We went on a wonderful free walking tour of Recoleta last Wednesday. We heard about it from some of our friends at ISA and decided we had nothing to lose since it was indeed free. We were at the meeting point, the Plaza de San Martin, a little earlier than planned so we passed the time by taking pictures of the huge statue of San Martin that gives the plaza its name. General San Martin, along with Simon Bolivar, is a South American hero due to his part in liberating Argentina, Chile and other countries from colonial Spanish rule. While waiting at the statue we met a nice couple from Brazil who were in Argentina on holiday. Our guide appeared right on time. She introduced herself as Sol, a native porteno and spoke perfect English (that being our shared language with our Brazilian friends since Allie, Steph, and Amy didn't speak Portuguese and some in our group were still beginning classes in Spanish). Sol recounted the story of San Martin, explaining his defeat of the Spanish armies by a surprise attack from the Andes and noted that a love for San Martin was one of the few things they had in common with their Chilean neighbors (dislike has continued since the Chileans aided a foreign invader in a war against Argentina some time ago). We continued a few hundered meters from the Plaza and had a lovely view of the 'little Big Ben,' which is a clock tower that the British gave to Argentina. It looks nothing like Big Ben but since it's a clock and it's British, it earned that nickname. Then we proceeded down a few steps to a striking memorial to those that fought and died in defense of the Faulklands. Apparently the British navy was occupying them and an Argentine ruler thought it would boost morale to oust the foreigners and retake the lands but the war was a disaster. The memorial is guarded during the day by two soldiers in uniform and there is an 'eternal flame' burning there also. We came at the perfect time because we saw the removal of the flag at the memorial and the official dismissal of the guards/closing of the memorial. A soldier played a very nice tune on the trumpet throughout the process. In contrast to the careful folding that usually accompanies taking down an American flag, the Argetine soldier simply wadded up the flag as his fellow lowered the flag.
After that we saw a number of beautiful embassies, including those for France, Brazil, and Vatican City. The Vatican City embassy was once home to a wealthy woman who once hosted the Pope on a visit to Buenos Aires. After that ever member of the church from Vatican City who visited also wanted to stay with her. After hosting the umpteenth guest she donated her home to the Vatican. We also saw a beautiful building that was a hotel for the rich and famous, playing host to Madonna, Michael Jackson, and apparently the Jonas Brothers. We visited a fountain that is a replica of one in Barcelona. Legend has it that if you drink from the fountain you will return to Barcelona. In Buenos Aires, you'll return to Buenos Aires. All in all it was a beautiful tour and we saw many buildings with European architecture, Buenos Aires being the Paris of South America and all.
On Saturday we went to El Tigre, a popular vacation spot for busy portenos. Most of the houses are built right on the islands that make up the town so all of them have docks because the only way you can get to them is by boat. We toured the islands by boat and say lots of pretty houses. We went to a craft fair there that the area is famous for and I did most of my souvenir shopping there.
The Feria de Mataderos on Sunday was another craft fair, although closer to Buenos Aires. There I sampled some locro, which is a thick stew made with corn, potatoes and sausage. It was delicious on a chilly day. I also bought the Argetine version of a tamale. Just like the ones in New Mexico but lacking in spice. Argentinian cuisine is not spicy in the least. Our only trip to a 'Mexican' restaurant was a bit of a dissappointment because the 'nachos' were tortilla chips with cheese melted on them and a bottle of hot sauce on the side. The sauce was hot, finally!, but the nachos were pretty depressing.
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