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.

South America

The contents of this weblog will consist of travel information in the countries of Argentina and Ecuador. The attempt is that postings here will be updated in progress as I find opportunity. You might find interesting stories and tidbits about people, places, and cultures of the respective countries, pictures of scenery, architecture and people, perhaps a few movies if I am able to edit and transfer them using my low powered but easy-to-carry netbook, and maybe a few pictures of drunk people, though that is highly unlikely. Stay tuned...