ukraine: kyiv: Kitaeva monastery

I've continued to follow a Kyiv specific page on Facebook, constantly finding information about places to visit in Kyiv that were new to me. Since I don't think I'll be in the city for much longer, I've been trying to use non work and non travel time to visit various places around the city, though I don't know if I'll ever feel as if I've seen everything.

As usual, I didn't have classes Friday afternoon, so I set off for one of these visits after finishing paperwork for the week. (In case you're curious, modern teaching involves waaaaaay too much paperwork, it never ends.)

The sight I wanted to see is called Kitaeva Monastery. It was built in 1716 by the monks of the Lavra (another monastery in the city) who wanted a quieter, more retreatlike place in the city. 50 years after it was first built, a 45 meter tall bell tower was added. Empress Catherine the Great (Ekatarina the 2^nd,) loved the place when she visited in the 18^th century.

I found information saying that there are tunnels and caves under the monastery, but they haven't been fully excavated, and are not open to visitors. There are supposed to be ancient Slavic writings in these tunnels and caves, I bet they're amazing to see.

I used the metro first, then hopped on a marshrutka. It was the right marshrutka, but it turned out to be going in the wrong direction, so I got back to the metro and hopped on another. Thankfully, this one was going in the right direction.

From the spot I got off, I had to walk a little bit, through a residential area, past several storage areas. I saw a lady sweeping the street, to get rid of the end of the winter refuse that lines the streets. Sticks and random leaves and whatnot.

I first walked past a cemetery, which was small but pretty. The gates weren't open, so I wasn't able to get into it at all.

I think the monastery is on both sides of the street. I started by looking into a church on one side of the street. It was made of brick, and at first I thought I was going in a side door. When I got inside I realized that was the entry everyone uses.

As soon as I walked in someone indicated that I needed to put on a wraparound skirt, which was fine. It was a small church, and a service was taking place so I didn't stay inside for long. I didn't get to take photos inside that church.

I exited the church and crossed the street to the other side of the monastery. I think this is where people live, as I saw a building that seemed sortof like a dormitory.

I found two churches in this area, unfortunately both of them were closed. Both of them had signs on the doors saying that worship was taking place in another church at the time, I'm assuming it was the first church I visited. I'm not sure if these other two churches are open at other times, I hope they are.

Next to one of the closed churches was a series of grave markers, above ground. The church itself was white, with green on top. It was a stand alone building, I really wish I'd been able to go inside.

The other closed church seemed much smaller, and was attached to another living area. At least that's what it looked like to me.

Since I couldn't go inside any more areas I exited the grounds of the monastery and kept walking along the street. It didn't take me long at all to get to the area labeled as a park on google maps. It seemed like a waterway with a dam of sorts.

I realized it was sunset, and looking one way from the dam was absolutely beautiful. The colors of sunset were reflecting on the water. I loved it.

After enjoying the sunset for a few minutes I walked back to the street and found my way to a marshrutka stop to get back to the metro station. From there I rode the metro and eventually got home.

Yay for getting to know Kyiv as much as I can before I leave.  

germany: dresden

I'd visited Dresden before, but it was just a day trip with rainy weather. When Bo suggested we meet up in the city, I said hey, why not. I can always justify a weekend trip somewhere. Always.

I took a taxi from school to the airport, flying Lufthansa. Both of my flights went smoothly, I arrived on time. Thankfully, the public transport in Dresden is a metro train, which comes regularly. I rode the train to the central train station, and went to find Bo, who said we could meet up at a giant Christmas tree.

He tapped me on the shoulder as I was going down a flight of stairs, he'd met my s-bahn from the airport but I'd completely missed him. He showed me to the Christmas tree, it was indeed very big. In another area of the train station was a GIANT stack of (presumably fake) ritter sport chocolate bars. If only they were real! Greatest marketing item ever.

We walked out of the station, I followed him. Bo had arrived in the city earlier in the day by train, so he'd already figured out how to get to the hotel, which I really appreciated. I'm not a huge fan of arriving anywhere after dark, but I don't always have a choice. On the way to the hotel we stopped at a small shack for a snack of curry wurst. Now that I like the stuff, I can't get enough of it!! With spicy sauce and mustard, I'm a happy camper. The bread roll that came with the wurst was the best bread roll I've ever had.

