Monday 18/9/18

After a good night's rest, we are ready to explore the city. The weather is peculiar - its cool but humid! Nice for walking. After a little brekky and a skype home to Aus to let them know we had arrived safely, Rob & I headed off with George - Cristina's husband and he showed us the ropes of getting onto the subway from their house, which line to catch into the city and buying a transport card. Its going to take me a little to get use to the conversion rate, currently its very roughly $A4.00 to 1 Peso (which uses the $ symbol also), but due the instability this will probably change daily.

George showed us around a small part of the historical area to get our bearings and we will return to explore in more depth. As we were walking you could hear what sounded like canon fire - George said "is ok, no need to worry", it was a political protest in procession, which is quite common from my understanding. We watched this racket for a while, then continued on our way to view a couple of the historical churches.

The main Catholic Cathedral is Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, located in the city center, overlooking Plaza de Mayo. The Cathedral was rebuilt several times since its origins in the 16th century. The present building is a mix of architectural styles, with an 18th-century nave and dome and a severe, 19th-century Neoclassical façade without towers. The interior keeps precious 18th-century statues. Also inside the Cathedral is the Mausoleum of General San Martín which is guarded 24/7. In 1880, the remains of General José de San Martín were brought from France and placed in a mausoleum. It was specially designed with marble of various colours. The black sarcophagus is guarded by three life-size female figures that represent Argentina, Chile and Peru, three of the regions freed by the General. After a lovely lunch in a small restaurant/café, then headed home for a siesta.

We are getting along quite well with our communication, the family speak Spanish and Italian, with a "tiny" bit of English, Robs Italian has improved a lot since he last used it, and I understand a lot of what is said, but then speak in "pigeon Italian" I think! We have had a look at the map to pick a couple of good places to visit on the advice of the relatives.

After we finished our evening meal, cooked by George, their son Marco turned up for dinner about 10PM. He is a University Lecturer in Economics for half the week and the other half of the week he is a manager in his own restaurant. Never has a day off!!