Day 52 - Buenos Aires (Part 3)

Saturday, 5 October 2014

This reminded me of how young Malaysia really is. Most countries in South America obtained independence in the 19th century, and they have undergone various political and economic climates throughout their independence such as military coups, going to war with each other (there is a famous war between Peru, Chile and Bolivia involving border and territorial disputes, in which Bolivia lost the sea and is still making representations to the International Court of Justice), economic turmoil etc. Whereas Malaysia who won her independence fairly recently, has really undergone a largely peaceful climate. Hopefully it stays that way. The guide on the city tour yesterday was incredulous at how young Malaysia is. I wanted to tell him that with more than 100 years of independence, Argentina is not doing that much better than Malaysia, so there! But I was polite enough not to tell him this, of course.

Then I headed back down Avenue de Mayo, back past Estacion Peru and Cafe Tortoni, and continued walking down this avenue. Along the way I passed by a building called Palacio Barolo. This was once the tallest building in South America. The building is meant to represent Dante's inferno, with the lobby symbolizing Hell, floors 1 to 14 symbolizing Purgatory, and floors 15 to 22 symbolizing Heaven. There is also a rooftop lighthouse meant to symbolize God and Salvation. There are tours available on certain days, and of course, today was not one of the days for the tours so I could not enter the building. I didn't seem to have any luck with tours today. The exterior of the building was pretty impressive.

Walking past this building, I came to what looked like a playground, here there was a statue of Rodin's The Thinker, and just next to it is a block marking Kilometro Cero, the point at which all distances from Buenos Aires are marked.

And finally, I arrived at the Congress building. Right in front of the Congress building was the Monument to the Two Congresses, a monument that celebrates the 2 congresses that were held in the aftermath of independence from Spain to lay out the foundations for the new nation of Argentina. The Congress building is domed shaped and apparently the most impressive building in Buenos Aires. After the Congress Building there is a street known as Avenue Rivadavia, which is apparently the longest street in the world. I did not walk along this street.

And then I was done with my self tour walk! I must say I was very proud of myself for finding my way around so beautifully and doing my own research about the places to see and things to do. Unfortunately no tours were available for me but at least I saw the main highlights of Buenos Aires on foot, all by myself! It was about 6 pm when I reached the hotel, I rested for a while before going for the tango show at about 8.30 pm. 

Although we arrived at the show at about 9.00 pm, the show only started at about 10.00 pm and lasted until about 11.30 pm. I enjoyed the tango dancing very much, but unfortunately there  were not many dance performances, most of the show involved 2 singers singing songs in Spanish. So I wasn't very entertained and was even feeling bored. 

Finally I returned to the hotel and went to bed at about 1 am.