Our hotel was in a quiet neighborhood, which was nice. Some people want a hotel in the middle of nightlife, or at least close to it, but that's pretty much the last thing I want. We used wifi to take a look at what to see in the city over the next couple days, Bo already had a paper city map on which we could mark what we wanted to see.

The next morning I woke up earlier than Bo, because I always do. We got ready to go, and started walking toward the tram stop. On the way we stopped at the bakery on the corner of the same block where our hotel was located. We also stopped into another bakery close to the tram stop. Dresden has great bakeries, yum.

Close to the tram stop was an evangelical lutheran church. Like most churches, it caught my eye. I took photos of the outside, but the doors weren't open for me to go inside. Darnit.

We took the tram back to the hauptbahnhof, where we'd met up the night before. We walked through the station and out the other side. I remembered this walk from the last time I visited Dresden, I knew where to go. Even if I hadn't known where to go, it would've been easy to follow other tourists to the pedestrian zone.

Walking along the zone we looked into a couple more bakeries, somehow I didn't buy anything even though everything looked good. I stepped into a store with watches, hoping to find a Timex Ironman, but the store didn't have what I wanted.

We arrived at the Frauenkirchen, an iconic church in the old area of Dresden. This church is featured on many postcards of the city. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we discovered it was closed in order to prepare for a concert taking place that evening. Argh.

Since the Frauenkirchen is well known, and in the middle of a large platz, there are heaps of people around, including random performers. I liked the guy making huge bubbles while wearing a blue tuxedo. There was also a man playing a grand piano in front of the statue of Martin Luther, it was nice to listen for a few minutes.

We would our way through streets to a particular street which is known because of what is on the wall. It's called the parade of kings. On the wall is a long mural, depicting each king of the Saxon Kingdom. It's another iconic place in the city, I think it's more unique than anything else in the city. I still haven't figured out how to take a photo of the mural that shows the whole thing, and shows it well.

Our next sight was the Dresden Cathedral. Visitors enter through a non-descript door on one side of the church, then go up a short flight of stairs to get into the church itself.

It's a big church, but not super fancy. I like the ceiling, and the organ at the back of the church. Some of the interior of the church is being redone, so it was covered up in plastic. There is no entry fee, yippee!

We walked a bit more, past the opera house. I looked at one of the signs on the front of the opera house, to check out prices and times for tours, but nothing worked out for us. Another time I'd love to see a show, or take a tour. I love classic old school European opera houses, and all the etiquette that goes with them.

We arrived at the entry area of the Residenzschloss. We walked through the arches, into the gardens in the interior courtyard. It's a stunning area, everyone who walks in whips out their camera and starts taking photos. It's not super fancy, but everything is divided into sections. Since we were there in mid November, there wasn't anything special to see, but I was still happy to be there. We took a few timed pictures on one set of stairs, it's amazing how often people walk through photos being taken. I was laughing and frustrated at the same time.

I also like the upper balconies/railings of this area. Along the railings of the balconies are statues, and you can see the stone decor of the buildings as well. One of the 'gates' into the area has a giant crown on top, it's definitely worth a photo. Given the crappy weather, it was nice to see the gold in the crown. Another area of the gardens has a fountain, surrounded by statues and whatnot. After waiting (not so) patiently for other people to get out of my way, I was able to take a panoramic photo of the whole thing. We also took photos of each other in the dry fountain, hee hee.

We exited to the schloss area, and walked across a bridge to the other side of the river. We saw a cafe that seemed welcome in the grey skied weather, and went in. I was happy to have ice cream, despite the cold. It had hot raspberry sauce, which equals out the cold, right?

After eating, we walked through an aisle of trees, straight up the street. The trees are nice, and still had colour from the fall season. Unfortunately, it was too dark to take photos to show the colour. We walked all the way to the end of the street, as we both still felt the need to move. By the time we got to the end of the street we found a circular intersection and went all the way around.

Then we walked all the way back to the old city area. I took a couple night photos on the bridge as we walked. I wanted to take a photo of a display set up by one vendor, but he didn't want me to do so, darnit.

