Sunday 2 January 2011 - Buenos Aires

THE HO HUM BUS RIDE

I had arranged to meet another CC member today, Marnie from Vancouver, at the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus stop in San Telmo at 10.15. So, with what I thought was plenty of time I left the hotel and walked down Florida Ave to the HOHO office to buy my ticket for the 9.30 am bus. Apparently a lot of people had recovered from NYE and were up early enough to go for this bus too, resulting in me having a ticket but not a seat. As the next bus wouldn’t reach San Telmo to 10.45 am I decided to walk it – and still beat the bus by about 15 minutes.

Along the way I came across this police vehicle – yet another difference from Australia and some policemen wearing flak jackets.

Marnie and I had a look around the flea and antiques markets in San Telmo then caught the HOHO bus to La Boca where we got off to have a look at this colourful neighbourhood – brightly painted buildings, outdoor cafes with tango performances to tempt you to eat there and loads of tourists!

We stopped for a drink and an empanada then got back on the bus. After a few blocks the bus stopped in the middle of the street in a not so salubrious area and the driver disappeared into a restaurant. I thought he must have been using the restroom but he was away about 20 minutes with no explanation then came out carrying dessert! Funny place for a lunch break with 40 passengers waiting for him in a double decker bus in the middle of the street!

At Recolleta Marnie and I alighted again with the intention of visiting the cemetery but across the street was the National Museum of Fine Arts  - and it was air-conditioned (did I mention that it’s pretty warm here in BA). I was surprised at its collection as it included quite a few artworks by Rodin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, Sisely, Rembrandt, etc. By the time we left the Museum we decided to head back. I’ll be visiting the Recolleta Cemetery on Thursday so I wasn’t concerned about not visiting it today. Going through the Recolleta district though, I could see why BA would have been compared to Paris – but we had also driven through Puerto Madero earlier in the day with its ultra-modern skyscrapers and La Boca with its colourful buildings so I don’t think you can pigeonhole BA so easily.