City Tour, 10/3/10

I pulled up to my hostel, Portal Del Sur, only to find out that my room wouldn't be ready for another 4hours!! I went upstairs to the terrace and met my first person, James. James was Asian and sounded like he was British. He said she was "Here on holiday." and would be living on the next day to go to Colombia. It seems that there are so many international people who take advantage of their free time to travel. It is actually really practical because most places are less expensive than US or UK, for example. The biggest expense would be a plane ticket bit hey, if you ever get enough money to buy a plane ticket somewhere then do it, accommodations in hostels are fairly cheap compared to hotels (even for the private rooms) and hostels usually include activities prepared for people who want to get to know the area and meet others. If you ever find a free week or can take a vacation from work, treat yourself to a trip. It is not as expensive as you may think and it will be an invaluable experience. That's it for my plug for traveling international for now.

Anywayz...I took a city tour during my 4hr wait. It was about an hour. I was familiarized with the area and learned about the political history of the area.

Este es me guía de turismo.

Este son placas de calle. These were created in memory of the person who was killed in this area during a protest. The police destroyed the first plaque (on the left) yet the plaque was later replaced just to the right of the destroyed one.

Este el ayuntamiento (city hall). If you look closely you will see splashes of red paint thrown from the hands of protesters. There is a lot of graffiti on the walls in this town that display political messages (I didn't get a picture of this.)

Este es Plazo de Mayo. This is an area where many protests were held and where people came to hear the famous Eva Peron speak. The pink building in the background to the right is called La Casa Rosada (The Pink House). It is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina, and of the offices of the President. There is a balcony on the left side of the building that was used, pretty much exclusively, by Eva Peron when she addressed her many adorers. Why is building pink of all colors? Well interestingly enough it is made from a paint that is made form cow blood (yikes!).The blood of a cow has some kind of property that helps to protect the building from weathering that could be caused by the moisture that comes from the harbor just behind it. I guess since they spill a lot of cows blood here they might as well do something productive with it.

Este un símbolo de las madres del Plazo de Mayo. In the 70's, people who were against the ideals of the government began to "disappear." The mothers of these people marched in el Plazo de Mayo (in from of La Casa Rosada) pleading for the government to send their children back. The mothers wore white baby diapers over their heads as a scarf to symbolize their longing to see their children again. Sadly, many mothers never saw their children again.

This point marked the end of the first half of the tour. I was becoming weary and it was almost time for me to check-in (not to mention, I would have to pay for the other half of the tour) so I opted out of the second half. I must admit, I was very apprehensive about staying in a hostel (I don't even like hotels below 4 stars), however, it wasn't bad as I had imagined. The hostel, slightly old, yet clean, had a dorm feel that was not new to me. The following are pictures of my room for the first three nights. I had a mini photo shoot session in my room (I was delirious by this time.). Enjoy!