A trip to the Buones Aires Art Gallery- and the Japanese garden

The start of the day was a journey by subte (Buenos Aires underground) from San Telmo to the embassy area of Buenos Aires we were looking for an art gallery. As we came out and close to the area of the galleries it struck me as their seemed to be a lot of police in this area...we all discussed the presence of the police and an assumption was made over road blocks radio and television crews were recording a happening.





¡strange!





We needed to know if we were going in the right direction so we asked a policeman-hhhmm-he was not amused-he was heavily armed...he gave us direction...





Reflecting back to our previous thoughts; we assumed that the political change may be the reason for heavily armed police to be present. On the 24th June 2007 the newly elected mayor was voted in by more than a million people in Buones Aires Mauricio Macri.. a move forward for democracy.



So walking and talking I commented that it was strange how the two political changes in the UK and Buones Aires coincided. Penny spoke of the floods at home in Sheffield where one person had died...And then I raised a point about the historical event of the sinking of the Belgrano ( a warship) a discussion commenced on whether the correct intervention was taken by the UK navy...the Belgrano was way out of the war zone... so as the Belgrano we agreed was way out of a war would the inaction have been incorrect.



The political dilemmas and warmongering were a focus for day was Blair a poodle to Bush?? and would Brown take forward a more democratic stance ( and we are on holiday!!).



We reached our destination...The art gallery Malba- Fundacion Constantini ( a little early!!). So we considered mistakes and the blame culture a discussion entered into from day one in a democratic arena no one shoulder shoulder the responsibility of mistakes...we went for a submarino (hot chocolate)...



At the restaurant at the art gallery we were informed by a waiter that a man was going mad with a rifle in the park... hence the assumptions in the first part of the blog were unfounded...



The art gallery was absolutely brilliant and my haiku for the day exploded into a combination of thoughts of the day and events written on the hoof.

Afterwards the we walked to the Japanese gardens which were built in 1967 it hosts 150 species of plants including many bonsai trees many of the plants that were imported from Japan. We saw a variety of wild life in central Buones Aires the ornamental carp, Oscar, herons cormorants. A dream come true for myself as the heron is my favourite bird and one that I have painted on silk... Jon managed to get 12 shots of the bird (photos of course)...the price to me a shot of whisky for himself if the photos were successful...(no one sells whisky at the restaurants that we went to so a folklore compact disc sufficed).

Later we found out that Gabriel Navaro an eminent lawyer who had been taking cocaine had been under surveillance by the police for 36 hours due to the fact he was barricaded in his home, armed with a M16 machine gun to protect himself... (he had intended to mortally wound a builder with an electric drill the day before).

A folklore evening superb food, wine and good company...(more on folklore later).

Our return to Buenoes Aires

So on our return to Buones Aires we got off the coach. I followed a black nun she was wearing a traditional black habit.

We caught a taxi from the coach station travelling along fast boulevards in the distance I saw familiar sights, Piamide de Mayo an obelisk and cathedral metropolitan on the plaza de Mayo.. We reached the area of San Telmo where we would stay for 7 nights a decision needed to be made about our accommodation. So we went into have a coffee in Classico Cafe Bar-Penny took the initiative to find a hostel-she viewed several which she had previously researched in our Hotel in San Ignacio. Whilst Penny was away Jon and I had an in depth discussion about "The boy in the striped pyjamas", the naivety of a nine year old and what we remembered of being nine. When Penny returned we talked about life planning and what they wanted from the future.
A decision was made for our immediate future, we settled for Oo Hostel which would be our home for a period of 7 nights.


Buones Aires has to be recorded as the abject opposite to the peace and tranquility of the Missions region, a modern city based on European values..capitol of South America..


The next day I would meet with an old friend at Manolos.


During the afternoon we spent on Florida street where I found some new shoes my sandals with my high heels were unsuitable for the road walking we were about to embark on.


Gibraltar bar- an English pub...they serve a good curry and traditional ale.

A thrilling Sunday where we went around the antique market-I found a llama jumper and a pair of gloves Buenos Aries was cold compared to the rain forests.

