More Sightseeing in San Telmo and Welcome Dinner on First Day of NYU Conference:

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Buenos Aires

More Sightseeing In San Telmo and Welcome Dinner on First Day of NYU Conference: 

Buenos Dias from Buenos Aires!

We had to take a compulsory day off sight-seeing today because the municipal authorities in Buenos Aires decided to call a strike. Not only were all government offices closed but all museums and historical sites were too. All forms of public transport (buses, the metro) were non-functional (taxis were running)—which meant that offices were closed as people were unable to get to work. The streets were emptied of humans and vehicular traffic and it was actually quite a joy to have the city to ourselves, as, refusing to be daunted, we decided to go out on a walking tour.

Breakfast with Colleagues After a Year:

But first, we had to get down to breakfast. I was aware that some of my colleagues would have arrived and right enough! I did meet a few of them and so breakfast was quite a companionable meal today as I introduced Llew to a few of my friends. We enjoyed bowls of cereal with vanilla yogurt and I had a croissant with cheese and cold cuts before finishing off with fresh fruit over decaf coffee. 

It was at this point that we became aware of the strike as one of my colleagues, Nancy, told us about it. The Receptionist at the hotel confirmed this and, left with little choice, we nixed our plans to see the museums in the afternoon. However, we did not realize right away that buses would also be off the road and we did go and stand at the No. 37 bus stop. It was about ten minutes later that it struck me that the buses were probably off the roads. A lady passerby confirmed this. Left with no choice again, we hailed a passing cab and told him to take us to the Plaza de Mayo. It was my intention to start a walking tour from that point—a walking tour that was a part of an article entitled ‘12 Hours in Buenos Aires’ that I had downloaded from the Net.

Re-Exploring Plaza de Mayo:

So the great part about the strike was that we had the Plaza de Mayo entirely to ourselves today as it was emptied of humanity. We decided, as soon as we alighted from the cab, to retry and get into the Metropolitan Cathedral as it was closed two days ago and we could not see the interior.

Today, the gate was open and we were to see one of the most magnificent churches in the country. This was the cathedral of which the current Pope Francis was once the Cardinal and there is a prominent poster at the entrance of the church that announces this fact.

Inside, the cathedral is built in pure Baroque style. There is a soaring nave and the most opulent gilded details you could imagine. Lavish paintings on the ceiling and the embellishment on the dome which are very reminiscent of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London took my breath away. I was ever so glad we could get in here. 

Viewing the Grave of General Jose San Martin and the Changing of the Guard:

Only a few straggling tourists milled around the vast environs of the cathedral and strolled towards the grand monument that contains the mortal remains of one of Latin-America’s most famous sons, General Jose San Martin who liberated a large part of the sub-continent from Spanish rule in 1810. He did not die in Argentina, but after liberation, there was a move to bring his body back to the capital city for a proper interment. Like most Victorian mortuary monuments of the era (there are similarities with those of Nelson in the basement of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and Napoleon’s in the Cathedral of Les Invalids in Paris), it soars on an impressive white marble pedestal to end in a huge black marble casket that is lovingly draped with the sky blue and white flag of Argentina. It is surrounded by metal wreaths that announce his many military campaigns that brought freedom to Chile and Peru as well. Standing at the entrance to the chapel in which the monument is housed are twin guards from the Argentinian military. 

We happened to be in the cathedral at the time when the Changing of the Guards was about to take place. Six uniformed guards looking all purposeful and spiffy in their official attire marched in formation very smartly to the entrance and going through the commands, changed spaces and joined the ones taking over. Except that a take over did not actually occur and the two guards who were literally holding the fort simply joined their colleagues and marched off. The heavy wrought-iron ornamental gates to the chapel were then shut and place was vacated. We were very lucky not only to have able to enter the mortuary chapel but to also catch the spectacle of the Change of Guards on a day when not much else was available for tourists to gawk at!

  

Beginning our Walking Tour Along Defensa:

The New York Times article had instructed us to begin our tour at Plaza de Mayo and to walk along a long street called Defensa which would get us into the heart of San Telmo. But before we did this, we were struck by the grandeur of the buildings that surround the plaza with their heavy Grecian ornamentation that consists of full-sized sculptures that adorn the facades of official buildings. We took many pictures of these marvels including the Legistura Building which is topped by a pretty clock tower. 

As you make your way further and further south along Defensa towards San Telmo, the street and the neighborhood get more gritty. This is not Recolleta where the well-heeled congregate—probably descendants of the original colonists who put Argentina on the map. This area is filled with lovely old Spanish churches (a couple were being extensively renovated and were not open to the public) and speakeasies, not to mention a pharmacy that has been in business since the 1700s and still sports the original ceiling and paintings that make it visually a treat. 

