Day 55

We arrived in Buenos Aires this morning around seven in the morning and took a taxi to our hostel. After dropping off our luggage and eating some breakfast we left for the walking tour through Recoleta. We started at Teatro Colón, where we got an introduction to the city. We then continued our way towards Avenida 9 de Julio, an avenue with nine lanes on each side, eighteen lines in total. In the middle of this street is a monument just like the one in Washington. We then walked to Plaza San Martín, named after the national hero of Argentina who is often compared to George Washington. Right next to the plaza was Palacio San Martín, once the home of one of the wealthiest people in Argentina. We stopped at a bank and someone explained us all about inflation and the reason that one US Dollar is now already worth 63 Argentinian pesos instead of one. The next stop was Basilica of the Holy Sacrament, a beautiful church built by the other wealthy family of Buenos Aires. However, this church can only been seen from one place in the city, from in between an alley, as their angry daughter built high buildings around it to cover it up. We passed a few more highlights, such as Avenida Alvear, Plaza Francia, Iglesia del Pilar, and it ended at Cementerio de la Recoleta. We did not stay there for a long time as we already planned on visiting it another day. We went back a few blocks and visited El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a theatre that was transformed into a huge library. We spent quite some time in here, but surprisingly enough we did not even buy one book. Afterwards we went back to the hostel and cooked some dinner. At night, I went out into the city and walked past all the university buildings. A lot of students had their last exam and so they were sprayed with paint, food, everything. Very fun to see a tradition like that.

Geschreven door Romymatse