I also found a doll shop with many toys my favourites were the black dolls- a strange factor they mostly had blue eyes.

Virginia 2002

Cultures Film "The Boys from Brazil"
News of the children..
Virginia travels to England

In the afternoon folklore
chirango playing
Siesta
A brilliant evening a surprise the hostel had live music a quartet a bass player drums electric guitar and drums

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Bar Pilchin for coffee


Poetry and short stories I was in search of Horacio Quiroga and also the works of Borge... I started to look for publications such as Selection de Homenaje, Los Desterrados, and An a conda but non were available as an english translation. I found a copy of selected short stories of Quiroga which I purchased a bookshop just of Florida ( an impressive area of good quality shops).

Lunch was taken at lovely bar Paulin a mirror lined bar with a great atmosphere, good wine good food and fast waiters...


The graveyard girls ( in my youth I loved architecture and spent many hours looking for gargoyles to sketch for my history homework.. younger sisters in tow...reading gravestones etc)...So we took a taxi to Recoletta.



Recolleta is a necropolis which houses corpses in granite marble and bronze. The most famous is the crypt of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron known as Evita. It is an extraordinary place and I was intrigued by the decadence, a beautiful portico is at the entrance. It had an aura of the surreal, for me I was walking in the company of the afterlife. I was excited and thrilled at the architecture, the stained glass windows, that shone into the crypts and onto tombs, and several of the sculptures were watching us..a child sculpture lay with one eye closed and the other eye open (watching for evil spirits).



Afterwards we sought solace in the park that was outside of the cemetery our discussion was around purgatory, Darwins theory of evolution and was the world flat or round.

Palermo for folklore and supper more on folklore later...

Further information:-

Horacio Quiroga.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0704371/


The tiltle of a film stories of love, death and madness.

Quiroga was born in Uruguay, but he went to Argentina in 1901, to live and work. His life was marked by a series of tragic events : his father had died in an accident with a rifle, briefly after that he lost his eldest brother and his stepfather in another accident. In 1900 he lost his best friend in an accident with a pistol and his wife committed suicide. In 1937, Quiroga learned that he was seriously ill and also committed suicide.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/

San Ignacio Mini-San Ana- Casa De Horacio Quiroga

Travelling by public transport along the "Region de la Flores" we saw the town landscape change to agricultural settings. The plantations of yerb a matte, groves of citrus fruits, timber yards and yerb matte factories. Along the route were citrus trees leading us to the San Ana ruins it is not as well signposted as other Misiones sites. Along the route I was becoming quite excited over hawks, cockerels and hens which were viewed along the roadside... When getting off the bus we walked in the wrong direction, it was poorly signposted and we decided that this may be the reason for it not being as well visited as other Misiones ruins. But we would not be disappointed by the tranquility that this World heritage UNESCO exudes-walls without cement..

We walked down red dirt tracks,tranquil lanes peaceful still and humid...lined with rain forest, camellias, hibiscus and large bees with busy collecting nectar alongside butterflies..the rain forest became more prevalent and the indications of tourism became less. The forest began to shade the entrance to the ruins. The graveyard girls-better known as Penny and Ann now went in search of the relics of the past.

A guide took us on tour around the ruins he spoke in castellano (Argentinian) but he commented that his learning of the language was that of a mother of the guarani and an Argentinian father and so it would not be an easy translation. The ruins were of historic importance as it was the iron foundry. The ruins was the location of the film "The Misiones" starring Robert De Niro. The film if no-one has watched it, explains the conflict that the Jesuit people found in South America countries at war Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil..the idapoi trees again set their routes in between the blocks or red sandstone and were seen to be growing out of the top of the buildings the ruins had suffered more from the invasion of trees as the buildings here were built without sand just dry walls.

Within the grounds no roof tops, tropical palms enclosed a museum..Passages of time ecclesiastical ruins, and a graveyard which was the inspiration of a poem "The incredible journey" (submitted for publication). The cemetery held impressive crypts, graves and tombs, their are no new graves since UNESCO took over the Jesuit ruins, the graveyard was divided into a quadrant housing men, women, boys and girls separately.

