Hot Town, Summer in the city!!

I am truly amazed when folks say they are reading my blog! Thanks for all your comments..I never know if my   musings mean anything to anyone other than myself and H! :)

Yesterday:  We ran about 8.5 miles, in the smoking heat of the day. Starting from our apt., we thought we would only be running down to "Puerto Madera" where all the really rich people of BA live. Condos there run about 3 million US dollars..wow don't think we will be living there anytime soon! The area along the waterfront is nice, but not that nice to me..

I started out the run feeling like dog doo-doo. Since it takes me 2 miles to warm up, now I was warm and warming up. We finally reached the Port area and I ate a protein bar, which by the way they only sell in pharmacies, that and gels too. The bar and a ton of Gatorade finally perked me up. We kept running and MAP consulting. At one point, H said wow this is such a great run! Then immediately-BOOM, I went down. My handheld waterbottle broke my fall, but I was a bit shaken up..carry on! Eventually, we ended up on the road to "La Boca". We had heard this was a great old part of BA to see. After a local Portena saw us messing with the MAP, she told us in Spanish to keep going on the road we were on and we would reach La Boca. We had read not to go off the beaten path, because pick-pocketing was common. We keep our money and cards safely tucked into our money belts so we thought what the heck..we were game. We got to what is described as:

"La Boca is the oldest, most colorful, and most authentic neighborhood in Buenos Aires. The neighborhood was settled and built by Italian immigrants that worked in the warehouses and meatpacking plants in the area. La Boca is partly an artist colony, and mostly a working-class neighborhood."

I did not bring my camera (of course) so we were bound to run into something picture worthy and this was definitely just that! The buildings were tiny and thin, painted in odd bright colors, seemingly randomly selected. The story is that this area, being by the docks was used by new immigrants. The colors were used from discarded paint from the ships they arrived on. The story has it that La Boca ("the mouth") refers to being at the mouth of the river, since it was the old port area. There were Tango dancers in almost every cafe along the cute little winding streets with markets along the famous "Caminito Street". 

"Caminito is the work of the local La Boca artist Benito Quinquela Martín. In 1960 he painted the walls of what was then an abandoned street and erected a makeshift stage for performances, and it quickly became a haven for artists. With its cobblestones, colorful corrugated-iron houses and artists’ works, it lives up to it's reputation of beauty?"

So of course if I do not have my own pics, however there are always some on the web:

It was so uniquely beautiful! H & I sat down to eat lunch at one of the sidewalk cafe's and enjoyed an over priced mediocre meal. It was awesome though because we got to watch some amazing young Tango dancers. Motivated by patron tips, they were having pictures taken by tourists with them. I was pissed I did not bring my camera! But oh well, we said hey, we will just come back another day for pictures.

But then we read this (and many others like it):

"In broad daylight in the afternoon, my husband and I were attacked in La Boca by 3 huge men, two on my husband (with a knife!) and one on me. My attacker was trying to rip the fanny pack off my waist, and the guys on my husband were trying to get into his pockets, but we were screaming and resisting- after a couple of minutes, thank God they ran off with both our cameras. They did not get our documents or money, and we were not hurt, but in a way they robbed us of our lovely three-week voyage. Our guidebooks did not warn us about La Boca. Either do not go there, or stay only on the main Caminita, and watch out. If you are accosted, no one will help you."

Alrighty then, I guess we were:

A: lucky and 

B: will not be returning to La Boca! 

However, clueless at the time, we enjoyed our time in La Boca. I never felt unsafe or uneasy there. Somehow we also figured how to take a bus back to our Barrio. It took us some time to figure out how to tell the driver we wanted to get off the bus-they just randomly stop when they feel like it..I spotted the little get-off button to push and voile! We made it home safely..We finished our night off by eating in a neighborhood restaurant that was a gem of a find! The meat "Parilla" was perfectly cooked finally. We found out if you order a steak "medium rare" you actually get "well done"...we did not say how we wanted it done at all last night and the meat was perfect-a delicious meal!

Today: 

As I sit here writing this, H is yelling at our Argentinian television. Must be football playoffs somewhere! What makes it funny is the announcers are speaking Spanish. Sort of a disconnect..

I woke up at 8:30. Seems since we started eating dinner earlier (9:00) and going to sleep earlier (12:00), I wake up feeling much more refreshed.. I guess my staying up all night like a youngster is no longer part of my ever aging world..yet another loss as a result of aging! it is worth it because of my ever growing wisdom right? Hmm..

Off we headed to the "La Casa  Rosada", (English: The Pink House). This is the official executive mansion of Argentina. Nevertheless, the President normally lives in a compound in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province. It is a female president; "Christina", who apparently is trying to mimic Evita. I think I could do the job, right? This is my best pose on the balcony that Eva Peron gave her famous speeches.

Me and Madonna, right? :)..(hmmm..bad hair day!

The Real Eva Paron

I was guarded well!     

Another day at the office!

Ornate doesn't seem strong enough word...

This must be Juan(Peron!).:)

Once again I am forced to pick and choose my pics of the palace..it was overwhelming art and piece of history..

Now for some football! Tomorrow will be in the 100's. Yikes..however when I read that in ABQ at home, it is snowing tonight, I think I have the better end of the deal!