Ole ole ole ole ole ole...

On Friday's, I don't have any classes so I decided to go exploring. Feel like going on a journey with me in Buenos Aires? Please keep your hands and feet inside the bus at all times...

Stop One: The Japanese Gardens: For those of you from the Dayton area, the Japanese Gardens are kind of like Cox Arboretum, but nicer. There are lots of greenhouses all over the place and while it would have been prettier in the Spring, it was still nice to walk around and take in the sights. Before I went to the gardens, I stopped at a bakery and got a ham and cheese sandwich (they love their ham here) on a french loaf...very tasty. I sat down on a bench in the gardens, ate my sandwich, and enjoyed every bite of it.

Stop Two: Parque Palermo: I believe this is the second time I'm writing about Parque Palermo, however, it is one of my favorite places in the city. I went there, again, a few days ago and brought my homework with me so I could do some reading. I read for about an hour (it was a beautiful day outside) and then decided to walk around the park a little bit. While walking around the park, I got a little hungry so I got a "super pancho" from a vendor in the park. A super pancho is the Argentine equivalent to a foot long hot dog. They're pretty good and they're extremely cheap (less than $1 American.) When the weather starts to get warm for good, this will be one of my favorite places to go in the city.

Stop Three: The Alamo Sports Bar: Last night, I went with some of my friends to the Alamo Sports bar to watch the Argentina/Nigeria Olympic gold futbol game...needless to say, Argentina won the gold! Once they won, the place went nuts. Everyone (who knew it) started singing the Argentine National Anthem and then they started chanting "Ole ole ole ole, ole, ole..." It was a lot of fun and a neat experience to be with Argentines when watching them win the gold metal.

Stop Four: La Boca: Today, I went to a neighborhood in BsAs called "La Boca." The weather was GREAT: about 65 or 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. La Boca is known for their colorful buildings and also for being a very dangerous place at night (don't worry Mom, I went only during the day.) I liked La Boca a lot, however, it is pretty touristy (When walking around La Boca, different people such as restaurant owners or what not would ask me in broken English, "Where are you from?" Sometimes I would say the US, sometimes Canada...it depended on my mood.) Each restaurant we walked by, someone was always asking us to go into their restaurant, sit down, and have a meal...it kind of reminded me of Little Italy in New York...they're always telling you how their restaurant is the best and why you should eat there. For lunch, we ordered a parrilla for three people. Argentina is known for their parrillas. A parrilla consists of a plate of grilled meat (sausage, pork, chicken, steak, etc.) The majority of the meat was very good...very well seasoned, very tasty, but a little expensive. One of my friends, Amy, was feeling adventurous and decided to try the blood sausage. I don't know if any of you have ever had or heard of blood sausage before or not but it did NOT look tasty. You do not want me to describe what it looked like, trust me. After eating, we walked around the different shops and stands on the streets and then came home after about four hours or so there. It was a 30 minute bus ride from Palermo (where I live) and was well worth it.

This weekend was fun and I'm glad I got to see different things around BsAs. I'm putting pictures up on my website so take a look and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoyed your trip...please come again soon.

Chau (thats h0w you spell ciao in Spanish) for now!

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