4 Buenos Aires 3; 309 km

The last days in B.A. It cooled down a lot due to the rain. The wind had also picked up at night so we could open the windows of the apartment and did not have to use the aircon. We had some relaxing days. Got up late and only left the apartment in the afternoon.

Saturday we took the bus to La Boca (the harbor). This is an old harbor area where goods (primarily meat) was shipped out from the 1880’s onwards. The local museum shows painting from Benito Martin of how it was in the past. Note that this series of paintings spans the 20’s to the 60’s. The sails have been replaced by diesel and the style got less detailed and more colorful towards the end of the artist life (70). The area (La Boca) is known for its painted houses, street café’s and bazaar. There is also the chance to having your picture taken with one of the local tango dancers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we again took the bus to the up market town area of Palermo.  The idea was to stroll around the Plaza Serrano. However due to the rain most stalls were closed and the visitors were sheltering in the many bars and restaurants. We followed suit. Later on we walked down the tree lined streets back to the main park area.

 

Along the way we paid a visit to Eva Peron’s museum which is located in a nice old house. It exhibits several of her dresses and other paraphernalia. There are also films and recordings of her speeches. In the end she was only first lady for some 7 years before she died due to cancer in 1952 at the age of 33.

 

Close by the museum is the Japanese Garden. The rain had stopped so we went inside. A Japanese drummer band was playing. A pleasant garden to stroll around with its numerous types of trees and ponds full of koi (fish).

 

 

Monday, our last day in Buenos Aires was taken up by a visit to the overwhelming Opera house, Theatro Colon. The opera house was built between 1890 and 1922. It was the high point of Argentina. No cost were spared. All material (marble) and artists were imported from Italy. At that time there were more Italian speakers in BA than Spanish. A bit up the road another theater was converted into a large bookshop.  Again an impressive one.

 

 

 

 

We took the bus back to the penthouse. On the way Rudy dropped in to the camera shop only to hear that his zoom lens cannot be repaired. The back-up Sony RAIII will have to do. After some money changing (1$=19.3 AR$) we settled down in the penthouse for the last time and will go out later to the excellent Parrilla café which has a continuous barbeque going.