Once we settled into the hotel, we went to find some Argentine food! We hadn’t eaten a meal since breakfast on the airplane several hours before, and we still needed to exchange or withdraw money. Getting pesos was a long-winded and painful experience, but it was standing between me and my lunch. I was eventually the victor in that battle and we went to Pizza Guerrín, which was quite famous and very good. That evening, Lauren, Bryan and I went to see the Congress building and walked around there for a while. It was Bridgette’s 21st birthday that night, so we went to a steak restaurant. The twelve people there took up most of the restaurant, which was fun.
The next morning, the group had media lunas for breakfast and got ready to go on a tour around the city. Until this point, I had never been on an open bus tour. I know it sounds silly, but I have always thought I was being more true to the city by not being that kind of tourist. GK Chesterson said that “the traveler sees what he sees, the torist sees what he has come to see.” After a lengthy day of touring on a bus, however, I will say that it was pretty nice to see what I came to see in Buenos Aires. Also, at the end of the year, the banks throw paper out their office windows to celebrate the coming of a new year, so it felt like we were in a parade. We saw some pretty cool sights and we also visited my favorite barrio—La Boca. It is an exciting place where the houses form a rainbow of vivid colors.
I noticed when I was wandering around just how many bookstores there are in Buenos Aires. It feels as though there are a few of them every block. I think it reflects positively on Argentina when there are more bookstores than bars in the capital city. A famous Argentine author—Jorge Luis Borges said “I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” That day, we also all learned about the hole in the ozone layer over Buenos Aires—the hard way. Most of the group was sunburned that evening.
We had a lot of free time over the next few days and as Walt Whitman would say that “the beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves” are freeing. The next morning, we slept in and went to see la Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosa. In the Plaza de Mayo I delighted anyone in a three-foot radius with a charming rendition of “Buenos Aires” from Evita. We, then, went to go eat lunch at Café Tortoni. It’s famed because world leaders and thinkers have been going there for centuries. It also is supposed to have pretty good food. The line, unfortunately, was around two hours long. We decided that seeing the outside was sufficient for us. We went to a café a couple blocks down the road, which was delicious. I had a tropical salad with salsa golf dressing. It was interesting. The tropical salad was palm hearts, pineapples, tangerines, and apples, and the salsa golf dressing was mayonnaise and ketchup mixed together. I also had a submarino, which was absolutely delicious. They give you hot milk and a chocolate bar to melt in it. Basically, it is hot chocolate, but it feels much more unique and appetizing here.
Earlier we had noticed that many of the nearby streets were blocked off, but we didn’t know why. All the sudden, there were dozens of runners on the street. There was a marathon. It was very exciting. We all cheered for them as they passed. At that point, I thought about how refreshing the winds were in the sweltering city. It occurred to me, Buenos Aires… Los Buenos Aires de Buenos Aires. I have never been in a more aptly named city. Then, we went back to the hotel and got ready for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
This is great!
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