Strike Out

Day 3 - Still in Buenos Aires

Big plans...I'm going to the most popular neighborhood in BA today...all the way across town. I'm headed to the subway station and...there's picketers, lots of them, wearing the national light blue and white. South America is infamous for strikes, but comeon...it's Day 3 of my vacation and they choose today to go on strike. If you know me, I plan out everything to a T and all of those plans for today just got thwarted.

But all is well in the land of sun and 70s. I still made a good day of it. I just got back from a hour ride along the Rio de la Plata (the giant river/harbor/ocean inlet separating Argentina from Uruguay). It was beautiful out there. I had a delicious steak dinner at a parrilla just prior. I've had dulce de leche and banana milkshakes too. Hopefully all of this biking and walking is burning that off.

So let's back up to yesterday. If you've seen the movie, "Evita", you might recognize the former First Lady of Argentina's gravesite that I visited. Eva Peron and her husband led Argentina in the 40's and 50's before she died tragically of cancer in 1953. The cemetery where she is buried is a giant "city of the dead"...and that's no joke. I've never seen a more decorated cemetery in my life. There were thousands of tombs just like the ones pictured. All of the tombs were monuments to the rich and famous in society and housed stained glass windows, monuments, etc.



I got my Yellow Fever vaccination this morning. I'm supposed to get it ten days before I enter mosquito territory, but I got mine just a week prior. Hopefully those three little days doesn't result in death or anything tragic like that. Yellow Fever is fairly rare, but if you get it you have about a 5% death rate with no cure. Nice huh? It's free here...$100 in Knoxville. It was a no-brainer to me. Thankfully, the clinic I went to was pretty much setup for the sole purpose of this vaccine. Otherwise, it's no telling what I would have gotten with my Spanish.

Speaking of my Spanish, I was still on my sugar kick this afternoon and stopped at a windowside cafe that was advertising hot and cold coffee and chocolate drinks. They had some listings for "dulce de leche" (caramel), which is always delicious stuff and is pretty common here in desserts. They advertised a frasco (translated...a small bottle) of the stuff for about $3. Yum...hot or cold dulce de leche for just $3...give me some of that. I order...paid...and she came literally with a jar of caramel sauce...lol. Um...let's just say that's not what I was expecting AT ALL. I guess I'll have something to go with those bland biscuits/rolls my hostel considers "breakfast" in the mornings. Those might actually turn out pretty well now.

Tomorrow I meet with my touring group in the evening. I don't think we have any plans tomorrow except just a change of residence. Hopefully, that goes smoothly. The fact the subway system is out doesn't make me happy about that tho.

I've been told by a couple of people that I need to be posting more pictures. Conforme!











The second to last picture is the Congress. The Capitol building was built in 1906 and modeled after the one in Washington.

And I swear, with this last picture, you might think I'm in DC, but I'm really not. They have a white obelisk here as well, surround by PLENTY of traffic.
So BA is starting to take shape as the "Paris of the South". Two more days here. I'll explain more once I've had the complete picture. Adios!