In the hauptbahnhof we grabbed a quick dinner at a branch of the place we'd first found in Berlin, an Asian fast food place. Tofu and veggies make me happy :) Also in the hauptbahnhof was a cheap grocery store, where I found ritter sport chocolate bars on sale. I'm sure plenty of people would say that buying six of them was too many, but I'm not one of those people. That same grocery store also had the glass jars of Landliebe yogurt I love so much. Definitely more than one serving, but I don't get them very often. In addition to the chocolate, we picked up breakfast food for the next morning.

When we got up the next morning the food and drinks were still cold because Bo had put them on the sill outside the window the night before. Yay for a yogurt I love for breakfast. We cleaned up, packed up, and checked out, each of us carrying our backpack with us. This day was better, because the weather was much better. Mostly blue skies with some clouds make every photo better. I took another photo of the Lutheran Church from the day before, just because it looked better with a mostly blue sky.

We took the tram back to the hauptbahnhof, and found the small area where we could rent a locker to store our backpacks. We found one big enough for both our packs, yay! In the hauptbahnhof I found a small shack and bought hot chocolate, just because it sounded good.

We went back to the giant stack of fake ritter sport bars, and took photos. Definitely one of my favourite travel photos of all time, hee hee. If only all that chocolate was real.....

We walked past the Frauenkirche, back to the parade of kings. While walking along that street, I bought postcads and a magnet, getting that 'chore' out of the way.

We went back to the gardens in the schloss, and took more photos since everything looked better. I was happy to get a photo with the crown behind us, and blue skies.

We followed the same route we'd followed the day before, crossing the bridge. Across the street from our ice cream cafe the day before we found a bakery full of yummy stuff. I ended up buying something with cherries, and another pastry too. Yum. I wasn't hungry, but couldn't help myselfhe Sometimes I think it's a good thing I don't live in a place with yummy bakeries everywhere.

We continued to follow the same path as the day before, all the way to the same intersection at the very end. This time, instead of turning around, we kept walking. We walked past a very drunk man, all the way to Louisenstrasse.

This started our time in a 'hippy' neighborhood. Many of the buildings had graffitti on the lower levels, and the shops were of a more vintage sort. Heaps of cafes too. We even saw people painting an archway, which was fun to watch for a few minutes.

We turned up Koenigstrasse, which brought us to another archway. When we passed through the archway we'd entered an area known as the Kunsthof Passage. The apartment buildings in this area are decorated in a way I've never seen. It's not the type of decor you get from mosaics, or painting, or fancy brickwork. It's what you get when other pieces are 'glued on' to the exterior. One of the buildings was yellow, and the decor was a series of large yellow tiles. Another building was blue, with pipes and flower pots and such. We weren't the only ones taking a look at everything, it's definitely a fun area. There are a few cafes, but we didn't really have time to sit and relax.

To get back to the old city area we followed another street, totally non touristy. I took a photo of a woman at a bus stop just because it seemed so normal. When we got close to the old town area we walked along the water for a bit, which was quite pretty and relaxing. Even though it wasn't stunning, it was one of those moments when you think 'hey, I have a pretty good life.'

We wound our way through the old town streets back to the Frauenkirche. I'd seen the inside before, but Bo hadn't. It's iconic for a reason. There are volunteers there who help keep all the visitors quiet, which takes some effort. There are a lot of people in there, and many visitors forget that a church is supposed to be a place of reflection and prayer, not yelling and gossiping. This church was hit during the war, but a lot of it has been redone, and it looks amazing. Most visitors only go to the ground floor, though you can pay 8 euros (!!!) to go up the bell tower. I think that allows you to go to the balconies as well, though I'm not sure. Everyone exits through a different door than they entered.

We started moving a little faster, heading back toward the hauptbahnhof again. I was very aware of the time, and knew I couldn't afford to miss my train back to the airport. When we got to the hauptbahnhof I ordered food for both of us, while Bo went to get our luggage from storage. We met up again in the middle of the train station.

We said our goodbyes, and I boarded the train. Around 20 minutes later I was at the airport, printing out my boarding pass. The airport offers 30 minutes of free wifi, I wish it was a little longer. My flights back to Kyiv were easy and smooth.

