Tucuman Palace Hotel Buenos Aires

... hours catching about organic certification, his farms here in Argentina and other topics of interest. We get back to the office at 3.45 pm and Sophia is not quite ready to join me. Instead Pedro introduces me to another kiwi working for him as his Sustainable Systems Director - Peter Pottinger. Peter is running the OIA MSC fisheries programme and other work but is very well known in NZ for his work as a leading Scientist at Ruakura. We talk about many certification ...

... round after Ben who they'd assumed had
discovered Evita. It turned out that in fact what Ben had discovered was a narrow allow
where the local vagrant community relieved themselves and had waded through a fragrant
puddle left behind by the last visitor to the alley. "OK now I'm ready to go to the pub"
agreed Ben and the posse rounded the next corner to leave the cemetary where they discovered a group of ...

... either. It's wifi or nothing!

So now we have all day today to ourselves. Our bus doesn't leave until 7 tonight so I am going to try and do a late check-out. Hopefully that will work. Look for my next post in a couple of days from Iguazu. Should be a little more interesting and with better pics hopefully!

Random thought of day. Not so funny today, just a statement that didn't really fit anywhere else. Their ice ...

... course on Friday so will have a wee bit more time to explore the city again, although I'm intending to do some voluntary work too. I've really enjoyed my first 4 weeks here - can't believe it's that long, although sometimes it feels like I've been away for ages!

Things I've learned:

Drivers are just as crazy as my first impression, although I've seen surprisingly few accidents.

The green man has little or ...

... our final stop. La Boca is the working class area, situated along the old port and at the boca (mouth) of Rio Riachuelo, built by Italian immigrants from Genoa. We passed the football stadium which is the home to the
Boca Juniors and then stopped to walk through Caminito, a pedestrian walk lined with corrugated-metal buildings, where local artists display their brightly coloured paintings. Boca is also one of the poorer barrios (slums) of BA, yet some buildings are ...

... aangezien hij geen noemenswaardig verschil in de vlees kwaliteit kon ontdekken in vergelijking met de Nederlandse collega's, terwijl proefpersoon 2 aangenaam verrast was met het assortiment in de vorm van sojaburgers en gefrituurde spinaziekrokketen. Al met al een verwarrende uitkomst, waar wij uit kunnen afleiden dat de Burger King toch iets meer voor vegatariers dan voor carnivoren is. Een dag later, op sunny Sunday, gingen wij naar de zondag straatmarkt in de ...

... have the Buenos Aires beat) and walked to subway (Subte here) - met a dog walker on the way who had about 15 dogs.....no wonder you have to watch where you put your feet in places.... Subway ride (40 cents each) to city center....hot and crowded, but interesting to watch the people. Arrived at Plaza de Mayo.....historic center of BA - with the pink presidential palace where Evita Perron gave her speech, gov't buildings ...

... Italian influence in Buenos Aires and most of the people have a European look to them, there were a lot of designer labels on show and I think they were genuine -not like the woolly jumpers with Nike labels in Bolivia! We headed to the downtown area and saw the iconic Obelisco, the Casa Rosario where Evita and Peron made their big speeches from the balcony. In the evening we decided to treat ourselves to a tasty meal, so being in ...

... is no small feat as the sidewalks are under construction, have holes, uneven surfaces, or dog poop. We're getting better at navigating these, but it does slow our normal walking pace; I'm sure we'll improve on this skill in the coming days. The city feels strangely familiar although this is our first time here. It seems that each city block has its collection of flower stands, fruit stands and newsstands, much like many European cities. And the trees! Oh ...

... twist. I thought it seemed strange to see a drum trap set up on the front line with the other lead instruments, but chalked it up to the drummer's primacy in the group's creation. Then I saw drummer Daniel Pipi Piazzola take a solo. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard, an exclusively rhythm instrument totally transformed into something else, cut loose from its usual chores as the band's internal time clock and given wings to fly. I can't say it's the ...