Quito Una Vez Mas (One More Time)

For reasons better left as another story, one more day was spent in Quito, providing an opportunity to explore Old Town. If anyone has seen pictures of Quito, it is likely somewhere in Old Town, where colonial type buildings can be found in a concentration of about 10 blocks. Unfortunately, the surrounding area is also one that gets a reputation for crime. It is recommended that one uses taxis to navigate through the different sites. As it turns out, that is easier said than done. The last moments in South America was spent in Old Town Quito, literary running through the streets drenched as a heavy rain pours furiously on the cobblestone grounds, attempting to hail a taxi, of which literary every one was full, as the sky darkens and the eyes of idle young men follow the strange foreigner searching for a hotel that was to be a transportation point to the airport. Finally, with minutes to spare, the Hilton Colon was found and the adventure ends. At the very least, few Americans will be able to claim to have run through these streets in the dark, some of which were very secluded, for over over a mile. An appropriate exit to South America.



Plaza San Franciso is a large old building that functions as an active church.




Old Town's streets are sometimes cobblestone.

La Basilica is one of the most imposting buildings in Quito.

Inside La Basilica.

These stain-glassed windows can be found inside the large statue of Mary standing on the hill of El Paneillo.

A good view of the city can be seen from El Panecillo.

Quito and Goodbye

The last day of this journey was spent in Quito, the capitol of Ecuador. Unfortunately, due to only having one day to explore with part of it spent in the rain, pictures will be limited to New Town. Old Town is the other tourist destination and is the more interesting one for picture taking as it houses many of the Colonial buildings Quito is known for. But this is what you get.


Quito is set in the backdrop of mountains.


Plaza de Quinde is a hangout place in New Town. It tends to be more crowded around dinner time and at night.


La Mariscal is an Artisan market just south of New Town.



The last view of Quito north of New Town.

An Ecuadorian Jungle

While not a large country, Ecuador possesses an array of natural diversity, from the mountainous highlands to the tropical Amazons. Go east to the Oriente ("The East" in Spanish) region and one can find the jungles of the Andes. It's hot and humid, ants are the size of American flies, plants can do strange things to your body, and monkeys try to steal your dinner, but the experience is quitesentially Ecuadorian. The following are pictures of the jungle and some of the animals found there--though some were admittedly found in a local zoo.


Whatever this plant is, it looks dangerous and is probably not appropriate to touch.


This croc can be found in the rivers of the jungle, but don't worry, they're actually small. You might lose a hand, but that's all.


This boar was found in the hotel grounds. Then again, the hotel grounds was found in the jungle.


This animal, which is not fully grown but is already half the height of a human, was running around loose at the zoo. It seems to have a diet of human pants.


This monkey or one of its friends ran down a pole in the dining building, grabbed a handful of rice and quickly flew up the pole. The monkey has good taste because the rice was pretty good.

A Thunderous Good-bye

The final day of Argentina was spent in Iguazu Falls. Getting to the falls and moving within the area was an exercise in patience. Argentina or transportation companies within Argentina tend to beless developed than in California. If you're going to Iguazu using public transportation (airplanes, buses, trains), build in extra buffer time as it will get filled up. And have patience, because it was obvious some folks at the airport didn't. But you forget about all of that, at least momentarily, as you hear the roar of the river racing down to the edge of the cliffs of Iguazu. And you remember why you came here when you see the waters hurl themselves toward the river beneath, disappearing into a cloud of mist.


The approach.


Everyone in the boat gets wet, really wet.


A closer view.

A view from land.

Garganta del Diablo. This is as close as you can get unless you want to plunge yourself down the falls to see what's at the bottom.

A butterfly.

A swarm of butterflies on the train trip back.

On the next leg of the trip, Ecuador, my Internet access is unknown so postings may be few to non-existent.

Paseo del Rosedal

In Parque Tres de Febrero in the Palermo area sits the public rose garden Paseo del Rosedal (Walk of Rosedal) and the poet's garden Jardin de los Poetas (Garden of the Poets). One may wonder how many long nights of creative anguish were required to name these respective sites.


Jardin de los Poetas consists of statues of poets such as Dante Alighieri scattered about a wooded park. The idea is to stare at the poets staring back at you.


The rose garden consists of a variety of flowers but with my limited knowledge of the subject, I can only offer rudimentry commentary.


This is a set of purple flowers.


This one is pink.


These are red.


These are also red.

LAN Strike

LAN, a major airline in South America had a strike (huelga) on Thursday, the day I was supposed to go to Igauzu Falls. So pictures of the waterfalls will have to wait. Earlier this week, the Subte also had a strike. A pattern seems to be developing here. Note to future travelers of Buenos Aires: if you hear drums and a crowd around the drums, it's not a street show--it's either a strike or demonstration. Don't do what I did and wait for it to end. Make alternative plans right away.


Passengers watching striking workers perform their musical.

