Subte Ministro Carranza

Entrance ramp to the Ministro Carranza stop on Line D of the Subte.

Parking Lot on Avenida de Mayo

Parking lot on Avenida de Mayo near Peru. I like the old building visible in the background.

Feria del Libro

The Feria del Libro currently taking place at La Rural is the biggest book fair in Latin America and one of the year's major cultural events in Buenos Aires. A lot of the publishing houses have big discount bins to entice visitors. This biography of John Kerry was just 5 pesos [about USD 1.50]. The price tag says "today only" but I'm willing to bet that if you go there tomorrow it'll still be the same. They had an awfully big pile of that book.

Museo Fotografico Simik

The Museo Fotografico Simik is inside of a bar in Chacarita. They have a neat collection of antique cameras. Downstairs they have a lab and offer classes.

Cat on a Ledge

It's time for some more cute on this blog.

Clover Graffiti

Flyers

Lamp posts tend to be covered with these flyers offering services like guitar lessons, credit checks and couples counseling.


A sign of the times, perhaps.

Pulmon

My second apartment in Buenos Aires in 1999 was on Arenales. It was a high floor contrafrente which meant it had lots of light and was very quiet. This was the view from the buildings roof. I love the messy, backstage quality of the block's interior. It's called the pulmon or lungh since it lets in air to the interior buildings.

Statue in Plaza Urquiza

Here's a statue in Plaza Urquina right by the Biblioteca Nacional [photo from 1999].

Estacion Lacroze in 1999

Here's Estacion Lacroze which was the then-terminus of the B-line of the subte. It felt like the end of the world to me. As for the weird angle, I think I had just spent a few hours in the Tower Records on Santa Fe looking at a book of Rodchenko photographs.

El Encargado

I'm in California right now for a long overdue visit home to see family. I don't to bore you with shots of my nephew so I've dug way back into the archives to pull up some photos from the last milenium and the first time I lived in Buenos Aires. In the photo above appears the encargado of the my first building on Uriburu. I remember we exchanged some harsh words over the installation of my AC but I'm sure I was less trouble for him than the Brazilian transsexual escort who lived upstairs from me.

Parking Prices

I don't envy the guy whose job it is to update the prices.

Cables as Strands of Hair

The cables hanging down from this building on Cabildo in Belgrano seem like delicate strands of hair.

Rooms with Views

This is an apartment complex in Bariloche. I took it when I went there last month. It's on the same street as the hostel I stayed at [the lovely Bariloche Hostel]. If you've got a good view of the lake, there's no sense in wasting any effort on architectural detail. Just make it all windows.

Lamp Shop

Lamp shops present interesting possibilities for illumination.

Slippers and Price Tags

This window display on Avenida de Mayo seems to have gone a little overboard with their price tags

Medianera on Marcelo T and Pueyrredon

Another demolished old house waiting to be turned into an apartment high rise. This one is on Marcelo T just before Pueyrredon.

Chrysler Building on Cabildo

The Manhattan Club Grand Cafe on Cabildo and La Pampa in Belgrano.

Funeral of Raul Alfonsin

Former president Raul Alfonsin was buried today in Recoleta Cemetery aftering passing away two days ago from lung cancer. Elected in 1983, he was the first president after the military dictatorship and was widely respected for taking on the military in trials during the mid 1980s and generally stregthening democray in Argentina.

Alfonsin is before my time following things here in Argentina. I know the history but I don't have a feeling for who he was as a politician. Obviously, he was greatly respected in a way that no other former [or current] president is. Large crowds thronged the cemetery, congress, where his body was on view yesterday, and his home on Avenida Santa Fe. Beatrice has some excellent pictures on flickr of the night he died. GoodAirs has a very good write-up if you're unfamiliar with Alfonsin. And finally, Clarin has a photo gallery of today's burial.

Update: I want to recommend this excellent post over at the Argentine Post on Kirchner viewing Alfonsin's body and the broader meaning of Alfonsin's death in today's politics in Argentina.