Day 4 - Plaza de Mayo & Central Bank
Our days keep getting busier and busier, and we're covering a lot of ground in a short period of time, so I apologize for how sparse the posts are.
Plaza de Mayo:: This stop on our trip was an interesting kluge of contrasts. On the one hand, the Plaza de Mayo is considered the city center, with great historical signifigance in the Casa Rosada, Cabildo, City Hall and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. On the other hand, this square is also a place of protest - and 5 protesters where shot here during the Argentine Financial Crisis of 2001.
As a matter of fact, as we approached the Metropolitan Cathedral, some indigenous people from the southern provinces of Argentina were marching through the square, to protest fiscal spending (heavier in urban areas than the rural provinces) and unemployment Although the square faces city hall, and both the Senate and Congress are nearby, the Catholic Church has more influence than the grass roots groups representing the provincial people, so they hold their protests to get the attention of the Cardinal, and hope the Cardinal will sway the politicians. We could not take pictures of the protest at all, for this would attract the attention of the military police, and we'd be jailed.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires:: after listening to the protesters, we entered the cathedral. It was the middle of mass, so again - no pictures, but you can find pictures on Wikipedia. It was at once moving and strange, because I felt like we (as tourists) were invading their space. All the parishoners (sp) were deeply moved, and some cried (particularly the indigeous people) as they listened silently, or prayed to the statues of Mary in the hall.
Central Bank of Brazil:: after leaving the plaza, we met with Martin Castellano, of the Banco Central de la República Argentina. He covered the financials for Argentina as a whole, in great detail. The summary is really that Argentina's economy is very cyclical, with huge upturns and downturns, and while in recovery from the 2001 crisis, the bank's role is to plan for those downturns, and minimize the impact of the cycles, thus "normalizing" the economy.
aside for the ladies: he was a COMPLETE hottie. The pic here really doesn't do him justice, because he was not only handsome, but well put together from his cufflinks down to his trouser socks. To the brethren: pink is STILL a hot color, if you pull it off right...step up your game, please!
Bife!!:: have I ever mentioned my love for half-raw beef? Or the fact that both Argentina as well as Brazil are known for their beef production AND consumption? No? Ok, I'll try to do this justice by saying that Bife was offered EVERYWHERE - from 5 star restaurants to corner diners, to open-air markets to fast (well, sorta fast) food places. Bife de Lomo, Bife y Chorizo, bife brochettes.....chile, Bife! was everywhere, so much that after a while, I was sick of Bife! But we also checked out a couple of buffets that sold jamon y queso (ham & cheeses), bife, pollo (chicken), assorted salads, and sweets. Matter of fact, the only thing that outweighs the Argentinean presentation of beef, may be their presentation of pastries. But more on the whole pastry thing later....
Video below- street tango on Avenue Florida:: we caught this while shopping & sight seeing. It's ok, but it's definitely not Senor Tango...lol.
Day 6...Senor Tango! stay tuned.... ;-)