| Apr 20, 2006 - Buenos Aires, Argentina (the final time)
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 | The clock tower in southern Buenos Aires
| | Clock tower and Argentina flag
| | Another from the same scene
| | Look who I found again on Avenida Florida!
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 | These are the same guys from my first time in Buenos Aires in February
| | Basilica church
| | Another of the Basilica
| | Casa Roja and Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires
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 | Kids feeding birds in Plaza de Mayo
| | One more of the kids with the birds
| | A lake in the Palermo woods
| | More from Palermo woods
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| Monday was another slow bounce around day for me, and on Tuesday I was able to meet up with Maggie for lunch. Maggie is another friend of mine I met while living in Tahoe, but she had been away (actually working in Vail) when I was last here in February and had that amazing BBQ dinner with Sole and Flor. So we had a great lunch and some quick catchup time of the past few years, and I was glad I was successfully able to visit all four of the friends I have in South America from my Tahoe days.
For the rest of the week I perfected my "somehow pass an entire day in a foreign place while seemingly doing absolutely nothing" routine. One day I went to the Palermo woods, a large beuatiful park in the Palermo section of BsAs, and on my last night I made it to a River Plate soccer game at their local stadium. That was a very real cultural experience. I had a good time going to the games when I was in Cuenca, Ecuador, but this was Argentina, land of soccer fanatacism, and I was glad to be able to witness it first hand. The stadium was bigger, the players better, and the fans crazier than what I had witnessed in Ecuador. If you remember, when I was in Salta Argentina back in December I watched the Latin Cup finals between involving a team from Argentina. That team was Boca Juniors which are the local rivals to River, somewhat like the Yankees-Mets thing in New York. Well, after going to this game, and watching River pull out a 1-0 vicotry with a goal in the final minutes, I now have to pledge my allegiance for the rest of eternity to the glorious side of River Plate in this rivalry.
One more story from this time in Buenos Aires. As I said, I had been in touch with Carmin, who was now basking in the beauty of Florianopolis, trying to figure out if, when, and how we could meet up again for a joint journey back to Bolivia. I knew his Brazil visa was running out this week, yet had lost contact with him and knew nothing of his plans. So on Tuesday while at an internet cafe I get an email from Carmin telling me he was actually in Buenos Aires, had decided last minute to come through and meet up, and that he was again staying at The Clan hostel. I wrote back quickly for him not to move, and that I would be there in 5 minutes. I hurriedly paid for my time, and was heading down the street when I hard someone call my name from behind. I look back and see Carmin, standing inside the doorway of the cafe I had just left. Without knowing it because we were sitting on opposite sides, Carmin and I had been emailing each other trying to figure out the other's whereabouts from the same random and small internet cafe in the center of Buenos Aires! It was a divine reunion. We embraced, recounted our most recent adventures, and lamented the absence of the rest of our travelling brotherhood. So the majority of that week was also spent with Carmin, and to further my surprise he had brought along Hugh and some of the other guys that I had met while in Floripa, who had stayed much longer and become friends with Carmin as well. Friday it was finally time to leave, after a sad goodbye to this wonderful capital city. The frutilla del postre as they say. Carmin and I were on our way north for the final time. |
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