Buenos Aires and La Plata, Argentina

Yesterday we did not have much planned until the afternoon, so we took it easy in the morning.  Spodek took Amanda and I to a famous café called Café Tortoni.  It is a fancy historic café located in the heart of the city.  I ordered my usual café con leche and some pastries called medialunes.  Medialunes are very common to Argentina.  Breakfast was great, but I felt somewhat out of place; everyone was so dressed up, and there I was in my hiking boots.  Regardless, I was glad to visit when we did because we walked by today and there was a line outside that stretched two doors down.

We left the café and wandered around the neighborhood for a while before heading to the San Telmo district.  In San Telmo there is a nice square surrounded by cafes and shops.  There is also a market with local foods and trade.  Spodek bought three bananas, I bought three loaves of bread, and Amanda bought a block of white cheese.  We split the food among us and had lunch in the square.  It was two dollars each.  Cheap and delicious!

We met with the rest of the group back at the hostel and left for a short bus trip to La Plata.  In La Plata we first visited Le Corbusier’s project, a private home Casa Curutchet.  Le Corbusier is a “starchitect” famous for his mastery of the five points of architecture.  I really respect his work because mastery of design it is something that cannot be achieved by many.  That being said, this house seemed too sterile to live in.  The design was fantastic; I don’t think I would be comfortable living there though.  It is divided into two sections, a private residence and a public doctor’s office with an open air breezeway.  Cool, but not necessarily my favorite style of architecture. 

Also in La Plata we visited La Plata Cathedral.  The outside was amazing as the scale dominated the surrounding city.  I have seen a lot of cathedrals, but I would rank the exterior of this one in my top 10 favorite cathedrals.  Unfortunately the interior wasn’t quite as impressive.  I mean, it was still amazing, but I don’t think it made my top favorite list.  Seeing all these cathedrals makes me miss Europe. 

The cathedral was our last stop in La Plata before we headed back to Buenos Aires.  From our hostel, we walked to San Telmo again and got a quick tour of the neighborhood from Ana.  Her apartment is located in the same area.  We sat for a while at San Telmo’s oldest café and enjoyed a quality cup of joe!  If you can’t tell, coffee shops are quickly becoming my favorite part of this trip.  South American culture is very much rooted in coffee (and mate) and I love it!  There really is nothing better than coffee and conversation with friends. 

After coffee, we had group dinner at a favorite restaurant of Ana’s.  It sure didn’t look like much from outside, but the food was great, a hidden gem!  We headed across the street to get gelato at a place, again recommended by Ana.  It was gelato, so of course it was fantastic!  After gelato we walked down to the main square to observe all the festivities happening for the holiday weekend.  Live music dominated the square as we watched musicians and dancers perform on a stage in front of the Pink House (Argentina’s equivalent of America’s White House).  It was so fun!  It is stupid but seeing the national pride of Argentinians almost brought tears to my eyes.  It is amazing to think about what they had to go through to get freedom.  I wish there was more pride like that in America.

Staying in a hostel complicates several things while traveling.  The thing that hurts most right now is the fact that I do not have a place to wash my clothes.  If we were in a hotel, I could wash them in the sink, no problem; however, at the hostel there are dorm style bathrooms.  I am not about to wash my clothes in a community sink.  So I improvised and washed them in the shower, while I was also showering.  It was not the easiest, but it got the job done.  Really though, this hostel life is not for me.  Thank goodness the traveling makes it all worth it.