View from our hotel window.After our long flight, we finally arrived in Buenos Aires..... about 1 hour before we left Sydney.
Today is a public holiday in Argentina - Census Day, All the shops, restaurants etc have been closed all day but the restaurants open again at 8 pm. Since dinner is usually after 10 pm it probably does not worry the people here - only hungry Aussies!
We walked from our hotel down to the main square, the Plaza Mayo where crowds were massing following the unexpected death of the former president and husband of the current president, Nestor Kirchner.
We now know the meaning of the phrase "public outpouring of grief". Hundreds and thousands of people gathered in the square and the surrounding streets. They were carrying banners and flags and were singing and chanting slogans.
In the cathedral, preparations were underway for a memorial service. It was very dramatic and moving.
Back in our hotel room, we could look down on the impressive Av de 9 Julio with its 20 lanes of traffic. The crowdswere spilling out at the intersection of Av de Mayo which leads down to the Plaza Mayo, the cathedral and the presidential palace.
The tv stations are all focused on Kirchner's death. He was much loved in Argentina and highly respected in the other Latin American couuntries.
4 comments:
Interesting that you arrived before you left. I read today about some footage in a 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie where they have spotted someone in the background walking past talking on a mobile phone, and have determined it must be a time traveller. I am now going to go back and view that footage again, as I realise it must have been one of you guys.
Glad you have arrived safely, nothing like getting a bonus day!
It must have been an amazing experience seeing such a public expressing of emotion. Can't imagine that happening for little Johnny!
(Di who can't log in at the moment)
Happy to see you arrived safely. Are you crying for Argentina? No more dramas! Doors completed $180. All OK
or the person could just been crazy and talking to themselves
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