Buenos Aires 2006
For part of May and June of 2006 I went to Argentina. I went
to Buenos Aires to visit my friend Andrés, who I knew from my first year as an
exchange student in Germany. What made the trip even cooler was that my friend José was
also going to be in Argentina then (talking to him was actually the inspiration
for the trip). The three of us first painted Buenos Aires a nice shade of rouge,
and then José and I went to the northwest of the country for a week of trekking.
In this page, I'll show pictures from the city. You can go
here to see pictures from the
trekking José and I did in the northwest of Argentina.
A picture from my first asado, which is a traditional
Argentinean barbeque. Here is Nacho with a large tray of meat parts. This was
only a fraction of the meat that we ate that evening. It was heavenly.
Argentinean asados promise non-stop meat-on-grill action!!
Apparently there's an idiomatic expression that says a person
being cheated on has horns. So, we all stood in front of a mounted deer head at
a house party. Here's Santiago...
...Andrés...
...Nacho...
...and me.
This sort of thing is always happening to me. At least when I
don't understand exactly what's going on and my friends convince a bunch of
drunk girls to take a picture with the Yankee.
In general, for me Argentina came across as a mix between
Latin America, Europe, and the US. So I don't know what part of that equation is
represented by this horse-drawn cart, but it looked cool to me. I saw it while
Andrés and I were waiting for a bus into town.
This is really just one of those crappy pictures that you take
while sitting in a car, but for some reason I like way it looks. It's taken from
a freeway on the way into Buenos Aires. Being a passenger in a Latin American
car is akin to sitting on a couch watching someone play Gran Tourismo on the
PlayStation.
This is me in front of a tree that was hundreds of years old.
How many hundreds of years? I'm not sure. But at least a few.
A park and a cool building in Buenos Aires. It was winter when
I was there, but there were quite a few days of nice weather.
A memorial to the soldiers that died in the war between the
British and Argentines for the Falkland Islands.
Here's a picture of the Casa Rosada, where the President of
Argentina works. It's also where Evita did her thing from the balcony.
These kerchiefs are in the same plaza as the Casa Rosada, and
they serve to commemorate the efforts of the Mothers of the Disappeared. They
are a group of mothers who held vigil in the square for years and years to
demand to know what happened to their sons, most of whom were "disappeared"
during Argentina's earlier dictatorial rule.
An old crane in the harbor district of Puerto Madero.
Me in front of the boat museum La Fragata Presidente Sarmiento.
The boat used to be for cadets that had successfully graduated from the naval
academy. After completing their training, they'd sail around the world for a
combination of skills practice and reward.
A "spy photo" of a few people enjoying the sun in front of the
museum boat.
The front of the Sarmiento's hull.
These next few pictures are from the Tigre Delta, on the
outskirts of Buenos Aires. It is a beautiful, mostly natural area where all the
inhabitants travel by boat. We took a canal tour for a few hours.
I believe this house in the glass belonged to the former
President Sarmiento.
Me and Andrés on the boat.
In the town of Tigre, there are many traditional rowing clubs
that have their own club houses for entertaining. This is the house of the club
that Andrés used to row with.
A building in Tigre that used to house a casino.
Look for me in an upcoming episode of Pimp My Fiat, featuring
Andrés' sister's car.
Although this may actually be a "crappy" picture, I kind of
like it. It's the reflection of a store window in the San Telmo district of
Buenos Aires.
A lady walking by her store in a shopping enclave in San Telmo.
Parking for Playas only. All other lowriders will be towed.
Many of the store fronts and signs throughout the city are
hand-painted. Here is a sign on an antique store in San Telmo.
A picture from inside Buenos Aires' famous Cafe Tortino, where
people have chilled and shot the shit for generations.
Andrés and I inside Cafe Tortino.
The Obelisco, one of Buenos Aires' most famous landmarks.
