Walking Tour of BA

Tuesday November 16th.

Slept okay in my bunk. I woke up at eight, had a good continental breakfast with oranges and scrambled egg! Then I walked to another hostel to catch up with a tour guide who works for Cultour. This a historical walking tour of Buenos Aires. First he showed us a video of the three most important things to happen in the country this century, 1) the financial crisis of 2001, 2) the Perons and 3) the military dictatorship and the missing people.

He took us, me and a couple from Australia, to a number of sites in town: Plaza de Mayo, the main square, the main cathedral, the government buildings, Eva Peron's working office, which is set up as a museum in the offices of the trade unionists (after she died and was embalmed, her body was stolen from here!), and an archeological site where they are digging up bodies of people who went 'missing' during the years of the dictatorship.

After that I walked to the ecological park that is between the city and the Atlantic Ocean. It's a large marsh with trails for walking through it. I walked all around and saw a number of different bird species I hadn't seen before, from marsh birds to a large pair of raptors with their one offspring who was about to fledge.

Back to the hostel to change rooms. Now I'm with five other people! Relaxing evening, simple dinner and went up to the bar on the roof of this six floor building. Interesting view, but not much happening and quite cool so I came back down to read before retiring with my five other roommates.