We viewed irrigation systems which lead to a walled garden where Jesuits grew vegetables and a walled water reservoir. The plaza was covered in a carpet of emerald green grass like plants, red termite mounds, towering cacti as large as oak trees, acquiescence blue skies. The constant call of a variety of birds eagle/hawks, dragonflies, lizards, butterflies and moths were all around us..the indigenous culture influenced by the baroque ruins a time gone by...Soft wind warm breezes emerald green glades. An arboretum within the 16th century setting.. We all agreed this tranquil setting was fully appreciated.

As we returned to the hotel our siesta a necessity- a soft warm breeze was present as we reached San Ignacio. Poetry writing and planning to visit the home of Horacio Qurioca which was in walking distance of the hotel.. Jon added his interpretation of sound, guitar playing and his language crossed all barriers.

So the following day we found the home of a Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga he lived at this setting as a farmer and carpenter. He was both an author of children's books, adult horror stories and stories of the supernatural he kept the company of Poe and Kipling.

The setting is beautiful, tranquil a carpet of emerald green grass like plants, butterflies, caterpillars, lizards, budgerigars, and parakeets, bamboo walkways and acquiescence blue skies. Soft wind, a warm breeze through emerald green glades. An arboretum setting.. the farm overlooked the River Piranha below in the valley. It links with the Misiones at San Ignacio as Horacio spent many hours at the Jesuit site. He was an artist and his oil paintings were reminiscent of Van Gough and his woodcuts depicted the reality of his life.

A tragic life, a film is available where his life is depicted in reality love, madness and death...The man married and his first wife committed suicide by cutting her throat, his only son shot himself, his only daughter threw herself from a great height. His second marriage failed and he killed himself by taking cyanide orally...

Later we walked to the village centre and enjoyed an ice cream at the local ice cream parlour we sat sitting watching a sunset. Today I chose sky blue ice and chocolate... We visited a local pool bar "La Previa", on the way back to the hotel, we played table football. Girls versus the boy!! we won on an aggregation of points over three games.

Later Jon was discussing the book I had lent him "The Boy in the striped pyjamas" he commented how the introduction of the author detracted from the story, mainly because it was suspending disbelief, Jon was listening to the voice of an Irish man relating to the life of a German boy. Penny was out of earshot she still has to read the book.

A debate on the prices of Walkers crisps followed whilst we walked back to the hotel... How come they are so cheap?? Tonight we did not visit the Medina Cafe (previously known as the Kiosk).

Our last day we ate at the Medina cafe we saw some beautiful Shetland ponies and we started to plan the journey back to Buenos Aires moving away from the peace and tranquility of Misiones to fast boulevards, parks, museums, theatres, exploring the cultures.

Further information:-

The title of a film The Mission-this film was filmed on location at San Ana
Release Date:31 October 1986 (USA) Genre:drama and war

Plot Outline:18th century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.

Awards:Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 21 nominations Robert De Niro... Jesuit
Reflecting back over our days in Misiones has increased my awareness of the literary skills of the Latin American writers.

I start to read the Picador book of Latin American Stories where I focus on the works of Jorge Luis Borges and others.

The journey to Buenos Aires was an overnight Barriloche bus excellent with 1980`s video music, champagne, beef casserole, and breakfast.

Buenos Aires to San Ignacio

I will reflect on the sights of San Martin in the cathedral on Plaza de Mayo square in central Buones Aires the culture of the Baroque the inside of the cathedral was heavily decorated with ornate decorations, oil paintings, domed roof areas, wood carvings and most importantly it held the crypt of General Jose de san Martin, a place of prayer. The pomp and circumstance of this cathedral hosts a changing of the guard, soldiers in highly decorative uniform reminding me of the Napoleonic era. I walked down the aisle of the right hand side of the church repeating "Father forgive me for I have sinned," reminiscent of my school days at Mosta in Malta GC.

