Did Someone Hit Fastforward?

I have a whole lot of catching up to do, it looks like! I’ve been combining a lot of activity with a little bit of illness lately... which has made for a tired little traveler. But here we go:


Last weekend, my friend Charlotte and I headed up to Tigre for a day. It’s a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires the city, in Buenos Aires the province. It was incredibly beautiful and oddly interesting. We found ourselves constantly wondering whether we were still really in Argentina.

The town is built on a delta and therefore has tons of canals going through it, kind of like Venice. The architecture was mildly schizophrenic, a strange mix of Brazil, Portugal, France, and Bavaria. They have a lot of water tourism during the summer but since we went during the winter, town was pretty empty. But it was very beautiful, the people were very nice, and it was a fun, relaxing day.

A boat taxi!

Friday, we went to the zoooooo! Buenos Aires has a great zoo, one of the best in South America. The architecture was amazing, with really beautiful building, gazebos, bridges and sculptures scattered throughout. I’ve been to a few zoos in my day and every time I go, I forget about how sad they make me. Until I see the big, furry mammals… you know, the ones you feel like you could hug and cuddle with.

WARNING: THE NEXT TWO PICTURES MIGHT INDUCE HEARTBREAKING

They must have been cleaning the polar bears pool that day, but they neglected

to tell the poor bear. He came out and was incredibly confused as to where
all the water had gone. Quite possibly one of the saddest moments in my life.

One of the cool things about the BA Zoo is that they have tons of animals and birds that just wonder around on the trails. You can buy food to feed them so they're really tame. There are peacocks, ducks, these crazy half rabbit-half deer looking specimens from Patagonia, as well as some crazy beaver creatures.

The aviary! Sooo loud.

Yesterday, we went to one of the Buenos Aires landmarks, the Cemetery in Recoleta. Yes, I know it’s kind of strange for a cemetery to be a landmark but when you see it, you’ll understand. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s like a virtual city of beautiful, opulent mausoleums that goes on forever.

The most famous Argentineans are buried there: Evita Peron, D.F. Sarmiento, Nobel Prize winners, various presidents, and tons of military caudillos. I felt a bit strange wondering around a cemetery with my camera but I’m sure it would have been a lot more eery if there hadn’t been so many other tourists walking around too.

This was the biggest one we found. I had to get on the ground to even
try to get a good picture... It's for a man who won a Nobel Prize in
chemistry for Diabetes Research. Super shwanky.

There were cats all over the place! Creeeeepy.

Another cat...

I simply cannot believe I have less than a week left... It makes me want to cry. Sooo many things to do this week that I still haven't gotten around to: museums, monuments, shopping, landmarks... and finals. AND getting over the swine flu... ahh!

Wish me luck...