Today’s itinerary was a visit to the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. As my passport was still with the US embassy, I could not go to Brazil.
Instead of having a coffee at a cafe for the whole day, I followed some tour members to La Aripuca. While the sight was far from the hostel, It was a pleasant walk as the sun shone bright and strong.
La Aripuca
At Aripuca, you can enter for free or pay about 20 pesos (after 5 pesos discount) each for a guide. The guide doesn’t do much except show a termite nest, a payphone in a tree trunk, a little trap (Aripuca in local language) and some of the buildings around.
La Aripuca main buildingSteps to nowhere in Aripuca
There were more gift shops than actual sights here at Aripuca. The more astounding structure was one made out of GIGANTIC tree trunks. The building served more as a photo opportunity than anything else.
Nobody got my Game of Thrones reference when I said it was the Wooden Throne.
The most enjoyable part of the sight was sitting outside under the sun eating mate flavored ice cream. We sat around and chat for a long while before leaving.
Eating at La Vaca Enamorada
It was another long walk back to town. We didn’t have any clue where to go so we ended up at a strange restaurant which had a green cow displayed.
The place turned out to be the #1 restaurant in Iguazu on Tripadvisor. The elderly owner was super enthusiastic as he thought that we were students learning Spanish. He suggested that we share asado (local BBQ).
Asado, Argentinian BBQ
I am very in love with good asado. The meat is generous with lots of fat. Most people just cut off the fat but I tell you, the fat is probably the best part since it melts in your mouth. I’m hungry just thinking about a good asado.
After the fulfilling meal which came up to be quite affordable, we headed back to the hostel.
One of the girls in my room was sleeping off her hangover when I reached my room. She suggested that we go for ice cream. I’m in!
Helados
I bought a quarter kilogram of ice cream with 3 flavors: yerba mate, milk caramel and cookies ice cream. The mate wasn’t as fantastic but the rest were great.
While eating ice cream, some people from the tour group passed by and said they were going to see the sunset by the river. We tagged along.
Sunset on Iguazu river
From this looking point, you can see Paraguay right in front and Brazil on the right. The dorm mate and I didn’t stay for the whole sunset but walked back to the hostel, buying some groceries along the way.
When I tried to pay for my 9 peso bottle of water with 100 peso bill, the cashier actually refused to sell me the water because my bill was too large. What on earth was that? So the dorm mate and I pooled together our purchases.
At night, I wrote some posts in the 10 degrees celcius cold. Later, I went out for dinner with the people from the language school. I have to saym Argentinian steak is marvellous. We finished dinner at 12 midnight, successfully integrating into the timetables of the Argentines.
What was the biggest tourist trap that you’ve been to?
After only about 4 hours of sleep, I woke up to prepare for the day at Iguazu Falls. How Argentinians manage to party until the early morning and go to work immediately baffles me.
Breakfast at the hostel was about as bad as the one in Buenos Aires, especially since so many people were fighting to eat the last fried eggs.
It was drizzling the whole day. Combined with the cold weather, it was quite unbearable. An entrepreneurial local man was selling ponchos at the gates of hostel. He was selling one for 15 pesos, promising that it would be more expensive inside Iguazu Park.
When breakfast was done, we were sheparded to the bus. It didn’t take long to reach the park. By the way, Iguazu in the local language means Big Water.
Our group was divided into two for the waterfalls activity. We were taking a speedboat on the Iguazu and getting as near as we could to the falls.
All of that sounds exciting but in reality, we had to walk in the rain (with poncho and umbrella) around for quite a while in the wet footpaths. The purpose of the walk in the park was never revealed.
Finally, we were brought to the gates of the Grand Adventure. Everyone was given a ticket to board the truck.
As usual, I managed to lose my ticket. One minute I was holding it in my hand, 15 minutes later I could not find it anywhere near me. It was a bit distressing.
Luckily, one of the organizer had a ticket for two so I was allowed onto the truck. The truck didn’t go straight to the falls. Instead, a blond man in a raincoat boarded and started explaining the different trees in the park.
Walking in the rain in Iguazu Park
Sitting on the wet seat, in the rain, we listened as he pointed to different trees. I looked out of my wet glasses and couldn’t see much except rain drops.
