Walking Around Downtown BA

We had a busy day today but only because it started kind of late. We took the subway, the "Subte" (which i can only assume is hort for "sub-terranean"), for the first time today. Yes, we`ve been here a whole week and we are just now getting around to trying out the subway system, a mere four blocks from our place. I`d like to believe this is simply a sign that there is plenty to do and see in our neighbourhood and surrounding area. We have been busy everyday walking and exploring Palermo and Recoleta, getting familiar with the main streets and landmarks. And of course, taking pictures. But today we signed up for Spanish lessons (which start monday) and on our way home from the Spanish school, we decided to take a wander around the architecture-packed central area. Then we walked through Calle Floridda (Florida street), which is a famous and trendy pedestrian-only shopping street that leads outwards from the core of town. This whole area (sometimes reffered to as "Microcentro" and featured prominently on postcard racks throughout the country) has so many amazing old buildings that if i tried to take pictures of them all today i would certainly run out of memory on my camera. These classically styled monuments to Argentina`s Colonial and European heritage provide a backdrop to crowded avenues and busy sidewalks, which is where the real stories of Buenos Aires have unfolded for centuries. I took only a few pictures since i plan to do many more thorough visits to this area in the near future. Tonight we were supposed to go out and see some of the BA nightlife but we were so tired and hungry that when we got home i made some delicious Milanesa (a breaded and fried meat dish) and took a nap. Most of the pictures are in the facebook album but here are a couple examples. Enjoy!

Just Around The Corner

Today Ulala and i spent a lovely day at the zoo here in Buenos Aires. It is just a short walk from our apartment and we had a perfect sunny day that needed some enjoying. The Zoo was fun and i always love seeing the variety of creatures (though i am not a fan of seeing them penned up, per se. The sheer diversity and imagination of the evolutionary process is stunning. My mind has been blown.

The zoo itself was much like the rest of BA - old and faded. Which isn`t to say that it was bad. Just a little worn out. There is another blog by an American expat named Jeff Barry living here in the city called "Buenos Aires: City of Faded Elegance". This is an accurate and poetic way to describe this lovely city. As for pictures from the zoo there are too many to post here so i have posted them in facebook for anyone who cares to take a look. Another excellent blog about BA and one man`s attempt to map it and walk it`s entirety is "Line of Sight" written by another American expat named Robert Wright.

But, on that note, now it is late and i am tired and our TV is broken so i am off to bed. I`ll just post this one picture i took today of the quaint little street that is next to ours. This is just around the corner from our place:

Cars of Buenos Aires

I`ve found it! The place where all those old rusted husks of cars come to live again! Argentines aren`t much on maintainence of, well, anything really. But the fact that they can keep some of these scrap-metal-on-wheels moving is impressive. This is, of course, to say nothing of emmissions testing or anything of the sort. They haven`t even heard of that here! In fact, judging from the sound of some of the mechanical undead beasts that roar past our apartment, many haven`t heard of mufflers, either. But i do like the look of the old rusted-out cars.

The Little Toaster That Couldn`t

This is our toaster. i think. that`s what we`re using it for anyway. One side at a time.... It`s kind of like torturing your bread before you eat it.

Pictures

Sinec i am as yet unable to figure out why i can`t upload pictures to Blogger here is trhe link to my pictures in Facebook. These are just a few snaps from our first few days in Buenos Aires. Enjoy!

Facebook Gallery of Buenos Aires

Welcome to BUENOS AIRES!!

Bin a long time
shouldn`a left you
without a dope blog
to read thru.

There will be lots more pictures and entries from the rest of my time in Canada (LOTS more) but first a brief update is needed. Ulala and i flew down to Buenos Aires on Thursday night and arrived Friday around mid-afternoon and got settled into our new place sin problemo (without problem). BA has been interesting so far. The city itself is terribly dirty but the people seem very friendly and i`m really looking forward to exploring the city and the culture more. Our place is in Palermo area, which is trendy and known for shopping. We`ve walked around our neighbourhood a bit and found the grocery stores (in which, to my delight, i found massive bottles of Heineken and Stella for roughloy a dollar Canadian!!) and pharmacies and an electronics shop. We also passed many fashion boutiques along Santa Fe avenue and judging by the window displays, i am going to really like it here in Summer (It`s Spring here now, for all my Northern Hemisphere amigos). Most importantly right next to our building is a fabulous wine and cheese shop, those being two things Argentines do exceptionally. There are shelves upon shelves stacked to the ceiling with bottles of red and white and then at the back there are stacks of HUGE cheese wheels. Wheels! Whole bigger-than-your-head wheels of cheese! The only real drawback to this is that when you enter or exit our building you can smell the cheese. It`s a little weird. And we`ve been checking out the selection on Argentine TV which has included a few episodes of Los Simpsons en Espanol (and since i know most of the episodes by heart i can use it to practice my Spanish!) and a ridiculous number of Denzel Washington movies. No joke! We haven`t watchjed any in their entirety yet but so far we have come across four of his movies in less than two days! Germans love David Hasslehoff and Argentines love Denzel Washington. On that odd note i have to post this without pictures since we do have internet but for some reason i can`t upload photos. I`ll figure it out tomorrow. =)

Fredericton

I`m actually writing this from the comfort and boredom of Morristono Ontario, having just returned (four days ago) from a lovely trip out East to Shediac, New Brunswick where i got an awesome tan, swam in the ocean lots, and got to hang out with the McDaniels family (who are very close friends of ours). The McDaniels actually live in Fredericton (which is why the last post was from a hotel room - the hotel being right across the street from their house!). On Sunday July 29th Joan (the matriarch of the McDaniel Clan) took us all to see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "Musical Ride", which is a performance of precision horse riding set to music. One might think "Dancing horses? Really?" But actually it was quite entertaining and the riding was very impressive. Here are some photos of the day: