Buenos Aires: Part I

I knew that I shouldn't have started a blog-- I'm so terrible at updating it! Since i last posted, we have made two trips to Buenos Aires and it is an awesome city. That being said, I'm really happy I'm living in La Plata and BsAs is just a short bus ride away. It is an enormous city and definitely feels more touristy than La Plata. Our first trip to the city was with the Comisión with our entire group and our wonderful tour guide Juan Ignacio. We went to all the historical parts of the city and were able to learn a lot about the different parts. We started in La Boca, near the mouth of the river and checked out the Caminito. The Caminito is a really bright neighborhood with lots of vendors and tango galore. On Sundays there is a street fair through San Telmo and we saw lots of art/souvenirs to buy.


We then went to Plaza Mayor which is kind of in the center of BsAs. There's a cathedral and la Casa Rosada (the Pink House) where the president works, and its been a center for political gatherings and protests. This picture is from inside the Casa Rosada with one of the guards and looking out onto the plaza.


Next, we took a subway to Congreso (where the legislative building is located). The subway was built in 1913 and the cars look really antique. They also used different colors for all the stations so people who couldn't read would still be able to navigate the system.



One very unique place that we saw was El Cemetario de Recoleta. Its an enormous cemetary with big mausoleums of the rich and famous in Argentina's history. It's kind of weird but also really beautiful. We saw the grave of Evita which has lots of flowers and a constant stream of visitors. However, the mausoleum next to hers was for sale so if you want to be buried next to Evita-- check it out.


Finally, we went to Palermo. It's a very young, artsy, shopping-based neighborhood in the northern part of the city. We walked around and peaked inside some stores. There were groups playing music throughout the streets and its definitely on the list of places to return.


Overall it was a great introduction to Buenos Aires. It's a beautiful city and I'm really excited to take advantage of being so close to it. The bus ride from La Plata to Buenos Aires is about an hour and costs about $2-3 each way so it's very accessible and convenient. This past weekend we went in for another day trip but I'll write more about that later. For anyone interested... my address here is:

Caroline Grady
Calle 60 N. 318
entre 1 y 2
La Plata CP 1900
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Love,
Caroline