First days in BA and visit to Museo Evita

We made it to Buenos Aires: 10 hours from Toronto to Santiago, Chile where we had a one and a half hour layover and then a short flight to BA.  We left Toronto at 11:45 p.m. on Sunday March 10 and arrived in BA at 2:30 p.m. on Monday March 11.   There is only a one-hour time difference, so we weren’t too jet-lagged. 

A driver, recommended by the owners of the apartment we have rented from, picked us up at the airport.  He is Irish and has been living in BA for the past nine years.  As we were driving into town, Allan (Alano) noticed a Ford Falcon on the road, dating from the early 1960s.  The driver told us that these cars were the ones used by the police/military to pick up people during the late 1970s, many of whom “disappeared”.  He also told us that real inflation was running at around 25% and that it was very difficult to get US dollars.  As a result, a black market has flourished.  A number of people have subsequently told us that the “situation” in Argentina is very difficult right now.  Clearly, there is a lot of economic uncertainty.

We are staying at a lovely apartment in Palermo Soho, which we rented from a couple from Los Angeles.  Very funky and mixed neighbourhood.  There is a lovely solarium and pergola adjacent to our bedroom on the second floor of the two-storey apartment.  The person managing the property was there to greet us.  So far the only failing has been the Internet, which was not working Monday evening, all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  Thus the late posting of the blog at a coffeeshop.

 

Outside of Apartment

Dining Room and Kitchen

Pergola beside solarium and bedroom

Bedroom

Solarium beside bedroom

Living room and stairs to upstairs

On Monday evening, we started to explore the neighbourhood, got some provisions, and had a coffee at Bonafide, a nearby café.  We then went for a late dinner at La Cabrera, a parrilla (grill) recommended by a number of people.   Alano and I shared some tasty beef ribs, accompanied by some small dishes of mashed potatoes, garlic, and other goodies.  Buzzy, fun place even on a Monday night. 

Our beef at La Cabrera and sides

La Cabrera

It rained during the night, but we awoke on Tuesday morning to blue sky and sun.  The temperature was a lovely 24C during the afternoon, cooling down at night.  We headed off for a walk to the Jardin Botanico (Botanical Gardens) to check out the place for Alano’s runs.  We first walked through part of Palermo Soho, full of interesting shops and restaurants.  The Gardens were beautiful, full of statutes, reminding us a bit of the Luxemburg Gardens and the Bois du Boulogne in Paris.  They were opened in 1898 and designed by French landscape architect Charles Thays.

Jardin Botanico

We then made our way to the Museo Evita, which opened in 2002 in a mansion expropriated by Juan Peron to convert into a women’s shelter for Eva’s welfare agency.   The museum contains videos and documents relating to her brief life, as well as some of her clothes.  Born Eva Duarte in 1919, she married Juan Peron in 1944 and died of cancer at the age of 33 in 1952.  It was interesting to read of her “rainbow” tour to many European capitals in the late 1940s, where she signed important trade deals and met with workers and women’s groups.  Eva was very active in securing the right for women to vote in Argentina in 1947.  She also had been approached to be Vice-President of the country in 1951, but declined, as her husband did not think it appropriate.  A very well-curated and interesting museum.  Evita  was a controversial figure as was her husband, who allowed many Nazis to emigrate to Argentina after the war.

We then continued our walk to meet a friend of a friend from law school.   We met at 5:00 p.m. and Nestor showed us some beautiful buildings in the area near the National Congress building.  We stopped at the Savoy Hotel, saw a former workers’ union building that is now a hotel, and then stopped for a coffee at El Alteneo, which started as a theatre, became a cinema and is now a wonderful bookstore with a café/bar.  The building is preserved with the original theatre loges, where one can now read quietly.

Nestor and Alano

Workers holding up the building

There are a number of buildings in this area that are modeled after the Haussmann style of Paris.   Nestor also took us to see a stunning building that now houses the public water administration.  Colourful tiles imported from Italy make up part of the façade.  Nestor then took us to a small indoor market where we bought some gorgeous beef tenderloin for dinner.  

Water building with Italian tiles and provincial crests

Alano and I took our first subway (Subte) trip back to the apartment.  Transit is heavily subsidized and a ride costs just 50 cents (Canadian). We had a lovely dinner and I worked on the text for this blog and edited the pictures we had taken.