Buenos Aires, the return!

Firstly, can I apologise for two things:

1. The lack of photos in my last post. There was a problem with the wifi in my last place and I thought they'd loaded, but they obviously didn't. I've reuploaded them and if an email isn't sent to you, the link to see them is: http://andreagoesexploringagain.blogspot.com.ar/2018/04/mar-del-plata-to-tandil-where-i-finally.html 

2. The poor spelling and grammar lately. I'm having real problems with my little keyboard, in particular T is becoming very temperamental. I do check them, but obviously the beer didn't help with the review of the last post!

For the last few days I've been back in Buenos Aires, where this trip started! Had a horrible journey here as the bus was so old and rickety. It rained all the way here and the bus leaked really badly! Thank heavens it wasn't anywhere near full as we all had to keep moving as new areas started leaking - the upper floor turned into a lake that much water came in!!

It was wonderful coming back to Buenos Aires though and knowing where I was! This time I'm staying in a hostel on Avenida de Mayo, close to where I was before but to the west of the main Avenida de 9 Julio, close to the congress building and opposite the Dante building (I can see this from my bed when I wake up!) for those who know the city.

On the Saturday, I decided to take a trip up to Tigre which is in the very north of Buenos Aires and is situated on the delta. There is a large market there selling crafts and weirdly lots of furniture. It was a nice place to pass a few hours but not hugely exciting. However, I did do a boat trip on the delta 

which was really good fun. It was really interesting seeing the houses and restaurants along the water

And the boats lifts!

The delta is huge, this picture gives you some idea - if I tell you this is just a tiny part of it!

The train journey there is stupidly cheap. With a Sube card it costs just $9ARG return (about 30p), but it was fascinating all the things people tried to get you to part with money in exchange for on the journey. This is just on the way there:

Busker on Pan pipes

Electric watches

Paintbrushes 

Socks

Spice pot

Hershey's chocolate bars

Disabled man asking for money

Dusters and tea towels 

Chewing gum 

When I got back I was quite tired so I had some food and then was about to go to bed when a light show started on the Dante building. 

It was brilliant! Anyway, as I was watching it, Amarjit, from Singapore came out to look at it too and we ended up getting a beer from the hostel and sat chatting until 1am! So much for my early night! But this was a much better thing to do than sleep.

The next morning I got up and had planned to do the La Boca tour. Anyway, it was as I was leaving the hostel that I remembered the tours didn't run on Sundays! So I did a quick reshuffle of my plans and did the walking tour of Recoleta instead. It was so interesting. I saw a bit of BsAs that I'd not seen before. Again, the architecture in this city is fascinating. This building is symmetrical and so has a large building the left as part of it too. 

This was originally someone's house!! It's now the building for international affairs...

We also saw the monument to Las Malvinas (Falklands) 

and our guide, Juan Cruz gave a really interesting insight to the war, why it happened, and how it's treated by the current government. Something I think I'll probably read a bit more about. I suspect with its strange algorithms though, Google may not give me unbiased information so that's gonna be one to research when I get back!

One of the saddest areas we went to was where a terrorist bomb had exploded at the Israeli Embassy. They planted trees in honour of those who died and have kept the outline of the building. Very moving.

On the tour I met Andy again - the guy I'd met in the hostel in Punta Arenas who'd commented on the British accent! He was going to be flying back to Australia that night but it was good to see him again and hear what he'd been up to since we last saw each other. I also met a lovely retired couple from Ottawa, Jean and Cindy. When the tour finished (at an amazing fig tree, these are the roots!), 

the three of us headed down to San Telmo market together. When I'd been there with Brian and Grainne it had rained so I wanted to experience it in the sun! The three of us had a lovely time wandering through the market, we got lunch together and then after we said bye, following the obligatory selfie

I headed back to Plaza Providencia to see if the tango dancers were there which they were so I got to see them performing which was great!

Today I did the tour of La Boca. This is the area of BsAs where Tango originated and was one of the major ports in the areas and where many of the immigrants lived originally. As the port closed the area become almost a living museum and is incredibly colourful. 

And of course, is the home of the La Boca football team Club Atlético Boca Juniors and we ended the tour at the stadium!

It's one of the areas that is deemed to be less safe, and one of the reasons I did the tour. It was good to do to learn stuff about the area but really, not sure safety is a reason for doing it. The touristy areas are pretty clear and there are police everywhere so you feel safe.

After eating a very large lunch, I headed back to the hostel as this afternoon I did a guided tour of Palacio Barolo, the building based on Dante's Divine Comedy which I'd mentioned in my original post on BsAs. It is an amazing building. Everything about it links back to the Divine Comedy, Such as:

1. The  basement floors represent hell;

2. There are 14 floors, 2 for each of the 7 deadly sins representing purgatory, the lifts stop a floor 14;

3. There are a further 7 floors for ascent to heaven where there is a different lift and a slowly narrowing set of stairs and eventually you reach the lighthouse (floor 22) which is paradise; 

4. There are 7 lifts and 22 floors. 22/7 = 3.14 (pi), the circle is seen as perfection; 

5. There are 9 vaulted archways in the lobby to represent the 9 circles of hell;

6. It's 100m high representing the 100 songs in Dante's work;

7. There are 22 floors for the 22 verses of the poem.

And so it goes on!

These flowers on the ground floor used to have red lights under them so it even looked like hell was below you. 

The views from the top were amazing! We also got to go up to the lighthouse which gives a great upside down view of BsAs!

On the way down we stopped on the 14th floor to see some more views and  it was amazing as the sun was setting.

From here we went to see an office from the 1920s when the building was erected which was really interesting and contains the original furniture.

From there we made our way back to the start of purgatory and the tour finished!

I have had a wonderful few days here. I really feel like I've done most of the things I'd missed out on the first time round. There are still a few more to do but I wanted a reason to return to this amazing city which really has become one of my favourites. Here's one last picture of the congress building which I could see in its full glory this time as the scaffolding had been removed from the Plaza in front of the building.

Tomorrow I get the ferry to Colonia, and head into Uruguay, country 39!