Bike tour

Today I went on a bike tour of BsAs (thats how the locals abbreviate Buenos Aires) and it was amazing. Since I was sick on the day of the city tour via bus, it was great to be able to see all the different sights and to have someone explain to me the significance of each place.

We started at 11:45 and it was pretty chilly. The wind was blowing and the sun was behind some clouds. After we started biking, it got warmer and more enjoyable. We mostly biked on the side of the road because there were a lot of people on the sidewalks. Our tour guide was from Argentina but spoke very good English.

We started off in San Telmo, a neighborhood of BsAs. It was all cobblestone roads at first so it was a little hard to ride on. I saw so many different sights it is hard to describe everything (pictures will be coming soon...check http://picasaweb.google.com/cmaddoxjr). One main sight we saw was Plaza de Mayo, a central place in the city for demonstrations and protests. At the Plaza de Mayo is the Casa Rosada (the pink house.) This is the house where the Argentine President does all of her work and has all of her governmental affairs. She doesn't live at La Casa Rosada; she lives 3o minutes outside of the city and comes to work via helicopter everyday. When she is inside La Casa Rosada, two flags are raised above the building; when she is not there, only one flag is raised. Another sight we saw is Recoleta Cemetery. In this awesome place, hundreds, possibly thousands, of bodies are in mausoleums in this cemetery. No one is buried underground in Recoleta Cemetery, only in mausoleums. Evita Peron is in this cemetery. She was originally buried in Europe but her body was constantly being stolen so her husband, who was the president of Argentina at the time, had her moved to the Recoleta Cemetery where he knew she would be safe.

Among many other places, we went to Puerto Madero (the newest neighborhood in BsAs.) Here, there is water, similar to the inter-coastal for those of you from Florida, and lots of fancy restaurants. It is no longer a working port because the waterway is not big enough to handle the big ships that come to and through BsAs. Also, we went to a giant park, which I think is called El Parque Palermo (but I may be wrong.) It reminds me so much of Central Park in NYC. Here, you can rent paddle boats for the lake, bikes to ride around the park, and roller blades. Also, they have lots of vendors selling cotton candy, honey peanuts, hot dogs, soda, etc. It was a very cool environment and I would love to go back sometime when it is warmer outside.

The bike tour was splendid and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see all the main sights of BsAs in a short period of time. It wasn't a strenuous ride; it was enjoyable and peaceful. The overall time of my tour was about four hours; however, there are shorter ones available. I loved seeing the different buildings and places I've been told about and I will definitely visit them again in the future.

Today was a good day.