Aiming to outlive Otis - Feliz Cumple D

Trip Start Dec 29, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Sunday, February 3, 2008

After a few hours kip & given the occasion of my 26th, we headed to Vanesas home-home. A grand asado was prepared in the terrace under the sun with all the frills. A few pressies pocketed, half a cow & half a sheep devoured, I was only ready for an evening in a hammock.

Instead we went to relax in San Telmo which is the oldiest & one of the smallest barrios in BA. It's full of pricy antique shops & the home of tango. It still maintains the appearance of the early 1900s. Carlos Gardel, a famous singer & the godfather of tango is represented throughout the barrio. Heaps of open markets vaguely resembling the Coalquay less the pavies will be found selling MATES, woodcraft, silver jewellery, wind chimes, sovenirs etc. There's also an open plaza where people come to dance tango which is a big crowd puller. It's possibly the biggest tourist haven in BA so expect it to be thronged Bday meal
Bday meal
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Finally one of the topics making headlines here is garbage. In BA there exists CARTONERAS who are the impoverished making their living by scavenging rubbish bins mainly for paper & cardboard to recycle but also for anything of value for themselves. Rambling down Lavalle last week at midday, I passed a woman. She had one hand on a trolley of cardboard stacked neatly behind her, the other gloved by a chicken carcass outside a CARNICERIA (butcher) & somehow I don't think she was working for the EHS. They appear usually at dusk but can be heard dragging a trolley at any hour. Obviously they leave a mess afterwards & aren't confined to poor areas. It would be like finding a homeless shelter in Montenotte.
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