Buenos Aires: Interesting Things and Places

Sharing some snaps I've taken during my recent trip to Buenos Aires - right before the battery of my very old and super heavy camera conked out. Good thing my ever-reliable camera phone saved the day. But that would be material for Part II of this series. In the meantime, enjoy this batch!

Let's start with possibly the most well-known attraction in Buenos Aires, the Casa Rosada and its balcony, where Evita famously sang that song
The lady immortalized in this iron/wire sculpture in one of the gov't buildings where she used to serve as department minister

Correntes Avenue - one of the more happening streets in BA which literally comes to life the moment the street lamps light up. This stretch is littered with theatres, coffee shops, and bookshops. The popularity of the latter totally impresses me. The publishing industry seems very active.  Argentina seems to be one of the few countries in the world with better regard and respect for writers and authors. Apparently, the gov't has recently approved a bill ensuring a better retirement/pension plan for authors. At least that's what  an NYT article say.

My first impression of Buenos Aires was that it is a pretty grim city, perhaps partly because of winter and the buildings along the airport road looking glum. But I realized later that the grim walls are mere facades hiding much more colorful interiors. There is this phenomenon called 'puertas cerradas' which literally means closed door I presume - bars/restaurants do not flaunt their signages. Most of them are tucked away behind grey walls with very tiny, almost indistinct symbol

One of the comic bars in the inner courtyards - yet another sign of life and laughter behind the walls.

Spice rack at an old cafe. Argentina is famous for its cafe scene - there's lots of decent coffee shops. And almost always, coffee is served with some sweet dish. I totally love the dulce de leche toppings - the taste reminds me of Philippines' yema. And there people really do talk to each other when they are together. I hardly saw anyone clicking/texting/talking on a phone while with another person in the coffee shops.





Portenos (Buenos Aires residents) are into theatre and music performances. I had a chance to listen to a Tango music concert in one of the salons near Correntes Avenue - a really beautiful, haunting performance. 

Beatles is famous there. They even have an eponymous museum

The Obelisk - the official icon of BuenosAires. Dont ask me why.  This is located at the intersection of Correntes and Avenue 9 de Julio - in honor of Argentina's Independence Day.That's one interesting thing about Buenos Aires, a few streets are named after remarkable dates. There's also Avenue de Mayo...which reminds me of some streets in Makati like 9 de Febrero 

One of the old buildings - the older part of town has heavy European influence. A large percentage of portenos have Spanish and Italian origin. I am not gonna pretend to be an expert on Argentina's history but I vaguely remember it was colonized by the Spanish as well (check your wiki if you are a student researching for your History class). And that's why we have the same empanada, dulce de leche, I think I am positively starving.
Signs that we are in familiar modern day terrain. Unfortunately Starbucks there doesn't offer city mugs. Sigh...that would have been my third City mug collection. The critical third mug that would have made me officially a city mug 'collector' (someone said that the technical definition of 'collection' is having 3 varieties/pieces). I asked the barista why they don't have it and he mumbled something about some gov't restriction. How so? And then of course I wish I listened more to my Spanish 3 professor so I could have conversed more decently with this guy who was willing to spill the bean some more. No, not the coffee bean but the gov't of Ms. Kirchner.

An apartment block, reminds me of Barcelona - again the heavy Spanish influence permeates across

The congress building...I think

The Congress Building

Billboards also abound - like some intersection at Welcome Rotunda in Manila

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