In which I take a tour

I went and did a very touristy thing, which was to take a tour.Surprisingly, it wasn't a complete disaster. We met out tour guide, a Brit named Jonathan, at the Plaza Italia next to Garibaldi's statue which is now covered with graffiti and cats.

He gave us a brief historical rundown of the area, and then explained how to take a bus, how to FIND the right bus, and how to work out where it is going. What he didn't mention was that it is quite common in Buenos Aires for there to be no street signs so working out where to get off the bus was not really explained. All buses are P 2 so it is a good idea to bring lots of change.

We took the 29 to Abasto to see the house where Carlos Gardel lived. Gardel was an enormous star and huge figure in the world of tango of the 20s who died in a plane crash at a relatively young age (forty-something - I am too lazy to look it up but I have linked to his wikipedia page here so you can). I was taken to see his grave earlier in the trip before I had any idea who he was (see pic below). Tradition states that his statue must always have a lit cigarette between his fingers, though I imagine most of the time he has to make do with just a cigarette, lit or not or even a burnt out stub.

The whole area round his house has lots of murals and memorials, including several good examples of filete, which is a sort of street sign art.

I liked this piece of graffiti.

From there we walked to the huge Abasto mall. It used to be THE market serving the whole of Buenos Aires, lay empty for 15 years and then was redeveloped. Apparently there is some law pertaining to buildings that are empty for 15 years ...

Fairly typical food court style food. They do have the world's only kosher McDonalds outside of Israel - I guess thanks to the large Jewish population of Abasto.

I got myself a cortado (an espresso with little hot milk) jarrito (which is a size between a single and a double). I just like saying "jarrrrrito."

Next, another bus ride to the ... I forget where. Oh right, the national congress. More historical stuff here and interesting bits of trivia.

Then a subway ride to the Plaza De Mayo, which luckily for me was five minutes' walk from my hotel on Yrigoyen and Peru. More pics, including the Pink House and Evita's balcony, then back to the hotel.

I am not usually the tour-joining type but this strikes me as the kind that is immensely useful if you have just arrived in Buenos Aires. Jonathan takes you to a few important places you might not otherwise have seen, plus teaches you how to get around on public transport, which I am sure no one teaches you. Oh, and did I mention the tour was free?

His website is here - so if you ever find yourself in the city for a few days, join up!

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