Frazier Blog

I was getting ready for the day, I decided on a bike ride. Seemed like a good way to explore the city and would give my feet some rest. I was about to leave when two English girls said they were doing a tour at two, I made an impulsive decision and joined them. The tour started in 30 minutes and was across town. I wanted to take public transit but after doing the math in my head decided with their idea that we needed a cab. The total was 45 pesos. 13 more a person than the bus or subway would have been. Yes that is only three dollars but I am impressed by their transit system and try and use it.

I reluctantly paid for the tour instead of just riding a bike. But am I glad that I did because it gave me the confidence to ride on more streets and took me though areas I would have not done my own.

We did not stop much and I actually would have appreciated a bit more narration than the guide gave. Her pace on the bike was borderline painfully slow. I once tried to hint at a speed increase by pulling up even with her and coasting for a bit while in a wide open area in a park. My attempts were futile.

I will say her ability to ride a bike, lead a tour, dodge cars and text (for a few minutes) impressed me.

The public parks and green spaces in the city are impressive. Sadly the rose gardens were closed. I will return one day and just read. Cobblestone streets are not the most friendly thing to ride on. Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. Had some funny conversations with the Brits. Talked about humor differences and the worlds perception of our respective countries.

China town was hilarious. More like China street. Very small. But still had the signature entrance. When was it decided that all major cities should have a China town? There was some irony in ordering Chinese dishes in Spanish.

Where we parked our bikes had a dog park like none I have ever seen before. Check out this video.

It seemed like it was a free for all drop off. I was shocked that the dogs did not fight more. I never saw a fight just lots of barking. Crazy. We asked our guide about it, she asked abut it casualty and said that is where you leave your dog if you need to visit one of the business in the area.

The tour concluded. But I knew I would be riding a bike in Buenos Aires again soon. Perhaps tomorrow.

Time to head to MALBA. Starting to do better with the busses. Really was not a fan of walking due to the blisters. It really is incredible how many buses there are. I may do a special blog just on the busses.

They had a interactive noise meter outside. It goes up as traffic increases. Fun to watch.

Got to MALBA used my student ID. Realized I could have saved even more because they give 25% of to CITI customers. Grabbed a coffee and a pastry in the cafe and then started to explore.

Really interesting museum. For better or for worse, no photos were allowed. I realized this after I took a few an was promptly yelled at. Oops.

I did like this one.

I enjoyed the impressionist pieces and some of the modern art. However some of the modern art seemed silly to me. There was one piece that was literally two black squares suspended in air. Even I could had done that. But I guess the point is I didn’t. I did enjoy the collection that was interactive. At first glance it appears just to be a collection of random objects but the I noticed there were buttons and you could make the piece move,that was cool.

There also was a whole thing with colors and prisms and mirrors. That blew my mind. The art changed as you moved about the room. Quite genius. And fun.

I left and towards the hostel with the intent of going to a tango class. Found a bus home rather quickly, I only had to walk 5 blocks. It had already been a full day why not make it fuller.

I barley had time to set down my stuff down when people were leaving for tango lessons. I caught up with the group and after a little walk we found the tango spot.

For 25 pesos you got a lesson, a live band and then admission to the milonga (an open dance for tango). I did decent during the lesson. However I was told in Spanish by the instructor that I needed to move my weight first and the move my leg. Not sure I fully understood. Maybe next time.

There were two instructors, only one was bilingual. It was quite comical as she would say something in Spanish, I’d understand parts and then she would repeat it in English. The only odd part was when she’d say something in only one language or forget to translate what the other instructor said.

Overall a good time and fun to do with a group of people I knew. The band came next and was quite good. The singer kept coming on and off the stage. But appeared. embarrassed anytime he received applause. He had a great voice. People already started to dance, I was not feeling especially confident after just one lesson so just watched, as did the rest of my hostel group. It was entertaining but I soon felt a little more hungry and tired. So I left.

I felt less hungry as I walked back and saw nothing open so I just went to bed.

Quite a fun and busy day and night. Good night moon.