Much of my free time at Andrés' house was spent playing pool
with him and his friends. Here's a picture of Nacho after he sunk the eight ball
(and only the eight ball) on the break, thereby winning the game. I would have
never thought this was possible, but in Argentina, dreams do come true.
Andrés and Nacho at Caferata, a Cafe where we also spent a lot
of free time.
This was the night that José arrived from Mexico. He was
pretty wiped out, but he still had enough energy to drink some beers and pose
for some lovely pictures.
Most of these pictures from Caferata are dark and sometimes
blurry because I turned off my camera's flash. When the flash was on, the
pictures were often too posed, and there were many instances of my poor lens
being flipped off. With the flash off, though, you get more natural photos like
this one.
Santi and Andrés.
Here José is either explaining something very interesting to
Andrés, or else he's just spouting some baffling bullshit.
Relaxing back at the farm. These two played their guitars and
sang, while the less musically-inclined were left to listen, enjoy, and take
photos.
José brought a World Cup sticker book and a case of stickers
with him. Both of which became a fun phenomenon for us. The person who lost a
game of pool would put the stickers in the book while the other two played.
Sometimes, though, stickers went bad. These are a few players
from our "Dream Team."
Another asado in San Antonio de Areco, a small town near
Buenos Aires that the three of us visited one day.
José being creepy.
José being even creepier. This man should perhaps not be given
sharp objects.
Our own, personal, table-side sausage party.
A spy photo of some kids and an old man fishing on a walkway.
A new friend that followed us around San Antonio for a while.
An old bridge in San Antonio de Areco that has been restored.
An old gaucho couple in San Antonio enjoying the sun.
At a party back in Buenos Aires. Featuring Andrés, a distorted
José, and Danni.
Andrés with a big guy in a hat.
Danni partying. Many of these party photos were taken by
Andrés.
José doing what he does best: wooing women with his seductive
dances.
See, it worked. Of all my friends, José is the one most like
Lando Calrissian.
Well, mostly.
Leandro, José, and Andrés.
An artsy picture Andrés took.
One day, we went to an island called Martin Garcia, on the
river Plata, right near Uruguay. We flew with Juan Pablo, a friend of Andrés.
Somehow, many of his friends are pilots, so we got a good deal by flying out in
a little plane. The trip and the island were both incredible. Here's the airport
we left from.
José psyched about the upcoming trip.
Me with José, who by this time is less psyched due to a sharp
banking maneuver the plane made directly after takeoff.
Andrés at the controls.
La Isla Martin Garcia from the air.
The island is a former military installation, and even used to
have a prison that housed many former presidents, including Juan Peron. Here's
an abandoned canon near the old barracks.
A lady and a stray cat hanging out.
More abandoned military stuff.
Andrés, José, and Juan Pablo in the remains of the jail that
used to house Peron and other political leaders.
It was Sunday, so this building was closed, but it still seems
to be a safe assumption to say that this is probably one of the world's
crappiest bazaars.
Pretty leaves.
A few cool pictures from a cemetery on the island.
This can only mean one thing: More Zombies!!
The end of a great day and a unique experience.
Speaking of cemeteries, these next few pictures are from
Cementerio de la Recoleta, a huge, elaborate cemetery in the middle of Buenos
Aires. As Andrés' father said, all the people they name the streets after are
buried here.
This picture hopefully gives a sense of the size of the
cemetery's monuments and tombs, as well as the idea that it's right in the city,
with the high-rises directly in the background.
From the tomb of Eva Peron ("Evita").
Some of these get really elaborate...
...like this one, also. Here's Andrés and José in front of one
of the largest tombs.
Looking through a cross-shaped window into one of the tombs.
Plenty of tourists visit Recoleta.
When I took this picture at Recoleta, José said it wouldn't
work because it's "too artsy." I think it's OK, as long as I don't give it a
lame caption like "Time has run out for the denizens of Recoleta." Oh crap, I
guess I just did.
Andrés and I in the middle of the city.
The three of us, shortly before
the trek that José and I went on.
Here we're eating alfajores, some tasty Argentine deserts.