A Tango with the Night

With the vanishing of the sun into the edges of the Buenos Aires periphery, a Porteno custom surfaces under the Argentine sky. The people of the city awake from their afternoon slumber to see what awaits them in the streets they call home. Portenos are night dwellers to say the least. Come to the main districts at twelve noon on a weekend and you'll find most stores closed and a few people wandering through the streets, likely tourist wondering where everyone else is. Return at twelve midnight, and the restaurants and bars are filled with patrons alongside families with strollers weaving through the crowd. Want to eat dinner in Buenos Aires? Come at 6:30pm and you'll find yourself staring at the coffee menu. But wait until 9pm and you can choose from the best restaurants that the city has to offer. And feel free to come at 10 or 11pm if you wish. The crowd will still be there. For the more adventurous type, hit one of the dance clubs late at night and find your way out at six in the morning to have breakfast at a nearby cafe. On a Thursday.


La Puerte de la Madre at night.


Walking down the street at night somehow caught me up with a gay pride parade.


Florida street at night.

Subte Strike

The Subte (Subway system) is on strike in Buenos Aires as of this morning so traffic, which is quite bad on a normal day, has been brought to a standstill and tempers seemed to run high among commuters. Plans to see the Palermo Parque 3 de Febrero have been put on hold until the strike ends.

At the Galerias Pacifica shopping mall, Christmas has already started. What happened to Thanksgiving?

Cementerio de la Recoleta

One of the must-see attractions when visiting Buenos Aires is to see the cemetery in Recoleta. While it may seem morbid to search for a cemetery while traveling, this is a special burial ground that is publically viewable. Anyone who is anyone in Argentine history will likely have been laid to rest in the grounds of Cementerio de la Recoleta.

Having discovered the general whereabouts of the cemetery, I found myself in a high end shopping mall and restaurant row wondering where the cemetery was located. As I walked about, I discovered an outdoor artisan fair with vendors selling various handmade wares for tourists to buy. I happened to visit on a Saturday and the weekend is when the fair is open. Strolling about the booths, I decided to enter a gate that would lead me back to the mall. As I looked about at the other side of the gate, I saw columns of small buildings with locked doors. I realized I stepped into Cementerio de la Recoleta.



The Recoleta street fair consists of booths of artisans selling wares.


There must have been hundreds of booths.


These group of Catholic emissaries were from the US.


The street fair can be pretty crowded.

Here is what you see at the entrance of Cementerio de la Recolata.

Many cats can be found in the cemetery. This one is black, which doesn't mean anything at all, right?

Most of the cemetery is secluded which adds to the ominous tone.

But the tomb of Eva Peron is quite crowded even though she was buried in an undescript section of the cemetery.

Here is Evita's tomb.

Other tombs can have elaborate statues built for the deceased person.

Cafe Tortoni and El Centro

The El Centro District is one of the busiest areas in Buenos Aires. The Obelisco has become a de facto gathering point for many of the activities and shops around the area. The street where the Obelisco sits upon, 9 de Julio, is perhaps the widest street in the world. To cross from one end of the street to the other, one will often have to cross part of it and stop at an island in the middle, then wait for the crosswalk sign to trun white again. There is so much foot traffic in the district that large portions of the pavement are heavily damaged and sunken.

One of the big thoroughfares is the pedestrian-only Florida Avenue. If you've been to Las Vegas, think of Fremont Street north of the strip.

Puente de la Mujer is a pedestrian bridge inspired by Tango somehow.

Near Puente de la Mujer is this old ship which I believe is actually a museum.

Here is the Obelisco at night.

Cafe Tortoni in the southern part of El Centro is one of the most well known cafes in Buenos Aires.

Here is a view of Cafe Tortoni from the inside. Classically decorated. A tango show is played below the cafe.

Day One: First Impressions

The Portenos (What the people of Buenos Aires call themselves) are most definitely distinct from Latinos that one would often find in California, who are primarily of Mexican descent. Not only are they largely Caucasian by decent, but their demeanor reveals their European ancestry. The Porteno Castellano (Spanish) has a very European accent. If one wasn't listening closely to the words they are speaking, one could easily mistaken them for talking Italian. If you were to a sentence in Spanish and accentuate the second or third syllables of many of the words, you might be able to get a sense of how they speak.

Time for pics:



This giant obelisk is in the middle of a main street in El Centro. If you get lost, this is a good way to re-orient yourself.




In the US, we have many signs that say "Do Not Block Intersection. In Buenos Aires, they must have signs that say "Please Block Intersection" because that's pretty much what all the drivers are doing.




This was a protest of some sort, mostly with some folks banging drums and others mulling around texting. The building they were standing in front is the Ministerio Del Interior.


Whole pork.




Tango is quite popular and you can find dancers performing in the streets.




This picture was taken at a pizza place near my residence. It had a good crowd at the time I took the pic at 10:30pm.