Architecture

Teo

Buenos Aires is known for its architecture . . . or it must be. How else would my friend, Natalia, in Ukraine know about the Casa Rosada? Anyhow, the same was said by Teo. He also mentioned that Buenos Aires was a mix of Jewish, Italian, and Spanish culture. I can attest to that (in fact, we live in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where people, of course, speak Spanish and pride themselves on homemade ravioli). Back to Teo . . .  well, he's not the poodle that lives down the hall from us, but a chap by the same name who was our tour guide last Saturday afternoon.

Yes, we broke down and decided to something touristy. It was actually kind of fun. There is a company (three guys who like to party, I imagine) who have advertised themselves online as giving "free" tours. They meet interested travelers at a designated meeting spot in the center of town and lead them through the city for about 2 1/2 hours, then you tip what you think you can afford. We ended up tipping around 12 bucks - I know, I'm generous. But it was somewhat entertaining.

Before the tour started, Joe and roamed around buying media lunas (kind of like croissants and integral to Porteño society), and watching parades. We hadn't realized it but it was Independence Day - Nueve de Julio - July 9.  So we enjoyed snapping some pictures of the gaucho-clad young men and other revelers - it was only 11 in the morning!

Avenide 9 de Julio

Teo arrived 25 minutes late looking like he just rolled out of bed. He apologized but also said he had been late for his last tour as well. We thought it was part of the shtick of acting the proverbial role of the Argentine who is never on time. Somewhat charming, I guess. He had great conversational English and imparted his uncensored opinion at each viewing point. This was a tour of the architecture of central Buenos Aires. I know if I hadn't taken the tour, I would never have stopped to look up and absorb the truly beautiful details of the buildings. It was really a good thing to do now that we've been here 5 months!

We started at the "Congreso" where the congress "works" - Teo had that 'two hooked fingers on both hands' gesture down pat . . . wink wink! The next building was "Confiteria del Molino" an old building with a windmill motif - in need of repair - apparently the city is forbidden from tearing it down because there is an ordinance protecting the homeless that are living there. It makes you wonder if it could be renovate it to make proper public housing as it is a beautiful building. We made our way down Avenida de Mayo with it's residence-turned-office buildings with one that is the original version of the building replicated in our Montevideo post. We made a stop at the Plaza de Mayo where the mothers and grandmothers still march in memory of "the disappeared" taken from them during the military dictatorship in the late 1970's and 80's. According to Teo, these "mothers and grandmothers" have recently been seduced by government monies to form a type of political party which has distanced them from some who used to support their cause.

Panorama including Confiteria del Molino

We also saw the Casa Rosada (The Pink House - doesn't have the same ring to it in English) where Evita used to wave from the balconies with the shaded windows. We took a few breaks and meandered toward the Obelisk where our tour ended. Teo was a likeable guy who has a strong passion for his country when it comes to football. When it comes to talking about politics or grafitti, he was apalled. However, he'd never want to live anywhere else and continues leading his "free tours" of BsAs.