On the back of the high alter was a crucifix a black cross with a silver Jesus and a solitary woman knelt in prayer. The cathedral was under reconstruction. Katy Damian and myself were intrigued with wood carvings a representation of the last supper, the film "the passion" was in my mind and also a poem that many people have read of mine focusing on Mary at the foot of the cross (published Forward Press).

The ornate cathedral was the opposite to the Jesuit villages we would visit at San Ignacio .

The bus journey was also a little different to the previous bus journey it was called "Expresso de valle" and it travelled along the "Region of the Flores". It s engine coughed and spluttered all the way to San Ignacio the air conditioning was also not working and the diesel fumes made me feel a little sick. But we saw the terrain change as it travelled past plantations of yerb mate, citrus groves, timber yards and yerb mate factories. It remained humid but the jungle was less dense. The highways were interrupted by toll points and the closeness of the three borders Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay found guards entering the bus with sniffer dogs looking for contraband and looking at passports.

The people of Argentina were now represented by the indigenous people who were more apparent and the hunger on children's faces were present. I sat and wrote poetry..
On the bus we chatted to some of the locals and one particular lady was helpful she was a local teacher and she advised of a good hotel/hostel "Portal del sol". We got of at the bus stop at the junction on the highway with San Ignacio Mini as a place to visit. The teacher had instructed a friend to lead us to the road that we bring us to the road where the hotel stood.

It was hot and dusty and I was learning to use the large rucksack lent to me by Zoe by the time we reached the hotel we were hot and sticky and needing a drink. San Ignacio still respects siestas and so the place was deserted. Penny and I ordered a cold drink each and Jon made the arrangements for the room which included breakfast..

We settled into a room which provided us with comfort running hot water, a dining area and living room external to the room. It was ideal with a view over the ruins of the Jesuit village.
The following day we ate breakfast and watched the village life passing us by. A multitude of children marching past in white robes carrying the Argentinian flag we wondered what they were celebrating.. the previous Monday had been a National holiday and we did not realise that the government in Argentina was in the middle of a leadership change.

We walked down tranquil lanes peaceful still and humid...lined boulevards of citrus fruits, camellias, hibiscus and large bees with busy collecting nectar..locals carving wooden animals for tourists as momentous, children begging, pleading eyes dark brown, dark skin dark hair the indigenous people the guanici people. Dogs roamed the streets whilst other dogs guarded the homes of the more affluent.

Shopping locally tuna, goats cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, chives, garlic, onions, pimentos and red wine. We decided the purpose of these three days would be to relax and visit the Jesuit sites. We made a salad followed by a mixed fruit salad of local fruits...

Siesta were obligatory and became a necessity- a wind howled, a soft warm breeze. At night time the nocturnal noises as well as my snoring was the cockerel crowing on the hour every hour three times, wolves howling, dogs barking, the crickets and birds singing a jungle beat.
Poetry writing and visiting Jesuits sites we walked to the Jesuit museum the melodies where the blending of two cultures...the Jesuits brought European instruments as religious men and the indigenous population "Guarani"..added their interpretation of sound, language crossed all barriers.

San Ignacio mini was founded in 1696 a 100 square metres of plaza an area of emerald green grass and it was surrounded by sandstone red walls and roofless buildings alongside, buildings with red tiled roof tops, tropical palms enclosed the museum. The rocks were imported from the River Pirana (the River that is fed by the Ignacio Falls, which also hosts the Piranha fish)...Passages of time ecclesiastical ruins, carpets of emerald green shamrock, red termite mounds, towering cacti as large as oak trees, aqua blue skies. Where the Idapoi trees have set there roots between and on top of these buildings. The noises were the constant call of a variety of birds and in the distance the music of children playing..the indigenous culture influenced by the baroque ruins a time gone by... arid dry surrounds where wells were fed by irrigation gulley's which were dry from the lack of rain.

Soft winds warm breezes, emerald green glades were seen to encourage others futures. An arboretum within the 16th century setting now protected by the World Heritage UNESCO.. We all agreed this tranquil setting was fully appreciated.

Later we walked into the village centre we d noticed a ice cream parlour we sat sitting watching a sunset I d chosen sky blue ice and cherry topped with a syrup..