I hope to come back to Dresden another time, and get to know the rest of the city better, and maybe even do a day trip in the area.

italy: sorrento

the first time i saw sorrento was in july, 2014...but that wasn't a proper visit, it was just a drive through...we drove through the city on the way to one of its ports, to rent boats and be out on the water all day...i knew back then that i wanted to see more of the city...
sorrento is basically the capital of the amalfi coast, a UNESCO listed area of italy...the coast is full of small, beautiful towns...sorrento is the starting point to get to many of them...sorrento isn't as well known as the rest of the coast, or as picturesque, but i still wanted to see what i could...

i took public transport all the way...it's an easy trip; pozzuoli to plaza garibaldi in naples, then plaza garibaldi to sorrento on the circumvesuviana line...(the circumvesuviana line also goes by pompei and herculaneum)...
i exited the train station and walked down to the closest street and turned right...immediately i noticed the city was still decorated for the holidays, even though it was already 8 january...(i wonder when it is all taken down)...a snowman, a couple bears, each made from strings of lights...lights at intervals across streets at traffic light height...

after less than a kilometer of walking down the street, i realized i was going the wrong way...there was nothing of interest (for me anywho)...so i turned around and walked back, on the other side of the street...
going the other way quickly brought me to a cute area of town...a plaza (i prefer the german word platz, but this is italy, so i suppose i should use plaza) with a couple churches, several cafes, and entrances to several smaller streets...i walked past a number of shops clearly aimed at visitors, as well as restaurants, etc...i've long been aware there are a lot of different types of pasta, but it's still interesting to see so many available in one place...

at this point i realized i'd gotten going a couple hours too late in the morning...i'd arrived just after noon, when just about everything was closing down for the afternoon siesta...i found a small cafe for a quick lunch, but not much else was open at that point...even the churches were closed for this siesta...how annoying!! italy has heaps of economic problems, and every time i visit i get frustrated by this afternoon siesta...i know it's part of the culture, but couldn't money, services, and just about everything else be generated during these 2-3 hours?
everything being closed meant i had to kill time...i wandered a couple streets, then heard a couple speaking english...i said hello, and meant to keep going, but ended up being drawn into an hour long conversation! they were traveling for a couple weeks, originally from minnesota...

we talked about all sorts of topics, from family, to travel plans, to thoughts about world economies, etc...i love these types of conversations :)
after ending that conversation i kept walking, this time out what i think is the south end of the city...the road goes up a hill, around a headland...from a whole bunch of points along this road, there are fantastic views up the coast...(when i was buying postcards later i was doubly glad i'd walked this road, as many of the postcards have this same view)

the reason i walked this way was to see a specific sight i'd found listed on tripadvisor (but not listed in lonely planet!!)...called bagni della regina giovanna...a beach of sorts...i found the path to get me there after a bit of searching, as the signs weren't terribly clear...as sorrento is on the coast, it's subject to the whims of the water...nature has taken it's course to make a beautiful spot of this 'beach'...
it's actually a hole that has been whittled out of the rock, all done through an archway in one side of the rock...(this probably doesn't make sense, but i can't figure out the right words to describe what i saw)...

there is a tiny little beach, which i didn't get to walk on because the tide was up...the water that comes in this 'lagoon' is blue and beautiful...since it was winter, there was no one swimming in the water...i'm curious how strong the currents are during summer, does anyone ever get sucked through the arch in the stone?
i first walked around the edges of the area, looking out over the water...awesome...then i found the path and stairs to get down into the 'lagoon'...the steps are steep, and very irregular, i liked them though i couldn't say why exactly...

as it had rained recently and the whole area was damp, the steps were quite slippery and i slipped more than once...thank goodness i didn't fall or i would've fallen the whole way down and ended up with big bruises...i made it down to the rocks on the beach, and climbed around those in search of a nice photo...(almost fell off those as well!)
after enjoying the incredible beauty of the bagni, i walked back into the city centre, in time for the churches to be open...they were pretty, but not stunning...still, i'm glad i saw them...
after the churches i headed back to the train station, and caught the next train back to naples...

lviv by myself for the first time

this is my third school year in ukraine, i've visited lviv each year, the first year i went twice!! it's one of my favourite places in the country, and though it's much more touristed than kyiv, i love the city...it feels comfortable and cozy, and i've had a different experience each time i've visited...this was the first time i traveled by myself...
i took a night train from kyiv, in a coupe berth...(2nd class...there are four sleeping berths in the compartment, which has a door...as usual, i was warm enough not to use the sleep sheet or blanket)...i prefer platzcar berths (3rd class, which is heaps cheaper) but this train didn't have any of those...

my train arrived at 0630 or so, saturday morning...no one is out walking at that hour, it's still dark, and plenty chilly...(though not nearly as cold as past visits have been)...i walked from the train station toward the city center, (which is a UNESCO heritage sight,) taking streets i haven't walked before, stopping to take photos when i saw something of interest...by this point, most of my photos of the city are not of landmarks or monuments, as i've seen all of those...just photos of city life, or a different view of something normal...
i passed a park in between the two sides of svobody (freedom) street...

there is a large protest/demonstration camp set up in the middle of kyiv, the matching camp for lviv is set up here...it's much smaller, and less passionate (the western half of ukraine is generally anti russia, anti east, there isn't as much demonstrating) but it was still interesting to walk through the area, take a few photos, notice what looked different from my previous trips...at one point i found a recycling center of sorts, the first i've seen in all of ukraine...hopefully this sort of thing spreads to the rest of the country!! with this kind of decoration, who wouldn't want to recycle? while i took a few photos of the area, i saw at least six people drop stuff in the bins...not too bad considering it was still just a bit past 0700!!
as i got into the centre square of town, i walked past a cafe that has about 6 different types of strudel available...how have i not been there before? i ended up choosing two (one cherry, and one salmon/spinach) and black tea...not only was the strudel tasty, they had sauce available...i added vanilla sauce and berry sauce to the cherry studel...YUM...i'm definitely going back...
while eating strudel, i also checked my email (gotta love free wifi that is becoming more and more common throughout the country) and read the guidebook...even though this was my fourth trip to the city, there are still sights i haven't seen...(i don't think it's possible to see all the churches, there are too many)...i figured out my plan for the day...

the first stop was a museum...the national museum and memorial to victims of occupation...i don't remember the overall organization, but it isn't sponsored by the ukrainian government...i think an NGO helped with all the information and statistics displayed? the museum is small, and does not have an entry fee...i think it's more to remind people of the horrors that happened during nazi/soviet/fascist occupation...the building was once used by the local branch of the kgb as a prison, and has been left just as it was when they up and left in 1991...the paint is peeling, and a few of the cells have been set up to show specific aspects of what used to be there...i don't know if this sort of propaganda was in the prison while it was a prison, or if it was added later...it's still easy to find prints of these posters in tourist souvenir markets...

the prison courtyard is rather sparse, and any visitor leaves with the feeling of how hopeless so many of those people felt...through the main hallway is a set of posters, each poster is dedicated to one country that was affected by the nazis and communists, or sympathetic/puppet governments...each poster tells the number of prisoners taken during a certain period, the number executed, the number of missing, the number of people in that country's secret police, the number of people sent to camps, etc...seeing the numbers written that way is really startling...many countries have two posters: one for the nazi period, and one for the communist period...
after making a donation to the museum, i walked to my hostel, which was nearby...i was able to check in early, which is always a plus...my double room had a queen sized bed, a set of bunk beds, a tv, and a space hearter, as well as a nice window onto the street...

after relaxing for a while, i walked back toward the center of town...after browsing through a couple souvenir shops (why do those always interest me so much?) and watching people for a while, i started walking toward a hill...this was another sight new to me, though  i've always wanted to see it...it's called castle hill, and overlooks the entire city...the bottom of the hill is a park, which is lovely, though a bit muddy at this time...i'm not entirely sure why the name is castle hill, as there is no castle there now...just the top of a hill on which is built a viewing platform...since the weather was awesome, and it was a weekend, there were heaps of people up there, but it was still easy to take a few photos:)

back down the hill, at which point i realized i was hungry...strudel 6 hours previously wasn't enough anymore...while wandering i found a 'mexican' place...yes, i know, mexican in ukraine?  it wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but it was food, which i needed...
i visited the information office to get information on how to get a discount card for a particularly expensive restaurant, and how to get to zhovkva the next day...nice people always seem to work at the information office in lviv, unlike the information offices i've visited in other towns...
i watched people for a while longer...families out for a stroll, other tourists, locals on their way to somewhere more interesting, etc...i love to observe fashion, mannerisms, etc...
eventually, just as the clock hit 1800, i got to one of my favourite restaurants...it's also a microbrewery...since i can't drink that part doesn't interest me so much, but the food is good...this time i chose a baked fish...it took a while, but it was yummy...
at that point i figured i'd wandered around enough for the day...

