That's right: for the first time ever, a white guy is going travelling in South America. Read about my adventures as I travel the continent and try my best not to steal or conquer anything.

May 25, 2006

A visit from dad; a little vacation

I was fortunate enough to have a visit from dad last weekend, and we both had a great time. It's nice to be able to show someone around city - makes one realize how much one has really absorbed - and I got to do some of the more touristy things that I often don't get around to. I had never even been to San Telmo on a weekend. Pathetic! Rather than narrate the whole trip, I'll just drop in some photos that we took, and add some commentary.


Colonia del Sacramento is a pretty and historic village right across the river from BsAs in Uruguay. It makes for a natural day-trip for porteños looking to escape the pace of the big city, and for gringos who need a new 90-day visa from Argentine immigration.


The beautiful Iglesia Matriz on the north side of the Plaza de Armas in Colonia.


Dad and I enjoying a parillada, which is a selection of various cuts of beef brought out on a little grill, which is visible in the centre of the table near the front. I enjoyed the bife de lomo and the bife de chorizo (both cuts of steak); I took down the chorizo (sausage) and was a little thrown by the morcilla (blood sausage), but I've developed a taste for it now; the liver and tripe I could only handle in smaller doses. But we did a pretty good job overall.


San Telmo on a weekend reminds me a lot of Las Ramblas in Barcelona, only with more tango.


Che says . . . "for love, use condoms". Thanks Che.


Here's the beginning of a series from Recoleta Cemetery. Recoleta Cemetery is more like a miniature village of masoleums in which Argentina's aristocratic dead are not so much buried as stored. It is said that a property here of just a few square feet costs more than virtually any estate in the rest of the country. Naturally, everyone buried here was born into one of Argentina's elite families, except for a common farm girl who managed to marry up and sneak in. Hardly proper.


More of the cemetery.


Needless to say, the architecture of the cemetery and the surrounding city are often incompatible.


No shortage of angels to keep watch.


Dad found the dog walkers quite funny. Since porteños are far too busy and important to walk their own dogs, they hire professionals who take large packs of them all at once throughout the city. The dogs are permitted to hang out in the park and make a mess wherever they see fit.


From the Plaza de Mayo.


We were there just before May 25, which is one of the Argentine holidays of independence. May 25 celebrates that day in 1810 when a group of citizens in Buenos Aires formed the Primera Junta to take charge of Argentine affairs for themselves. Later, on July 9 (though six years later), they declared independence from Spain, so that day is a holiday too.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You have a very handsome father!

7:00 p.m.

 
Blogger Dave Peer said...

Actually, that's me in the grey sweater looking so handsome. Easy mistake to make though; dad does look great for his age.

3:25 a.m.

 
Blogger Dave Peer said...

Yeah you're right Dave, I've been slacking of late. No excuses, and I keep thinking of interesting entries that I never get around to writing.

The World Cup was pretty cool around here. There was a reasonable amount of partying in the streets after the win, and it seems like the blue and white bands are hanging everywhere. And only for the first game. I'll get some pictures from the next game; that's part of the fun of this tournament, that there's celebration all over the world. Pretty cool stuff.

3:48 p.m.

 

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