Pier for Iguazu Falls Grand Adventure
We finally reached the waters. Here, we were given a bag to put our belongings into. The bag’s opening is closed so no water goes in.
The boat was rather large and would probably fit 60 people. I manage to snag a whole row to myself and I sat at the right side of the boat.
Since it was raining, the waves of the river were quite violent. Luckily, our captain was able to steer in the terrible weather and in the opposite direction of the tide. We had a lot of fun.
Boat on Iguazu river
Iguazu Falls ride
Iguazu Falls grand adventure
Imagine sitting in a boat on a massive river with reddish-brown water. On the sides of the river are hillsides with trees and some with mini waterfalls caused by the rain.
The wave crashes into your boat but the captain manage to swerve the other waves. As the boat sped on, you finally reach the waterfalls.
From far away, tons of water falls, causing a white mist. In front, you see what seems to be the end of your part of the river. You hope that the boat does not go too near the edge and fall down.
The boat goes near the mist of water and everyone screams as one wave crazed violently at the side. More waves come but the boat keeps afloat.
Then the captain steers the boat to the middle of the river so people can take photos of themselves standing on the boat with the falls in the background.
Afterwards, you are told to keep your camera away. The captain steers the boat to another part of the falls. This time, you actually feel the water on your face. A wave decides to join you at your seats and splashes in. More screaming ensues.
After what seemed like 5 minutes of battling with the waves, the boat returns to the more calm center of the river. Everyone breathes a sigh of relieve and laugh out loud from adrenaline.
Iguazu FallsUpclose and personal with Iguazu FallsIguazu FallsMists of Iguazu Falls
Long way back
By the time the boat ride was done, I was rather soaked from waist down. Unfortunately, there was a lot more walking.
Metal walkways and railings were built at the top of the falls so tourists could take pictures. We walked on a lot of walkways and took a lot more photographs.
It’s awe-inspiring seeing so much water pouring out of the riverend. While on the bus, one of the tour mates sounded what I was thinking when we saw the falls, “Makes you want to jump from the top.”
I’ve always had a fascination with falling. If I had nine lives, I would spend about 8 of them falling down from all sorts of places.
Iguazu FallsIguazu Falls
Lunch was eaten at the park. There was more walking and waiting in the cold.
After Iguazu, we reached a spot on the Argentinian side where we could see the banks of Brazil and Paraguay. My camera misted up because some water went into the lens so I only had photos on my phone.
[Watched a culturally-incorrect James Bond movie while writing this post in 10 degrees Celcius outdoor. I rather enjoy seeing my breath when I breathe out through my mouth.]
Welcome to YQtravelling’s FoodFriday–the day of the week when I show off some of the lovely eats I had while travelling.
Today we’re visiting Buenos Aires for some deep fried South American curry puffs.
I have been talking about empanadas for far too many times without showing you what it actually is.
Mouth watering empanada
For those of you in Malaysia and Singapore, I imagine a curry puff that is 2 times bigger than the regular puff you have. Now imagine that the skin is not rock hard but baked to just the right texture.
Now imagine that this curry puff does not have lame potatos but meat with a few vegetables. Take a bite of your imaginary curry puff and you have just eaten an empanada.
Food for the eyes
By the way, the guy who’s in charge of the empanada area at the restaurant downstairs looks very much like Thomas in Downton Abbey but with green eyes.
However, take my words with a pinch of salt. A schoolmate indignantly told me that the guy DOES NOT look like Thomas.
Well, he looks like a chubbier version of Thomas. Who can blame him, with all these yummy empanadas around.
Vote: Thomas or not Thomas
Have you ever had an empanada? What’s your favorite filling?
This morning, I woke up at 6:00am to get ready for my appointment at the US embassy for my visa application interview. It was really painful waking up at that hour to brush my teeth in the cold air.
As with yesterday, I took a cab. The driver took a detour but we reached even faster than the cab yesterday.
My appointment slot was the earlier at 7:00am. About 20 people were already queuing outside (and not including those already in), waiting for the multiple checks.
