It is with some sadness that we awake to our last day in Buenos Aires. Our flight does not leave until 9 p.m. tonight, so we basically have a full day to spend when we have nothing specific planned. We slept in this morning till 9, packed up our bags, checked out of the room, and enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant while discussing what to do with our day.
We felt almost overwhelmed trying to decide what to do and where to go. Soccer stadium? Not really our thing. In fact, we had waited twenty torturous minutes in the hot sun at a bus stop in the city a couple days ago while fellow riders snapped pictures at a popular local stadium. You may remember from our earlier blog that we really had no idea what was going on in the tour bus. We had no idea that the bus was stopping for 20 or 30 minutes for pictures. Usually the bus stopped only long enough to pick up and let off passengers. We would have gone and taken pictures of the stadium too had we known!
It seems everyone loves soccer (futbol) here. Futbol and politics are clearly the two major topics of discussion, but futbol comes first. Hmm, maybe futbol is a political tool used to control the masses so they won't think about the terrible economy and the other problems within the government? Reminds me of the Roman Emperors who distracted the populace with games at the Colosseum. Bread and circuses. Even the Pope is a huge fan of the local Club Atletico San Lorenzo de Amalgro team (as an aside, I read recently that Donald Trump has expressed an interest in buying the team).
Did you know that the Pope grew up in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires? Like any native Porteño, he played futbol often as a youngster. When his beloved team won the South American cup last year, they brought it to the Vatican to show him.
It is not unusual for people you meet here to have a Pope Francis story to tell. The classic case of "local boy makes good." We were told that he grew up in a modest, middle class family of Italian immigrants to Argentina. He became a Jesuit priest in the 1950s, Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, then was made a Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. I (Karen) really like the guy.
But I digress... What to do with our day? We really couldn't decide, so we decided just to leave the hotel to do a walkabout. As mentioned, the area around our hotel was Embasy Row and was in a high class district.
Did you know that the Pope grew up in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires? Like any native Porteño, he played futbol often as a youngster. When his beloved team won the South American cup last year, they brought it to the Vatican to show him.
It is not unusual for people you meet here to have a Pope Francis story to tell. The classic case of "local boy makes good." We were told that he grew up in a modest, middle class family of Italian immigrants to Argentina. He became a Jesuit priest in the 1950s, Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, then was made a Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. I (Karen) really like the guy.
But I digress... What to do with our day? We really couldn't decide, so we decided just to leave the hotel to do a walkabout. As mentioned, the area around our hotel was Embasy Row and was in a high class district.
Thinking of that reminds us of the barrios we had passed on our way to the hotel. What a contrast. There are many poor areas of Buenos Aires, just as in any big city. The locals call them shanty towns. Many are quite large. The one we passed on the way from the port is called "number 31." It is the largest in Buenos Aires. Some have names, but many just have numbers. Number 31 is somewhat famous locally, as even the government had no idea what to do about it. They don't go near the place.
Well, we ended up at a shopping mall.
Yep, here we are in a beautiful foreign city, and we go shopping. But the best part was..
Uh huh. Another Starbucks! Starbucks has the two essentials tired travelers always need - caffeine and WIFI access. So, we set up shop there for a few hours. It was preferable to pay for the $4 cup of coffee and free, reliable WIFI than to hang out in the hotel lobby. At the hotel we got thrown off the WIFI every few minutes. Not so at Starbucks!
Yep, here we are in a beautiful foreign city, and we go shopping. But the best part was..
Uh huh. Another Starbucks! Starbucks has the two essentials tired travelers always need - caffeine and WIFI access. So, we set up shop there for a few hours. It was preferable to pay for the $4 cup of coffee and free, reliable WIFI than to hang out in the hotel lobby. At the hotel we got thrown off the WIFI every few minutes. Not so at Starbucks!
We must confess however, this was probably the most high-end mall we have ever been in. It was gorgeous! Relaxing here and moseying around the stores was really fun.
When we left, we walked more of the streets of town and soaked up some additional local flavor. We began to see what lovely doors there were on the homes, churches, and businesses in the area we were walking through.
As we close the door on this wonderful trip, we'll leave you all with some photos of the gorgeous doors of Buenos Aires.
When we left, we walked more of the streets of town and soaked up some additional local flavor. We began to see what lovely doors there were on the homes, churches, and businesses in the area we were walking through.
As we close the door on this wonderful trip, we'll leave you all with some photos of the gorgeous doors of Buenos Aires.
Until the next trip everyone!
With all our love,
Karen and David
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