The card school continued and the normal behaviour was cheating bad, language and laughter as later disturbed Penny and Jon s crib game...

The funniest thing that happened over the three days were that Jon decided we would eat supper not at the hotel but he had noticed a good menu on the opposite side of the road- I commented you can´ t do that. But after considerable discussion, who said we couldn't; we sat eating our suppers, taking in the view of the ruins and out the corner of my eye I was looking at the hotel.

We discussed heavily "Money" -"you can not buy happiness".. and "we can t all be happy but money helps". These statements were the basis of how we found the environment and culture which we felt is heavily influenced by the collapse of the Argentinian economy (the waitress at the kiosk raised smiles, she had a dead pan expression, no smile just a very blank look).

I will continue with another blog based on San Ana and the author Quirego.

Iguazu and cocktails at the Sheraton

On the bus to Iguazu-the bus was an overnight trip with a company called Barriloche I could not compare the trip with anything we have in England as I believe the commercial aspect from a European viewpoint is that it would not be economically viable ..with wide seating (reclining for sleeping) videos, both supper and breakfast taken on board with wine champagne and coffee. All five of us kept busy reading novels and old copies of the Guardian, sudoku, I was wring and Jon was watching the video.. We slept for the trip duration of sixteen hours but during the night changes of landscape were noticed from the urban sophisticated buildings through vast expanses of shrub land. The earth changed to a burnished ruby red, small palms and a variety of pine and deciduous trees, the colours of the leaves were emerald greens, ochre, and a nuance of red. We passed expanses of water lakes, rivers and brooks.. The tiny hamlets were one storey buildings some with red tiled roofs and others appeared to be straw similar to thatching.

At Iguazu we stayed at a cabino a sub tropical setting which had many varieties of birds, butterflies, and trees within gardens where we had parilla´s listened to Damian and Jon jamming and the girls sang along. The cabino hosted a card school and their was a fair amount of cheating (the card game was "cheat), bad language (the card game is called **** head), drinking red wine and matte. Afterwards Jon played his guitar whilst Damian was playing the beat with his arms and his legs sprawled out on the bed ( I think he was dreaming of his drum kit).

I met with my first humming bird whilst we were eating breakfast cakes, croissants and pastries on the first day at the cabino. A humming bird flew into the dining area it was trapped frantically trying to fly through a closed window. I stepped towards it and opened the window as siting the humming bird by gently waving my pink chiffon scarf to assist it to its freedom..

We made a decision over empanados and Qulimes that we would go in search of toucans Jon loves Tuca toucans..more later on the search of the toucan...barbecues more steak..

At Iguazu falls we would visit a National park prestigious falls above the gate we saw a type of Condor hovering above the gates of the entrance to the falls, and guinea pigs grazing at our feet.

We left the gateway walking through well marked pathways which were scented with Jasmin, butterflies hovered above and around us and we were aware of nocturnal animals sleeping in the undergrowth. As we travelled through the bamboo lined pathways a earthy smell was noticed and the flora now appeared as ferns and reeds- a distant roaring was to be heard. We walked towards the most impressive site I have ever witnessed in my life. The engineering skills that enabled travellers to walk to the sites of the waterfalls wide and high. The water levels were very high as a walker I felt fear and anxiety yet the butterflies, turtles, lizards and a variety birds lured me on to the viewpoint of "The Devils throat".. immense, impressive and scary.

The day continued along the superior trail taking in lunch where we were visited by a swarm of hornets.

The Sheraton Hotel was impressive and the gardens surrounding this had fig trees, bird of paradise flowers, poinsettia bushes also a variety of small animals. We celebrated with cocktails toasting our birthdays ...I drank Batida de maracuya.

Up early the next day to view the jungle on a four by four. We are informed you have to hear the a jungle to know a jungle.hhmm..mosquitoes buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..and they bite..the buggers.. The sub tropical jungle was explained to us it is an area of natural conservation it hosts endangered species.. the puma etc..The trees are both in primary and secondary stages of growth.