Standing outside in the dark, I could see my breath when I breathe out. It was really really cold.
Anyway, let me tell you more about the different queues and checks at the US embassy:
The first check was outside of the embassy gate. Our passports and a form were checked. Then, we stood in another line next to the first one.
The second line is to queue for the X-ray machine and metal detector. Afterwards, there is a third line before the proper building. Here, we give the fingerprints of four of our fingers, either the left or the right, depending on which the lady behind the counter wants.
Finally, we go to the inside of the building where the air is heated. Here, we are told to sit in chairs to wait for our turn to queue.
When I first reached the room, I noticed that there was only two counters that were open. TWO! There was about 50 people inside the room but only 2 counters?
I decided to stop worrying and begin reading the only book I bought. I actually finished reading Mafalda while I was waiting. Of course I only understood about 20% of the content but I finally finished reading one of the books I’ve bought.
Mafalda
After I finished my book, I read all of the fliers within my eyesight for about 5 times and kept my mind blank.
Then I noticed that there was 3 counters. Later, that turned into 5 and it was my turn to queue.
My counter was 9 and I had a young man who interviewed me. He asked a lot of questions about my travel plans, my previous trip to the US, what my father and mother do for a living and so on.
When the interview ended, the official said he was giving me a 10-year tourist visa for the US. What a great surprise! I was expecting a US$160 transit visa but it turned into a 10-year visa. Woo!
Then I hurried to the bus station to catch the bus. I had a class to catch and I have to check out before I go to class.
I managed to reach the hostel at about 9:05am. Everything I had was about packed so I just stuffed them into the cupboard before telling the receptionist that I was checking out.
I reached class a little late and spent most of my time forcing my eyelids to stay open. The lack of sleep feels like being drunk as I was talking louder than usual.
When class ended, I had a strange feeling in my chest. Was it sadness? Anyway, I couldn’t tell.
Lunch was again empanadas. I headed back to the hostel and like an illegal squatter, used their ameninities and finish writing this post.
I’m joining a tour group to Iguazu Falls, up in the north-east of Argentina. It’s supposed to be a really gorgeous place. I’ve packed my mosquito repellent so I think I’ll do fine.
Unfortunately, since my passport is still with the US embassy, I will not be able to go to the Brazil part of Iguazu or even to Paraguay. I’m quite sad about that but you win some, you lose some.
I really hope I have internet all the way so I can complain to update you about the party tour bus.
PS Last night, I cut my hair at the back of my head with a razor because it was growing into a mini mullet. Urgh.
In the morning, I woke up at 6:15am to get ready for my visa application to the United States. I need to have 2 visits to the US’s office and embassy.
Today’s visit was only to get my photo and my finger prints taken. I took a cab to the application center because I did not want to get up extra early to take the public transport there.
The process was very quick. I queued with the rest of the people, had my application form stamped and was asked a few questions about my transit.
I was seated at the “special” area because I cannot speak enough Spanish. At the photo taking counter, I was asked a few more questions and was given a bobby pins so I can pin up my hair for the photo.
And it was done. I took the subway back to the hostel because I wasn’t as rich to take a cab both ways.
The subway wasn’t very crowded and I managed to return to the hostel at 8:00am, in time for breakfast.
Classes sped by as we crammed our minds with reflexive verbs and vocabulary for telling the time. Soon it was lunch and I had Chinese food again.
School trip to the cemetery
Our school trip today was to Recoleta, specifically the cemetery. The place is so gorgeous that I do not mind visiting again.
In Recoleta CemeteryMausoleums in Recoleta CemeteryTree of lifeRoca? Roco?
We had some questions which we needed to ask passerbys for answers.
Our teachers stopped one lady in oversized sunglasses who resembled a frazzled Anna Wintour. Wintour was haughty in her answers, saying that for her, the most famous person in the cemetery was her family.
Excuse me.
Another gentleman with his wife were more than helpful with their answers, showering us Level 1.3s with lots and lots of words. Thank you kind sire.
After the CCA, I head back to the hostel to pack my bag. I’m heading to Iguazu Falls tomorrow evening with a tour group. The group will leave on Wednesday evening and reaching Buenos Aires on Monday.
