Adiós Buenos Aires, Amigos Adiós

Back in Buenos Aires we're assaulted by the bustle and noise and impersonality of the big city, after the relative smallness and mildness of Uruguay and its people, and the ease of being taken care of by friends instead of trying to figure things out on our own, and trying to avoid any more wooden pesos.  We're also winding down mentally, since we know we only have a few days before we head home.

But, don't get us wrong, we're not exactly mopey semi depressives.  Off the ferry after the 3 hour bus ride from Montevideo to Colonia, and the ferry crossing to Buenos Aires we roll our carry-ons along and across the avenidas, plunge into the subway, come out the other end on busy Corrientes, reacquaint ourselves with our apartment (alas, it's not any quieter, and the hot and cold water supply is no more consistent than the way we left it), clean up, eat something and start planning our dancing excursions.  Flo has been calling, "are you back yet?"  OK, El Beso tonight, Sueno Porteno tomorrow, Gricel Thursday, then tidy up things Friday, maybe go out and have the last portions of charred cow, and take the red eye home.

We'll be back.  In the meantime, we'll have all this:

La Esquina Anibal Troilo

All we wanted was some lunch, we dropped in to this place, turns out
it was Anibal Troilo's (Pichuco, El Gordo) favorite hangout.
We figure "yeah, sure", but it turns out it's actually
officially granted national heritage status.
  Tons of pictures of him and his orchestra,
with some of football teams thrown in for good measure

¿Dónde Están?

Buenos Aires sidewalks are made up of tiles: stone, ceramic, concrete, whatever.

All in all there must be about three and a half gadgillion of them.

But, about a third are broken or missing.  Where are they?  In addition to watching out for

dog poop (nobody scoops), you have to always be careful not to trip on the missing tiles.

The Manifestations

We don't know why these (high school?) students are demonstrating.
There are demonstrations practically every day.
One is sponsored by this trade union, because of the conditions here or the demands there.
Another is sponsored by a rival trade union, in opposition to the first.
A third by veteran conscripts of the Malvinas war demanding support and a pension
(most of them never even left the continent, huffs dismissively our taxi driver).
One thing to be said though.  They're good, well crafted, spirited jobs, these demonstrations,
putting the anemic ones back home to shame.
Well coordinated chants, masterfully banged drums, parades in pretty decent formation...

Scary

We didn't want to take pictures of actual scary people,
but this poster is a good illustration of what one sees around this town.
Nowhere have we seen more pinched, plumped,
stretched, or paralyzed faces and bodies than in Buenos Aires
(then again we haven't been to Brazil lately, so...)

It Just Blows back In

We're told that until recently, when smoking bans were instituted in enclosed spaces, conditions in cafes, restaurants, milongas and such were insufferable.
Things have since improved significantly, at least for people interested in breathing and such.
Nevertheless, when people go "outside" to smoke, they step just this side of the (usually left open) door.
If it's raining they might stand on the inside side of the open door, with maybe a foot "outside."

Fun

Marcos and Melody, dancing to D'Arienzo, as Sueno Porteno is about to close.