Newspapers, Cemeteries, and the Tango

Whoa. I’m behind two days, but it feels like a lifetime. We’ve done so much in the past couple of days that I don’t even know where to begin.

Yesterday, we took a two-hour walking tour in the neighborhood of San Telmo. If the day before felt like we were in New York City, yesterday felt like Europe. Rod iron balconies lined the buildings, and the architecture was absolutely gorgeous. We visited a mercado, which sold meats, fruits and antiques. We ate lunch at a tiny restaurant, where I had – what else? – steak. We then visited la Universidad de Cine, which was a film institute for college students. The man who we met with designed the layout of the school, which was absolutely incredible. It had an urban vibe, with glass ceilings, brick walls, and metal steps. I hope that my future city apartment will have a similar vibe. 

We then walked a looooong way to another tour at Clarín, the largest newspaper in Argentina. It’s a daily paper that began in the 1940s, but since then, it has evolved into a HUGE media conglomerate. Nowadays, it not only produces the newspaper, but it also has a radio station, television stations, telephone companies, internet providers, etc… We visited the newsroom, and then we visited the sports section, which was absolutely hilarious. The majority of the journalists for the sports pages were men, so all through their newsroom, there were pictures of bikini-clad women.

After leaving there, we went to grab dinner at a French bistro in the neighborhood, but because Argentinians eat late, it wasn’t open yet. We went to a nearby bar for an hour before we had a delicious dinner of crab ravioli at the restaurant. We came back to the hotel, completely exhausted and grateful that we didn’t have to be anywhere until 2 p.m. the next day.

Believe me, we took advantage of our free morning. After waking up at noon, we ventured down the street to McDonald's for a quick lunch, and let me just say, I have never seen a busier McDonald's in my life. It was packed, and the cashiers were yelling over people to get the next order. I was totally overwhelmed. But luckily, after that, I was able to relax on a two-hour bus tour with Nico. We went to Palermo today, and saw the work of a controversial artist name Marta Minujín, went to a jardín de rosas, or rose garden, got some tasty gelato, and visited the cemetery, which is my new favorite place in Buenos Aires (sorry, la Boca!).

The cemetery was the most impressive place that I had ever been in my life. There were dozens of pathways filled with gorgeous marble mausoleums. We learned that in most of them, the head of the family was buried above ground, and the rest of the family was buried underneath. In many, there were glass doors, so we could see the tombs and the stairs leading down to the others. One mausoleum was for a young girl who was accidentally buried alive. By the time they got to her, she had died from a heart attack. Out of respect and honor, they built a beautiful tomb made of marble, which you can view. We also saw Eva Peron’s grave, which was very cool.

After leaving the cemetery, we shopped for a little bit and then returned to the hotel to get ready for our dinner and tango show. Our dinner (steak!) was delicious, but the real art was the dancing. While watching the show, a variety of words came to mind – intense, sexy, harsh, impressive. I can honestly say that I am SO excited for our tango lessons tomorrow.

Before our tango lessons, though, we have a tour of la Casa Rosada (it’s open to the public on weekends) and the Eva Perón museum. After our tango lessons, we board a bus for, get this, a19-hour trip to Salta for the next few days. I hear the buses are comfy, but something tells me that I’ll be exhausted by Sunday.