My senses were heightened I touched moist moss, tasted forest fruit, smelt dank forests and ionised water, we saw rainbows and beautiful butterflies, we heard babbling brooks and thunderous waterfalls. And most of all tensions of canyons and fear for endangered animals whose predator is man.

The next day we travelled along the inferior trail..I felt this was more impressive to the "superior trail" as we looked up and across to the falls we viewed St Martins island, visions of rainbows a hue of colours. A light lunch was taken and we then walked through the jungle a red dearth track in the secondary rain forest/jungle known as the Macuco trail. It led to an impressive small waterfall (may I add it is a beautiful high waterfall).

The jungle was easy walking, but we went to the base of the waterfall it was arduous trekking and its access would be difficult if wet. So walking down the craggy rocky terrain-Damian and Jon kept a watchful eye on me. At the bottom of the waterfall Damian and Katy paddled in the water whilst Penny and myself got bitten by mosquitoes .

After climbing back up to a view point above the waterfall. The subtropical jungle was impressive and a siting of a flock of toucans and a large tuca toucan saw Jon in ecstasy but it appeared as a blob on the photo. Other wildlife viewed was mainly ants, birds, butterflies ants and caterpillars and the endangered species slept at our feet.

Tired weary travellers we celebrated with steak and red wine..Damien Katy would depart in the morning. Penny Jon and myself would travel onto San Ignacio by coach breaking the longer journey to Buones Aires into two smaller distances. Our plan was to visit Misiones some Jesuit sites and visit the home of Horacio Quiroga ..

The trip to Ezeia

A quick thank you to Zoe and William my daughter and son in law for gaining me a safe passage to the airport after a hectic few days prior to my trip to Buenos Aires ( honours degree examination, job interviews etc..).

Their was confusion at Gatwick airport when two planes were leaving the terminal both with similar numbers from the South and North terminal. I flew from the north terminal after a few hurried conversations with airport staff I was informed that my flight was with British Airways and not Iberian my ticket was clerked in and I settled in at the departure lounge with a sudoku book and word search provided by William. The flight was delayed only by two hours over the whole journey which pleased me.

In Argentina Jon was equally confused as to the flight number as the boards in Ezeia Buenos Aires indicated that the incoming plane was from Barcelona. The flight was from Madrid and Iberian Airways flew me to Buenos Aires.

Initially on the plane a few tears were felt as I reflected on the leaving party in Greenwich where friends met in a public house called "Richard III" this was in August . Since then I had corresponded mainly under the pseudo name of two meats ( a name given to me by William). So our meeting was emotional between Jon and myself..

In the taxi travelling to Buenos Aires initially I was struck by the autumn colours of the deciduous trees reds, golds, browns and the soil was a burnished red. The highways were broad and the Americas held the influence of the European colonial days.

Jon informed me of Damien and Katy being robbed in Buones Aires and a need to be vigilant over passports and monies (more update on the blogs). We travelled to Gran Espana a pleasant hotel in the centre of Buenos Aries, clean and basic.

The first meal was a celebration at Monlas a birthday lunch (for all of us.. especially May and June babies). Red wine, magnificent steaks, good company, everyone laughed when I commented that my pancake which was filled with dolce de leche was "a little sweet".

The rain set in Buenos Aires, the temperature was 19 degrees centigrade and it is winter in South America. We siesta´d, showered and there were noises the sighs of others and my snoring..

A tango in the evening.. was a perfect start to the culture of South America.

I finished reading the boy in the stripe pj´s and a tear welled within me as I had shared my flight travelling with many Jews..

We then started a tour of local sights we visited St Martin cathedral.. followed by a taxi ride to La Bocca passing the football stadium and the city was that of a sprawling metropolis, long and wide highways tree lined and the architecture blended the old with the new..

La Bocca and the tango dancing where people performed as we drank coffee (the national dance of South America) ..The day was filled with wine and food taking lunch at Santalamo and we visited an art exhibition which was housed in a modern building on the banks of the River Rio Plata the artist a man who demonstrated his art through caricature (Campon) ..