Monday, 20 June 2011

Plaza San Martín



Plaza San martin is big, at one end there is a sloping park where there is a surprising number of people 'making out', as the americans in my class would say, and the other side of a big road is a sqaure. In the sqaure stands the "Torre de los ingleses", tower of the english. The sqaure it stands in was known as the "Plaza Britanica" and then renamed Argentine Air Force sqaure after the tower became a target for english planes during the Falklands war. After the war in '83 the tower was renamed 'Torre monumental' (although most peolple still call it torre de los ingleses). As a result of the war it was targeted by locals, detonating dynamite at the base trying to blow it up.

Opposite the tower in the bank of the slope is a memorial to the 649 Argentine men who died in the conflict. Its a lot of names. Outside the monument stands an oversized argentine flag, facing accross at the tower.


Friday, 17 June 2011

Palacio Barolo










Palacio Barolo is supposed to be a manifestation of 'the divine comedy' and as a result the Ground and basement floors are supposed to be hell, the first to 14th floors pergatory and the the top (15-22) -Heaven. 'Hell' (-2 - Ground) was originally the owners workshops, where his workers slaved away at thier looms in the basement. The ground floor was open to the public housed a few shops. The first floor (in 'purgatory') was where barolo's office was, with his own private elevator, bypassing the public level -down to the factory floor. The rest was rented office space from the start. (I guess it cost more to have an office in heaven..) Up on the roof, in 'heaven' there is a lighthouse originally intended to communicate with its sister building in Uruguay the Palacio Salvo. Unfortunately this was never possible as the architect failed to account for the curvature of the earth. Nowdays they turn it on every month on the 25th.

average phonebox

Spanish Class - Nivel Dos



This is my level 2 spanish class, and one of the teachers, Anna. The class, from left to right, is; Mike (Boston,US), Ian (Switzerland), Matthew (Qubec, Canada), Charlotte (California, US), Carl (New York city, US), Lesley (Hamilton, Canada), Diego (Botu Catu, Brasil) Juliet (New York state, US) -and me, standing on a chair taking the photo.

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Hola Argentina likes Kate and William

This is near my flat, it seems Argentina cares about Kate and William's new life. Didn't expect that

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Visiting the tower





I actually climbed the tower of babel of books - and they even took my photo to prove it. I could see some Dickens from the inside, and some American, Canadian and Australian stuff. Each of the embassies have donated books and those books left (i missed the period when you could take one) go to make an 'International Library' somewhere. Thats all i grasped from the talk, it was not in english...

Friday, 10 June 2011

Recoleta Cemetery







Architecture student in Buenos Aires, surprise surprise, he goes to the cemetery. Its a odd vibe around here, very different from say highgate cemetery in London where its a lot more green and natural. Here its a grid, and on each plot is a strange house for a family's coffins. What got to me was that a lot are on display, and the 'less architectural' ones are just cages with shelves of coffins in them, which is wierd, sort of like a prison for the dead. The architectural styling is usually quite bizzare, (its almost like a competition to have the tallest dome,biggest cross, most intricate or most 'unique' mausoleum a lot of the time) but the doors are interesting and often bespoke and quite beautiful.

Street observations




1. The pavements. in the centre are so small and the busses so many its a bit mad.
2. Fruit and Veg shops. Way more than in london, But maybe thats becasue tesco metro hasnt opened here yet..
3. Long thin doors. Very common here, colonial leftovers i suppose but i think they're fantastic

Room with a view.







This is the apartment.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Tigre











Tigre sits on the Paraná Delta and is made of patches of solid gound surrounded by water. It now has loads of these houses on stilts, usually with verandas and always with a Jetty. Its from the jetty that you hail the water bus, or collect booze from the floating off-licence that does the rounds on demand. I visited with a English friend whos fianceé's mother rents a house there. We had a big Asado to celebrate their engagement.