Dia De Los Amigos

This weekend has been the best weekend so far on my trip. Not only was it the warmest weather so far, but there was actually sun! It was fun to wonder around some of the famous neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, and welcome a new student to the apartment. Sunday was Dia De Los Amigos or "friends day". Just like we celebrate father's day and mother's day, the Argentines celebrate great friendships on this day. 

Tango at Cafe Tortoni! 

Cafe Tortoni is one of the oldest and most famous Cafes in Buenos Aires. It opened in 1858 and has been serving Portenos (people from Buenos Aires) ever since. They offer tango shows every night of the week. People are let in an hour before the show to eat dinner or order drinks. The show I saw imitated a night at a Tango club. 

Since it was the last night in Bueno Aires for one of my friends, we went to find a place to get drinks. We ended up wondering in to a Restobar behind my apartment building that had live tango music. It was a great relaxing and romantic atmosphere. We stayed there talking and enjoying the music for a few hours.

La Boca "The Mouth"

La Boca is Buenos Aires' most famous neighborhood. It is so named because it lays at the mouth of the river. When you google pictures of Buenos Aires, it is the colorful houses and shops of La Boca that the pop up. La Boca was founded by Italian immigrants who made there houses with parts from the boats the brought them over. Since, the materials were ugly, they painted their houses bright colors to liven up the neighborhood. It is also know to be the birth place of Tango. People in the tourist area of La Boca are very pushy. They walk up to you with menus and act like you want to go to their restaurant and the prices on almost everything are inflated. The streets were packed with people and the colors were extra vibrant in the sun.

The Famous Colored Walls

More Brightly Painted Walls

   

La Boca Crafts Market

Birthday Girl Buying a Leather Purse

Hand Made Bracelets

The Mouth of the River

San Telmo 

The San Telmo Market is a 10 block long crafts market that starts in the heart of San Telmo at Plaza Dorrego and ends at Plaza de Maya. There is everything from antiques to silver jewelry, to hand made leather pieces to shoes.  The majority of the things there are hand made and relatively in expensive. For example I bought a hand made leather belt for less than $10. 

After the market I went into La Casa Rosa with the girl who just moved into my apartment. It was not very exciting. There were only a few rooms that you were allowed into. I thought it was interesting that the inside of on courtyard was pink and the other was white.

Presidents Office 

 Entry Hall of La Casa Rosada

I have finally mastered the kitchen. Everything is gas and has to be lit with a match. I still freak out every time I light the stove, but I'm getting better. I cooked my first steak tognith! And I was very impressed with my results. For 6 pieces of stake the size show below it was about $4. So cheap compared to steak in the US! I will now be eating steak for the rest of the week though. To go along with the steak made eggplant, which is now my new favorite vegetable.