Stanley arrived and immediately began experiencing expatriate life in Buenos Aires, hanging out with me and my friends from all over the world. On his first day he went candombe drumming with my friend Vanessa, who loved Stanley as a child growing up in London. He also went to the International Film Festival with her and arrived back at the house the next day in time for yoga class.
The best part of travel is the amazing people you meet from different places in the world. Museums and cathedrals, statues and monuments, all the fascinating wonderful things there are to see in the world, are only the window dressing. It's about the people.
Here Stanley is enjoying wine and an amazing Thai meal in the home of our friends Greg (America) and Marcos (Argentina) and is having his travels toasted by Karly (America) , whose husband Peter (England) is undoubtedly jealous of all the attention Stanley is getting from his lovely wife.
A few days later Stanley headed out into the city for a look at some local culture. Like most people in Buenos Aires Stanley enjoyed the ease and affordability of the Subte (subway) which he found to be an incredible adventure! We live on the oldest subte line, la linea A or the A line, and the station and trains are like a ride back through time.
Luckily we were able to find seats. Sometimes the subte cars are so crowded that you can't even move, let alone sit down.
Stanley and I got off the train at the end of the line which let us off into Estacion Retiro or the Retiro Train Station. The station is very famous and can be seen in all the tourist guides about Buenos Aires. It was the location of the opening scene in the Oscar winning film El Secreto de Sus Ojos, The Secret In Their Eyes. It is an example of the beautiful turn of the century architecture Buenos Aires is known for.
Stanley made a quick stop to replenish the batteries in his camera before heading out of the station.
This is the view of the train station from across the Aveninda. Buenos Aires is a very crowded city and the major streets in the city, called Avenidas, are alive with traffic at all times of the day and night as the city is constantly on the move.
This clock tower, called El Torre de Los Ingleses or Clock of the English, in Plaza San Martin, across from the train station, is a very important symbol of the history of Argentina's relationship with England.
Children who attend public schools in Buenos Aires wear a traditional white jacket, called a pinafore, as a national symbol of learning. Stanley was very pleased to meet this brother and sister headed home from school. Silvina and her brother Gabriel were both excited to meet Stanley and to hear about his travels. They asked him to say hello to Jacob and his class mates when he got home.
Valeria is the manager of an art gallery in Recoleta where Stanley stopped to see some art work. He was very interested in art and was excited that he got to stay in a gallery during his visit. He enjoyed Jimmy's art and wanted to see more as we made our way around the city.
We stopped to visit the Museum of Hispano-American Art, El Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano, but they wouldn't let us in with the camera, so we have only this shot to show for it. Inside there were many old pieces of art, mostly of a religious nature. It was created from silver and gold found in South America by Europeans who, as happened in North America, took it from the indigenous people, whom they murdered and/or enslaved in the name of the god in whose honor they created this magnificent art. There was a very small token display representing the native people of this continent, but it was in no way a solid representation of the beauty and magnificence of their art.
We stopped briefly in the garden, a quiet refuge with 20 foot ivy covered walls, to rest a short while before our long walk home.
We left the museum and headed toward el Congreso and home along the Avenida 9 de Julio, which is thought to be the widest Avenue in the world. The Avenue is named for Argentina's independence day which is just 5 days after our own.
The Avenida is long and interesting, full of shops, parks and restaurants. Here we rested for a while before continuing up the Avenida toward home.
Stanley and I got ready to head back onto the Avenida, ready for our trek home.
Here is Stanley with a view of the obelisk in the background. It is one of the pinnacle points to see in Buenos Aires.
Stanley had hoped to see a performance at the Teatro Colon, the old Opera House, but unfortunately it is still under reconstruction. The remodel began just before our arrival here 2 years ago and was supposed to be complete by now, but may make it just in time for the Independence Day Bicentennial Celebration this July.
Before heading in for the evening we stopped at the verdureria, the vegetable stand to get some things for dinner and to say hello to our friend Gordita (little fat girl - which is obviously a nickname).
The following day we had lunch at a Parilla with our friends Alberto and Ricardo, Argentinian architects who helped us with our remodel.
On our way out of San Telmo we passed by some of the coolest graffiti in the city. Buenos Aires is known by graffiti artists the world over for it's incredible graffiti art.
Later, tired of walking and getting cold we grabbed a taxi to get home.
Our Portero (doorman) Abaca welcomes Stanley back from his long day out touring the city.
Finally, the day arrived when it was time for Stanley to return home. His return trip was somewhat delayed by Chilean earth quakes and European ash clouds, or at least, that's what he'd like you to imagine.
We said our final goodbyes at the post office and he settled in to his envelope for the 2 week journey home to Milwaukee. He will likely arrive there sometime around the 12th of May. He will be missed by all those who made his acquaintance here. It was a great visit. Thanks for coming Stanley...
2 comments:
Nice post, that's a very interesting day in the city!
Just a short clarification, about the "Guardapolvos" (what you call pinafore): the idea of having every child in the country attend school wearing the same outfit is to "equalize" their appearence, ignoring their families means or economic situation. That way, they don't feel pressure to wear expensive clothes or certain brands, specially because at some state schools you can see children from very different economic levels studying together.
Sure, this equality and social mixing was more true a long time ago than it is now, since now it's more rare to see upper-class children attending public schools, but that was the original idea 100 years ago
My nephew sent Flat Stanley to me in NYC. Your blog reminded me of how fun that was and how cool it was for Jake to share the adventures with his class.
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