Monday, October 30, 2006

Suspension

I woke up early this morning to catch one of the last English tours of the Teatro Colon for the next 3 years, but unfortunately, when I got there, I found it to be completely sold out for today and tomorrow. Oh well...I quickly changed my morning plan and decided to visit the Puerto Madero area of B. Aires.

Puerto Madero is a new and modern area with waterfront lofts in old red brick factory buildings... and fine dining establishments such as TGI Fridays and Hooters (ha!). Anyway, the main reason I ventured to this area was to see a bridge designed by my favorite architect, Santiago Calatrava:

The bridge is called La Puente de la Mujer or the Bridge of the Woman. Not sure if it refers to this particular woman, but it's probably a good guess:

Sunday, October 29, 2006

End of Day One

Towards the end of the day, I hopped on el subte (subway) and went to El Centro (downtown). I checked out the Obelisk and the crazy 16+ lane road, Avenida 9 de Julio:I also checked out the Teatro Colon, but will probably post those pictures tomorrow since I'm going to try to catch my last chance at an interior tour for three years (it's closing on Wednesday for an extensive renovation). I got there just as the last performance before the closing was letting out. There probably will not be a lot of photos of me on this blog, but I got some American high school students to take a picture of me in front of the theatre and I'm very tiny.
Goodnight for now!

Garbage on a pedestal

I arrived in Buenos Aires this morning and after taking a much-needed nap and chatting a bit with my host, I took advantage of the breaking sunlight and went for a stroll. I'm staying just a couple of blocks south of the uber-trendy Palermo neighborhood and my Spanish school, and I decided to walk towards that area since the area immediately surrounding me was pretty quiet. During the walk, I noticed something that I had never really seen before: truly elevated garbage bins.





































These aren't really common...most of the time, you'll see orange bins, also elevated, but not quite so high or as pretty:













In any event, I'm sure there was a reason for the elegant metal trash receptacles, perhaps fear of flooding or dogs. Whatever the reason, I really like them, despite their limited storage capacity.

A Small World

My trip to Buenos Aires is definitely a good thing. I was completely burned out from working at my company's EXPO, for which I did many things, including designing the EXPO logo, marketing materials, Web site and signage. In any event, I was glad to put that completely behind me when, at my Houston layover, I saw a man checking in for my flight with one of our blue EXPO bags. You might think that I was peeved to have such a reminder about work, but I was actually pretty proud. My logo was on that bag and I think that it was the only time I've seen my work outside of my little work world. I like the idea that that bag will be floating around Buenos Aires. Not only am I physically here, but so is another piece of me. Apparently, I've got B.A. covered. YAY!!!

To see the EXPO logo I'm referring to, here it is:

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Kicking it off

After months of anticipation and a condensed week of preparation, I am two days away from my first solo trip out of the country. From October 28 to November 11, I will be in Buenos Aires learning Spanish and trying out the tango, a dance that I've always been fascinated with. (Unfortunately, I've been too caught up in the L.A. swing dance scene and not too interested in the L.A. latin dance crowd.) Beyond my 30 hours of Spanish and tango per week, which perhaps might be too much, I will just spend my time getting a feel for the city by aimlessly idling around, eating much too much, taking full advantage of the Argentine peso devaluation and interacting (or trying to) with the locals.

I probably should mention that this trip is my 30th birthday gift to myself. I booked it when I was at one of my lowest points and felt that I needed to do something to take full advantage of life. What better than to take a trip to Buenos Aires all by myself? After all, I really want to know the city before it becomes too touristy. I do realize that the secret of its charms has long been out, but still I hope it's early enough that Ugly tourists aren't arriving en masse. I am forever kicking myself for not studying abroad in Prague before it became a perennial finisher in Travel + Leisure's top 10 destinations, and I certainly did not want that to happen with Buenos Aires.

This blog will be act as my travelogue for this trip, for later trips and also just for trippy experiences in my hometown of Los Angeles. Originally, I was going to call it "Table for One" since I was very single not too long ago, but I'm happy to say that I now have a travel partner, indeed a partner, for all my future adventures. ILYKy