlightenment, i also enjoyed lunch at the outdoor cafe. a nice way to spend part of the day.

i feel like i walked all over the city today. i started the day by walking through the San Telmo flea market.

the market started around 10 AM, so i headed out around 9:15 not knowing how long it would take me to get there. i managed to get there a little before 10, so i was in good shape, i got there ahead of the swarm. it was more a combination of a flea market and arts & craft fair. it felt like a mile of Telegraph Ave. with all it’s street artists, ending in a plaza with a flea market. there were lots of antique shops and art galleries along the way as well. the paper mâché fish caught my eye along with the brightly colored seltzer bottles.

 after wandering through a ton of antique stalls and being overwhelmed by too much incense, i figured it was time for lunch. i headed to El Americana, a place known for……you guessed it, empanadas!

i was a little directionally challenged after leaving the market and ended up going completely out of the way before i finally found the place. at one point while walking the wrong direction, i turned around to look for a street sign and surprise, there was the National Congress building.

the empanadas were mighty tasty, i tried a choclo (corn) one today in addition to the verdura (greens/spinach) which seems to be my go-to empanda.

i got home without any trouble and took a short rest before heading out once again. this time i was off to find the El Alamo sports bar.

on the way to the bar i happened across what seemed to be a human statue contest. you know, like the guys who paint themselves silver and when you put money in the hat they move. there were a bunch of them and you could vote on your favorite. random, but fun to see.

i enjoyed watching the Raiders beat the Jets with two other Oakland fans. after three weeks of being the lone English speaker, it was odd being in a place that was completely full of people speaking English watching a US sport. odd, but felt like home.

another nice thing about not being on a tour is that i didn’t have anywhere to be at a certain time. it took some time for me to get into the true vacation mindset, but once i did i embraced it fully.

i slept in late, had breakfast of a non-cornflake variety, and enjoyed some coffee while reading on my balcony. the photo below is the view from my balcony. i didn’t enjoy as much coffee as i would have liked, i thought the coffee provided was instant, it wasn’t. total waste of good coffee.

i finally made my way out into the world around 1 PM to seek out a vegetarian restaurant called Bio i had heard about. i found it without a problem, and finally had a good meal that didn’t have any bread or cheese included. if i was staying closer to Bio i’d go back for sure.

it was a nice day, so after lunch i went to the zoo. i like going to the zoo in other countries because they have different animals than we do. there were a ton of these guys, which are Mara and they’re like rabbits.

the cutest little things i saw were Mono Titi, a kind of spider monkey and they were hilarious. i couldn’t get a good shot, but grabbed this one off the internet.

lots of llamas, ostrich, flamingos, monkeys, big cats and bears as well. they also had some penguins, i knew i’d get to see them on this trip somehow!

Mono Tiki photo courtesy of fotonostra.com

touring around is a lot of fun, but i have to admit, being in an apartment and unpacked is awesome. for the first time in 20 days i have clothes in drawers and hanging in the closet.

i have a cute studio in the Palermo district, and the only downfall i can see so far is that i’m on a fairly busy street. there seems to be a constant stream of traffic throughout the day, which i’m hoping will die down later in the evening. it’s also not super close to the subway, but the walk isn’t too bad.

after i got settled in, i made my way to the La Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. now here is where i thought i’d hear Don’t Cry for me Argentina, but it didn’t happen, everyone was most respectful.

i do love walking around a cemetery, especially one like this. it sounds a little odd, but i could spend hours wandering, and i did.

 

my hours of wandering made me a little hungry so i stopped off at San Juanino, a little spot recommended for it’s tasty treats from different regions. i stuck with this region and had a couple of empanadas and a salad.

i meandered back toward home and stopped off at the market to pick up some staples. shopping was a bit of a challenge, the labels weren’t always clear and i didn’t bring my dictionary. i think i did ok, guess i’ll know for sure tomorrow when i make breakfast!