That’s probably not totally accurate…….there was a spring in my step right up until the time I sat down to write this blog post. Right now, I’m not sure that my feet would be able to muster up even a small bounce. My traveling companion, Lee, says that we have walked so much in the two days we have been here in Buenos Aires that her feet are now “bloody stumps”! She is so dramatic! HA! But, my new iPhone, that has an app that is dutifully tracking our steps, tells me that we have taken over 30,000 steps in the first two days of our trip. So, maybe Lee isn’t too far off! I will admit that it’s been a bit rigorous, but we both agree that it’s been fun! And, we are boarding a ship in two days to take a cruise around the Antarctic that begins with three “sea days”. So, we are getting our walking in now….we can rest on the ship!
Buenos Aires is quite a large city that is often divided up into nine sections. We are staying in a section called “Palermo”. It’s a quiet area that has a bit of a “neighborhood” feel to it. According to the tour books, it’s where the “cool” people stay and it is the hub of interesting ethnic dining in Buenos Aires. I’ll keep you posted on that. We were too tired to eat dinner last night after all the walking and jet lag. But, I can report that we had some really nice salads for lunch yesterday and our bed and breakfast provided us with one of the best breakfasts I have had in quite some time!
We have toured through about half of the sections, which are all quite different in feel. As a result, we have had quite a few different experiences. For example, today we walked through the quiet Puerto Madero area and enjoyed the sleepy parks and gardens and some interesting maritime related attractions.
We also walked through San Telmo, which is a maze of streets that are lined with all kinds of shopping. The streets are anchored in the center by a square filled with small cafes when one can sit, have a drink and watch the people pass by. It was quite touristy and very bussling.
In the center of the city, which is more of a government related section, we sat in a small square and watched several groups of protestors marching in front of the primary government building. We aren’t sure what they were concerned about, but it was interesting to watch and quite a contrast to the other things on our tour for today.
So far, I think the highlight for me was walking through the cemetery in the Recoletta section of the city on our first day here. It was quite peaceful. There’s something about wandering through an old cemetery that gives one pause for reflection. I like to think about the people that are remembered there and what they must have been like. It’s a continuation of my fascination with people in general. What makes people tick? I really need to know!
I found the layout of the cemetery to be very interesting. The mausoleums were lined up next to each other in rows like houses on a street, with the “streets” forming into something like a small town. There was a wide variety of architecture and design, which was interesting to see. There was no “cookie cutter” approach here. Each mausoleum was very different from its neighbor. Quite a few of them were very elaborate, but we saw some that were quite plain and one that was just a headstone. It was quite old. There were also a few that were undergoing renovation and had building permits on them. We found it interesting that one needed a building permit to renovate what is essentially a “grave”. But, there you have it.
I’m sure the permitting has to do with money. It seems everything has to do with money, which by the way is worth very little here in Buenos Aires. The economy is here is very bad, so the Argentine peso has very little value. It’s good situation for us tourists, but not so good for the people living here. A little sad for the Argentine people.
All in all, it’s been a good start for us. We are getting ready to head out now to what I think will be a very interesting dinner. I’ll tell you about it on the next post.
Buenos Noches!
Travel With Betsy 
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