back to my hostel...i found a tv station broadcasting a couple of the olympic hockey games, and i watched though i already knew the results...(USA beat russia in overtime!!! YAHOO!!!)
the next morning i got up slowly, as always seems to happen on a weekend trip, no matter what i plan...after two cups of tea, i checked out just before noon...i stopped for lunch at one of the cafeteria style places so popular in this country, i felt the need for vegetables...i really really really wish these kinds of places existed in more countries of the world, they are perfect for travelers on a budget...a wide variety of food for cheap:)

then it was off to the bus stop to catch a bus to zhovkva...the lady at the information office told me the bus i wanted came every 20 minutes or so...since it was sunday, i figured it wouldn't be as often...i'm glad i can read the languages here (even if i don't usually understand what i'm reading) because i noticed the name of zhovkva on a bus with a different number from what i was looking for, so i hopped on...
zhovkva is a small town, the trip was about 45 minutes in total...the best time in history for this town was when it was part of the polish empire, though i doubt the people who live there now would want to say such a thing...

for people who follow such things, this town is the birthplace of 'legendary' (lonely planet's description, not mine) cossack bohdan khmelnytsky...have you ever heard of him? me neither...according to the story, he led his men through one of the gates in town when he freed the town from the poles...(i know i've mentioned previously that the western half of ukraine has been part of various empires through the years, including the poles, austro-hungarians, etc)...
as i said, it's a small town, most of the sights are in one area...i saw several churches, though i was only able to enter two...there is an old, abandoned synagogue, which is completely surrounded by corrugated tin on the ground floor, i wasn't able to enter that either...(western ukraine used to have a rather large jewish population, much of which disappeared during WWII, and is now almost nonexistent)...

as i was wandering in front of the 'castle' i was approached by two youngsters, probably 10 or 11 years old? after throwing two snowballs at my back, they attempted to talk to me...they figured out quickly that not only was i a tourist, i was a foreigner...then they asked for bread, or money...i said no to both...i think they were trying to say they were orphans, but they looked well fed and clean to me...plus, they spoke a bit of english, which tells me they at least go to a decent school...zhovkva gets a few tourists, but the majority of them are ukrainian, their level of english would not come from being around a lot of foreign tourists...

i went down the main street to find a grocery store, and two more churches...one of the churches was completely wooden, which was a total contrast to the golden onion domes just down the street...
at that point, i was hungry again, so i found a place to eat, nothing fancy...i don't know if anything fancy exists in zhovkva, it doesn't seem like that kind of small town...they had wifi :) ...after eating i figured it was time to hop a bus back to lviv, as i wanted to get back before sunset...
back in lviv i walked back to the centre of town, and bought a coffee mug...this is probably the last thing i should've bought, seeing as how i have plenty of them...my excuse this time was that i wanted a BIG mug for school...i don't drink coffee, but calling it a tea mug doesn't sound the same...

snack was hot chocolate and chocolate cake :) ...i stayed in that cafe for a few hours, writing a letter and getting started writing postcards, then walked to the train station...the train i took was already there, so i was able to get my bedding sorted without having to maneuver around other folks...
an easy train ride got me back to kyiv, and rain...

Buenos aires first days

Since I was completely confused about time, and went to sleep at 0600 my first night in buenos aires, of course I didn't sleep long...I was wide awake 4 hours later...so I putzed around for a while, reading a little, catch up a bit on email, etc...Miranda and her flattie got up around noon:)...
Miranda is a foodie...she loves good food...no matter where she goes, she finds places to get good food...we went to brunch at 3 in the afternoon (this is typical, as I found out later)  at a place that mostly caters to expats...the idea of weekend breakfast/brunch is a Canadian/American idea, most countries don't do breakfast like we do...I ended up ordering corned beef hash...it wasn't at all what I expected, but it was good:)...a friend if hers joined us, he is Canadian...good food, good people, good conversation...

