Well its been a busy past few days. I have seen, experienced and learned so much already. So day 2 was the day to get bearings. The first thing we did was to go for one of those corny bus tours around the norte de la cuidad. This way we could get a good idea of some of the barrios in the city. We visited a couple of the rico districtos en Buenos Aires. The first we stopped at is called Recoleta. This is the place where all the rich go to live, shop and die. I add in die because one of the first places we stopped by was the Cemerario de Recoleta. There is no way to do justice to describe this place in words. The architecture of the monuments to the dead are simply astonishing. Huge marble works of art 3 stories high. I will have to post some pictures to really do it justice. I only got a half hour or so to really take it in so I will have to go back and explore more. After this we got back on the tour bus and headed for Palermo. Palermo is kind of the chic trendy and hip area of the city. Not necessarily rich, but everything is pretty quaint. The buildings and architecture here are incredible. So many cafes and amazing looking apartments. Again here we only had a half hour at most before we had to leave so I will have to go back and see more. After this we went to a cafe for some lunch. This time we did better with the menu and actually got a salad with lettuce and other things instead of just a tomato. I finally got my first taste of a good frothy local beer. Here one of the major brands is called Quilmes. It is SO! good. I’ve been having a love affair with Quilmes ever since. After we ate we did some wandering around the city. First time I found myself in a sketchy area. I went down this little side street because it was curvy and kinda cool. Found myself surrounded by poor people sleeping on mattresses and playing soccer with a stuffed bag thing.. I wasn’t really worried, but it smelled really bad of pee and it could have been kinda bad. I walked through with conviction though and all was well.
In the evening I went back over to Grants place to see what was going on. This is when the now becoming infamous toilet experiment happened. I’ll try to load the video here, but if not you can see it on Grant’s facebook videos. All I can say here is.. the rumours are true. So up came another test in ordering in spanish and finding the surprise food after. In the past I had relied on Daniel… but after the tomato incident I figured i’d try to order on my own. I picked something off the menu that seemed like it was in a familiar section. Milanesa de lomo con demi glace y pimienta. Wasn’t sure exactly, but I figured it couldn’t be too bad. Dinner arrived for everyone else first. They got steaks and good stuff like that. My dinner never arrived. The panic attack started to set in.. Visions of them frying up the rats specially for me started to dance through my mind. What the hell is lomo anyways? Well a few minutes later my dinner arrived. It was fantastic! Milanesa de lomo turns out to be pork tenderloin and it was in an amazing demi glaze sauce with fresh peppercorns. Score 1 for Tyler! My dinner was very good and I ate every last bite. After dinner we checked out a cool tango show on the corner of avenida de florida and then headed home. Day 2 was pretty good.
Day 3 started out kinda late. I slept in until around 11:30 
I needed it though. Ash met me and we headed over to meet with the group. Shortly after we met them we were on our way out to La Plata to meet Grant and Hectors relatives. I got a ride with a friend of the family. In case I never mentioned before, driving in BsAs is nutbar! I’m starting to think they paint lines on the road as a marker to make sure you are straddling as you drive. We were all over the lanes all the time. This is normal though. Another car ride and I didn’t die so score 2 for Tyler. La Plata is a beautiful city south of BsAs. The family is on the outskirts of town. They are all so friendly and welcomed me with open arms. Right away Hector’s aunt gave me a big kiss on each cheek and tried to give me a more Spanish name. They don’t speak English so it was interesting watching daniel exercise the nut to translate for Hector and back to the family. I could understand most things and then reply the best I could. We all sat outside on the patio under the grape arbour and had snacks and drinks for hours. The patio and yard at the house is so beautiful. It was cozy to sit under the grape arbour with the light wind and have a traditional italian meal. Once it started getting dark Ash and I got on a bus back to BsAs. I really like La Plata and love my borrowed Spanish family
Today it wasn’t quite as hot because it was windy and a bit overcast. Only 27 today I think Went for a walk today around San Telmo. It is the old tango district with all the cobble stone streets and antique markets. Found so many restaurants that I will be visiting again soon too. Stopped for a tango show in a square. Tango is a beautiful dance. People are exceptionally talented here. After San Telmo, walked up avenida de mayo towards plaza congresso. Here there is a giant white houseesq building for congress and government. Stopped to take lots of pictures, but they are all still on the camera. After this kept walking further west into the barrios. Found one of the local barrios where all the regular middle class people eat and shop. Looked kinda like a west end neighbourhood.. well sorta. The walk continued. Although this time back towards home. By the time i got home I had been walking for about 5 hours. I sat down to read my Lonely Planet book to trace my adventure on the map and woke up at 6:30. I must have been tired or something. After my nap I headed out for some pizza and then off to a show. It was a tango music show. The band was a keyboardist, a bass guitarist and a guy on the sax. They ripped it up! Ha well in a tango jazz kinda way. The venue was a little underground caberet. Had a glass of red wine and let the music take me away. It was fantastic. They were very very good, and played with such charisma and character. The show was probably an hour or more long.. Cost.. $15 pesos or about $5 CAD. Pretty amazing. Well thats about all up to now. Still having the time of my life down here. I’ll add some more pictures as soon as I meet up with Grant and the computer again. Caio.
