Today is the first full day in the city. The temperature very comfortable at 75 degrees and the skies are clear and sunny.  An excellent day to do a little exploring around the city.  The problems of yesterday, though devastating, will not be allowed to ruin our vacation. My friend, is lucky that most of the photos were downloaded to an ipad and hopefully, reside in the mythical offsite storage system referred to as the “cloud”. The camera was an older one that will not fetch much cash for its thieves. Perhaps poetic justice will win the day.

The areas we will walk to are in the affluent sections of Buenos Aires called Ricoleto and Palermo.  Ricoleto are especially trendy with it old European buildings and tree lined streets which remind one of Paris.  Palermo is a little further away so we will only see a little of it but is surround by Parks, museums, and restaurants. Our first stop in Ricoleto was a cemetery call Cemetario de la Ricoleta. It’s adjacent to the church we encountered yesterday evening. Some of Buenos Aires most famous and wealthy residents are buried there. There are countless mausoleums. Lots of Madonna sculptures in every pose.  See a small section of the cemetery below.

 

CemetaryP1000937

 

One of its most internationally famous residents is Eva Peron (derisively called Evita).  If you don’t recognized the name then perhaps you remember the Broadway musical called “Evita !”.  There was a famous song in the musical called “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”. She was first lady of Argentina in the 1950’s, a position from which she wielded great power behind the scenes. She was a labor unionist and a feminist who pushed for the rights of women in Argentina The government is still sensitive about her legacy. She was buried in the simple family mausoleum under the surname Duarte in a veiled attempt to bury her anomalously and figuratively from the national history.  Today her accomplishments are appreciated. See the photos below:

 

Evita Peron's Burial Site

Eva Peron’s Burial Site

 

Name Plate on Side of Door

Name Plate on Side of Door

 

We spent the rest of the day trying to find a famous Jewish synagogue in that area. I am sure we will find it in our next attempt.  After World War II the Argentinian government offered refuge to Jews.  They also offered sanctuary to those of German descent, some of whom may have had National Socialist Party (NAZI’s) affiliations. As a result there are remnants of Jewish presence in the country as well as Italians, and other European nationals. “One big happy family” I’d say.

Signs of affluence.  Professional dog walkers everywhere!!  The dogs are big breeds. “big dog, big house”!

 

Signs of Affluence

Signs of Affluence

Another odd observation. See the leaning tree support by a post.  Apparently, they love their trees.

 

Tree held up by a post.

Tree held up by a post.

Some interior shots of our hotel. Great place, most of the front desk enjoy their jobs.

 

This is funny.  The all night convenience store proprietor dispenses your orders from behind a steel gate through a hole in the security gate. See the square hole.

 

 

Saw this wall of glass bottles in a bar while out to dinner.

 

BottlesP1000944

Night View of Buenos Aires borrowed from the Internet

This is the first day of the trip. I  had to get up at 4:30 AM this morning to catch an early flight into Miami. I will have to transfer from Delta Airlines to an Argentinian Airline called LAN.  Because the weather is unpredictable this time of year I booked an early flight into Miami.  I will have at least an 8 hour wait before departing for Argentina at 7:30 PM. The nine hour flight to Buenos Aires should get us there very early in the morning, probably exhausted.  The photo above is the obelisk or “Obelisco” in the center of Avenue 9 De Julio. Sorry but this is not my photo, unfortunately.  I hope to post my photos and some videos for the rest of this blog and maybe I can replace this one if I get a chance. Today my friend and I arrived in Buenos Aires ready to start an interesting 6 day tour of the city and environs.  We landed in Buenos Aires in the middle of a rain storm which made the city wet and the sky above, gloomy. The problems started immediately after departing the plane.  The first incident involved the no show of the transportion vehicle.  We were unaware of the  12  hour pre-arrival phone call we had to make.  It took a bit of work to resolve the transportation problem but it was solved when a second driver arrived wandering in the crowd with his little hand written sign.  So, off  we sauntered behind the rotund but quick walking driver into the pouring rain. He seemed a nice of enough fellow  but our communication attempts were abysmal. He spoke  very little English and we  spoke little Spanish.  We arrived at the hotel after a long ride through the busy streets of Buenos Aires. At the hotel ,unfortunately, we had  some problems also. This time there were issues with the bedrooms.  The rooms seemed nice enough, though small in girth with high ceilings. It’s very modern furniture beligh ;the history of this hotel which in its nadir, hosted the crème de la crème of the city in the early 20th century. The name “Savoy Hotel” harkens back to glamorous times of by-gone days. The elegance of the stairway, and lobbies reek of craftsmanship and and ambience. I suggest going online and Googling the “Savoy Hotel Buenos Aires”.. Dispite all the high praise there were problems.  My friends room safe was missing a door and my rooms’ TV remote control.  had corroded batteries in it.  They fixed the problems promptly and efficiently but made me wonder a bit. After getting our rooms, we crashed. We had flown about 9 hours out of Miami Airport and arrived quite early in the morning.  After meeting to decide how to spend the rest of the day, we decided to the visit a dramatically beautiful book

Book Store in Converted Theatre

El Ateneo Book Store in Converted Theatre

store created in a space which was formerly a stage and music theatre. The bookstore is called the El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore. We looking for a restaurant later in an area called the Recoleta area.  The rainy skies cleared  by evening. I took this photos with my camera photo of the 3/4 moon and a street light. LampandHalfMoonP1000932   The center piece the area is the Dazzier Tower Recolta. We were not able to go into the place at the late hour as the street lights came on. ChurchP1000931 It was a pretty evening so we headed back to the hotel; when the worst thing happened.  My friend was pick-pocketed. We stopped at an ice cream store for a cup of ice cream.  To young girls sat at a table behind us.  My friend, who stowed her camera in her knapsack  realized the knapsack had be unzipped and the contents removed just after the left the store.  In seconds they had undone the zippers and lifted her camera from her bag. What a shocker!!!