Eventually we left, and ended up waking to the subway, taking that to a shopping area of town...we didn't want to shop, but this is also an area where people can change money...there is an official exchange rate, but this is not the best rate you can get...the official exchange rate is approximately one US dollar to 5.3 argentinean pesos...the current black market rate is one US dollar to 7.8 argentinean pesos...in other words, it's a very good idea to bring dollars and change them here instead of using a bank card and ATMs, which is what I usually do while traveling...counterfeit money is (unfortunately) common here, so one has to be careful when exchanging money...

After money, we went to Starbucks...I wanted hot chocolate, and Miranda needed a bathroom...I ordered a small, and tried to pay with a 100 (approx $12USD) peso note...they didn't have change!!! A 24 peso drink, they didn't have change for a 100...apparently, this is common...what is not common is what happened next: the cashier told me I would get the drink free, because she couldn't make change!!! Wow!!!
On the way home we stopped in a big grocery store, then dropped everything in the flat...then we took Miranda's dog out for a walk...I went with her, and she showed me how to get to the recoleta cemetery...she knew I would be awake earlier in the morning, so now I knew where to go to see something:)

I did wake up earlier than anyone else, it was good to know where to go...I got to the cemetary around 1040 Sunday morning...not many other people were there, I love exploring in quiet, by myself...the tombs are impressive, to say the least...big, ornate, and very crowded...Eva Peron is buried there, as are former presidents and other important historical folks...I should point out that there is no grass in this cemetery...many coffins are actually underground but that is because there are sets of stairs inside many of the tombs/mausoleums...too many fancy, ornate, overdone tombs...or maybe this is not my style...i wonder how often family and friends visit these tombs?

After the cemetery, I walked through the weekend market just outside the cemetery...lots of leather, jewelry, etc...much of it appeared to be made by the folks selling it...a touristy market, but at the same time there were many unique pieces...
I got back to Miranda's flat to find she and her flattie jast getting up:)...breakfast was at 1300, hee hee...an hour later Miranda and I were picked up to go to an asado...
Argentines have tight families and communities...it is normal to spend a weekend day with your family or group of friends, usually around a BBQ or other food...the gathering is called an asado...

we went to the flat of another friend...he is American, and has been in Argentina for 4 years...his girlfriend is Bolivian...he did all the cooking, and it was awesome...I think we arrived at 1500, started eating around 1600, and didn't stop until 2000!!! Flank steak and filet mignon, two salads, cheesecake, corn on the cob, blood sausage, chorizo...good people, good conversation, good food...needless to say, we didn't eat any more after arriving home:)
The next morning I woke up early, as usual...after hanging out a while, I went for another walk...as i mentioned earlier, no one gets up early here, so a morning walk is really quiet...

on the way home from the asado I'd seen a couple memorials/statues, I figured they might be good for photos...they were good for photos, and I found a couple more places worth walking to...I made it back to the flat in time to go with Miranda to meet a couple other ladies for lunch...we had empanadas, a typical argentinean food...(I'm pretty sure heaps of countries have a variation of this food, and they all call it traditional)...yum! Good food, good conversation...
After lunch and chatting, Miranda and I went walking...she showed me the casa rosada (pink house,) which is like the White House in the US, only the president doesn't live in the casa...she lives in a big mansion, and is flown to the casa by helicopter quite regularly...this is all paid for by tax dollars, of course...

Behind the casa is an area of town called puerto madero...it's a new district, with new flats and restaurants...it doesn't have the soul or charm you feel in the rest of the city, it could be in any big city of the world...after walking through that area, and to the edge of an ecological reserve, we took a cab to another area called la boca...a much poorer part of town, you can really see the difference in the condition of buildings...oddly enough, la boca survives as a touristy area, despite the neighborhood all around...the area is supposed to be big on tango...the buildings are all brightly colored...there are shops selling souvenirs and a few restaurants...after walking around a bit, we found train tracks...

crossing those tracks would literally have put us on the wrong side of the tracks...you could see the stark contrast between the tourist area and the rest of the neighborhood...at times, there are police officers standing guard to make sure you don't cross the tracks!
We took a bus back to Miranda's area of town, and had dinner...well, I had dinner, she just had a bit, to tide her over until her dinner plans later in the evening...(argentineans eat dinner at 2200!!)...not that I needed it, but we stopped at a bakery on the way home...SO GOOD!!! I will definitely be back for more:)