Updates on the blog might be paused if I cannot get good internet or if I am driven mad by the party tour bus. I am deathly afraid of parties.
On my blog, I focus on the good things about travel because I love travelling and I wish that more people will travel.
One of the excuses people give for not travelling is that they do not have anyone to go with.
Rubbish. If you travel alone, you can travel anytime you want.
While I love solo travelling, there are times that I wish I was travelling with someone else. These occasions are times when I did not feel safe.
I always take care to be back in my room before sundown. I feel like Cinderella with her midnight curfew, only my curfew was well earlier.
But despite all the precautions, sometimes scary situations still happen. Today, I want to share two of such tales. Thank goodness the situations were not majorly disastrous situations so you don’t have to feel too uncomfortable reading them.
Failed stalker in Istanbul
Istanbul otogar
After I dropped off my mom at the Istanbul airport, I was back to being a solo traveller. This meant that there is no one to ask me if we’re walking in the right direction and that I can go wherever I want without any reason.
So I got off at the Coach Station stop on the metro. I remember seeing IKEA not far away from it. I really like visiting IKEAs of the world so I thought it was a good chance to add to my Local Things in IKEA list.
The Coach Station metro stop was a mess. It seemed like there were 50 bus companies around and each had a shop facing the metro exit.
I walked around to see where IKEA was. It looked quite far away but I decided that I should go nearer and find a path.
While I was walking, I heard someone talking really loudly. Thankfully, I have mastered the art of ignoring anyone that wasn’t talking directly to my face. Often, I see people over-react to voices on the streets and I don’t think that is very street savvy.
As I was walking to IKEA, I saw a short slim man in a blue polo shirt walking about 5 steps away from me. I thought he was heading to the same direction as I was.
I slowed down to let him walk ahead. Then, I realized that he kept looking back, as if to see where I was going.
By then, I decided that IKEA was too far and I wanted to head back. So I turned around.
Then I saw that the man turned around too. I walked faster, hoping to reach the metro station ahead of him.
While I was walking, some other person walked to me and asked me where I wanted to go.
The direction-giver pointed to the metro entrance and said “Metro. Metro.” I thanked him for his kindness.
I did not check if the blue-shirt follower was still with me but I suspect that seeing me talk to the direction-giver probably scared him off.
Thank you, good man.
The creepy note and persistent delivery man in Dubai
Creepy note
I didn’t mention receiving a note under my door on my first night on in my blog posts because it felt too scary to write about it at that time.
My plane arrived in Dubai quite late at about 10:30pm so I checked into my AirBnb close to midnight. The area from the metro station to the house didn’t seem like the best place since there were many men loitering.
My studio apartment entrance was in a dark lane. I had to take a lift to the house as it was above some shops.
After checking me in, my AirBnb host (a guy) left my studio apartment at past midnight. I took a shower and when I got out, I saw the note under the door.
I thought it might be from the laundry person who came by to drop off my sheets and pillow cases. However, he did not leave a company name so it was unlikely.
I sent the AirBnb host an e-mail to ask if he knows the person. The host didn’t know and said he would take care of it.
I didn’t know how he took care of it but the incident left a mark on me.
Some nights after… There was a knock on my door. I thought it might be the host but I still asked, “Who is it?”
A man whose voice I didn’t recognized said he was delivering groceries. I tensed up and went behind the door.
After the note incident, I had tied up my door knob to something sturdy with laundry string. No amount of pushing will open the door.
I stood behind the door as my heart raced. I shouted back at the “delivery man” that I DID NOT ORDER ANYTHING.
The man was persistent. He asked if my friend had ordered any. I thought it would be bad to tell him that I was alone so I said that my friend was not in.
The delivery person was silent. I was still behind the door. Then he banged the door again, saying that he was delivering cigarettes.
I was angry. I spat out, “I DO NOT SMOKE! NO ONE ORDERED ANYTHING.”
I could still hear the person behind the door. He made a call on speakerphone but no one picked up. I wondered if he was pretending to check if the phone who called for the delivery would ring in my room.
It wasn’t after a long while when he finally left. I was still in shock and e-mailed the host.