     We kept walking further on, passing by a huge amount of antiques stores for San Telmo is the Antiques’ capital of the city. Some of them were open but, for the most part, they were shut and we could only appreciate their wares in the shop windows. We did take in the sights as we moved further down past a whole lot of blocks and arrived finally at the pretty Plaza Dorrego which dates from the 1700s and remains almost entirely as it looked at that time. There are official buildings that surround it and the center is taken over by bars and cafes and a number of small-time black African sellers in stone jewelery. Making a sharp left, we arrived at another grand church which was shut. Prior to that , we entered what used to be a slum tenement (called a conventillo). Apparently, in days gone by, a lot of the San Telmo region used to have such habitations. They are quite unique and are filled today with shops seeing skins, leather and pelts. 

     By this time, we had arrived at the end of our walk and were instructed to take a bus to La Boca, the region which is noted for its futbol crazy fans. But with everything closed today, there was no way we would get into the famed stadium called La Bombonera where the Boca Boys, Buenos Aires’ famed football team, are based. 

Lunch at La Biela:

Hence, we merely hailed a cab and decided to get a spot of lunch at  one of the city’s best-known restaurants called La Biela on Avenue de Quintana in Recolletta, not far from our hotel, which was described by Lonely Planet as an institution. It turned out to be the sort of place in which well-known figures from sports (car-racing champions) and literature (Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares) would hang out. Inside the restaurant comprises a vast space that has old-world style imprinted all over it. 

At the entrance on the street outside, life-size effigies of the Glavez brothers who are legends in the land in the world of car-racing were surrounded by young folks getting their pictures taken in their august company. Just behind the entrance is a table at which the two famed writers are seated and, of course, we had to take pictures with them.  

When we did get seated, we opted for chicken burgers which were simply breast of chicken served on a hamburger bun. The meal deal features salad and a coke which Llew and I split. It made for a far more filling meal than I would have liked to eat as I was aware that we would be eating a big meal in the evening. Still, left with little choice, we took our time and lingered over it.

Visiting the Church of Our Lady of Pilar:

The restaurant opened out on a large and very colorful square which was dominated at one end by a very pretty colonial church called the Church of Our Lady of Pilar. We decided to pay a visit and were, once again, completely taken by the lavishness of the ornamental design, the heavy gilding upon every single altar—the main one and the side chapels that were numerous—and the iconography of the niches. There was a statue of Saint Teresa of Calcutta that I was seeing in a church for the first time and of Jesus seated in the exact same pose as Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’—which was a most unusual pose and again never seen before. We spent a few moments in silent prayer and then left the church to follow our map which got us back to our hotel after a 20 minute walk.

A Long Rest and a Nap in our Hotel:

Perhaps it was just as well that everything was closed today as it gave us the opportunity to take a long and very welcome break in our hotel where we ended up having lovely naps. When we awoke, we watched a bit of TV—it is great to have English channels here and to be able to keep abreast of world news. 

     A little later, I awoke and started to spend some time on personal grooming. Then, I got my clothing ready for the dinner and tango dance outing that had been planned as a Welcome event by NYU for all conference participants. As a few of my colleagues had been detained by the strike and had not arrived, there were extra seats available and Llew and a few other ‘guests’ who are accompanying delegates were able to join us.

     A shower and shampoo later, I was actually able to use a hair dryer after more than a year (I do not own one in Bombay) and was actually able to style my hair. Llew also got ready and we went down to the lobby at the appointed hour where I then met with a lot more of my colleagues who had lovely reunions with me, including Tim and Heidi and Michael. I did many introductions so that Llew got to know a few of them and then it was time to pile into coaches that had been arranged to get us to an exciting venue—El Querida, a restaurant that offered a three-course menu and over an hour of tango entertainment. 

Dinner and Tango Dancing At El Querida:

The food was nothing to shout about—we had a starter of creamy corn in a taco shell with pesto sauce. The main was good: we were finally going to eat Argentinian well-aged steaks (for which the country is famed). It was good but much too huge and I ended up having to leave some of it. Dessert was the famous flan that is well-known on the entire South American continent. It had a crisp sugar shell, similar to Creme brûlée.

     The dancing then began and went on for over an hour. It featured a full set of musicians including an ace pianist. The show took us through the decades from the origin of the dance form as a type of protest in the barrios of the city to the later years when it became a glamorous part of the evening’s entertainment in posh restaurants and clubs. Costumes were lavish and grand, movements perfectly timed and precise so as to create amazing co-ordination among the partners who created the three or four couples that danced throughout. It was a grand combination of music and dance that brought a distinct cultural ethos to the space and was much enjoyed by all spectators, Certainly a stay in Buenos Aires would be incomplete without participation in this unique cultural experience and we were lucky to have the chance to enjoy it as we did through my colleagues who did all the organizing and were also able to include Llew in the evening’s plans.

It was not long before we piled back into the coach that got us back to our hotel past the gorgeous buildings and monuments of Avenue 9 de Julio with its Obelisk and the Colon Theater. 

Back in our hotel, we were ready to call it a night after a lovely day in this elegant and very historic city. We are now all psyched up and ready for the start of our conference which will kick off in the morning right after breakfast. What a wonderful opportunity this is for us and how grateful I feel for this ‘gift’ that has been offered to us.

     Until tomorrow...