Back in Buenos Aires for less than 24 hours – 24 hours that were supposed to be three full days – there wasn’t a whole lot to do before needing to get back out to the international airport. Fortunately, I was in a different hotel in a different neighborhood that afforded me the opportunity to explore a few things that were a bit on the remote side at the beginning of my Argentinian stay. Furthermore, it was a relief to be in considerably warmer temperatures that didn’t require constant penguin-style walking.
One of the places I headed to first was the Eva Peron museum. It was recommended to me when I first came to Argentina but was closed on the only day I had time to visit it. The museum was in a beautifully restored old building just a few blocks from my hotel. It seemed to be a well designed presentation, but perhaps it have a bit too much emphasis on her dress ensembles. It struck me of what, perhaps, a Lady Di or Grace Kelly museum might look like. Throughout the museum were mannequins displaying her fabulous dress sense. I personally was more interested in hearing about her story, but it seemed as though the majority of visitors (only women while I was there) were enthralled to see what she wore.
One problem I ran into on this final day was my rapidly depleting stack of Argentine Pesos. They don’t go very far and I wasn’t really keen to make another ATM withdrawal resulting in another $6-7 charge for the overseas privilege – just when I knew I would have to do the same thing as soon as I touched down in South Africa. I tried using credit cards as much as I could, but not everyone would take them.
As a result of being a bit tight on cash, I declined the offer of using an English audio supplement for the tour. I think it would have helped fill in quite a few gaps in the museum narrative. There were small English translations here and there, but I think the audio tour would have been useful in hindsight.
The cafe at the museum was also recommended to me as a great place to get lunch. It was a beautiful location, half inside and half outside in a shady area behind the museum. With the warm sunny weather, I opted for an outdoor table and took to perusing the menu to find something worth eating for lunch.
Among the entries was an “Eva Peron Special” that caught my eye. What would Eva be eating in order to maintain her girly figure and fit in all those elegant dresses, I thought. A nice healthy salad? No! It was actually breaded steak and potatoes. So I ordered it. Sure it came with a salad and even desert, but I thought it was kind of funny – but not that unusual for a citizen in a country famous for its steak houses and triple and quadruple decker burgers!
After finishing my lunch, I checked my excellent little Buenos Aires iPhone app to see what else I could explore in the neighborhood. I only had a few hours left, but I did notice the zoo was only a few blocks away. It was a beautiful day so I thought it might be nice to go somewhere nice where I could walk around outside for a while.
Well, to be honest, this was one of the most depressing zoos I’ve ever been to! More than anything else it just appeared to be run down and neglected throughout. The animals looked healthy enough for the most part, but the grounds they were in were full of broken facilities, missing grass and too much dirt, and filthy water. You couldn’t even see through the water the seals were swimming it. It certainly appeared to have been a grand zoo in its heyday, but that was obviously a long time ago!