The host didn’t get back until days later since he was out of the country. He said that it was his friend who made the delivery call and said the wrong floor.
I felt really really pissed off that the person did not even bothered to give the right door number and caused me such anxiety. Still, there was nothing I could do.
I would still travel solo
Not everybody is pleased that I travel alone.
Someone once threatened me that “A girl travelling alone is not alone. She is with the Goddess of Death.” [I am sure that line was totally made up.]
Another person made a face and said, “What sort of parents let their daughter travel alone?”
Funnily, it is men who say such things to my face.
No woman has ever told me that we womanfolk should stay at home and knit. Usually, women tell me that they do not dare travel alone but they do not make threats. I give some encouragement in the form of, “Just try it.”
Despite everything, I would not give up travelling solo. It gives me peace and less anxiety when I am able to follow my own itinerary that is made up as every minute passes.
What was the scariest situation when you were travelling alone?
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
I woke up at 6:45am today to prepare for my ferry to Colonia del Sacramento which required me to check in starting 8:00am. I was kind of excited to head to Uruguay because I could get a new stamp in my passport as well as have my Argentinian visa extended.
The hostel receptionist helped with calling a cab while I tried to gobble a medialunas. Medialunas is a Argentinian croissant. Unfortunately, the one served at my hostel is usually slimy and cold so I do not have a very good impression of it.
The taxi fare from the hostel to the port was cheaper than I thought. It was only 37 pesos after the phone booking charge.
The streets were empty at 7:30am and the only taxis I saw were all heading to the port.
The port for Colonia Express was in front of the casino. I’ve seen advertisements for the casino on a large screen in the middle of the city. It showed a rather ridiculous ad of a man winning loads of money and marrying Lady Luck who just happened to walk in while he was gambling.
Puerto Madero Casino
Quick immigration process
The immigration process at the port was really fast. First you go to a counter where the Argentinian officer stamp your exit stamp. Then the passport is passed to the person in the next cubicle who happens to be an immigration officer from Uruguay.
The Uruguay officer didn’t even asked where I was staying and I was the proud owner of an entry stamp for Uruguay.
Before we were able to head to the immigration counter, we had to scan our luggage. The customs officer had a rather sweet looking golden retriever with him. The dog looked mostly bored with his tongue lolling out.
The dog had to sniff at all sorts of different luggage. My water bottle was repeatedly waved in front of the dog, as if it might contain something dangerous.
Unlike the ferry I was on in Greece, the boat was rather small. All the seats were taken and I sat with a family of three.
During most of the journey, I was napping with my mouth open. Oops.
Pretty little Colonia
The sky was gray and the clouds looked swollen when our ferry arrived at Colonia. Worst thing was that the town was next to the sea so the wind was very cold.
Luckily, the town was so pretty that I didn’t mind being outside.
Abandoned building wasting away gracefully with a veil of vines.This wall of green and red leaves looked like it popped out of some story book.There seems to be a lot of unused vintage cars in Colonia.This car even has a plant growing inside.Grafitti
Random stuff in Colonia
Most of the shops at Colonia were closed. I couldn’t figure out where the museums were so I walked into random streets.
Even though the place looked deserted, I felt rather safe and was (kind of) sure that no one would pop out of nowhere and mug me.
I love the painting on this Uruguay 200 pesos.
I was lured into a restaurant for an expensive cup of not so good coffee with milk. I sat there for more than an hour reading to take advantage of their heating.
I also tried to se if the ATMs in Colonia could give me US dollars. I seemed to have terrible luck as all of them said U$, and not US$.
I chanced upon the tourist information center, was given a map and walked around in the center to look at the rather small exhbition.
I couldn’t have a nice lunch since the bad coffee ate up about half of my Uruguay money. But I did have a rather good sandwich with a sausage in it.
Yummy chorizo
At about 2pm, the sky looked like it might rain any time so I head back to the port to do what I do best…reading.
The immigration process in Colonia was the same as in Buenos Aires with two immigration officer sitting side-by-side. I read a little more before the ferry was about to leave.
When we got back to Buenos Aires, it was really dark. The guy at the taxi stand recommended those who were heading to the city center to take the bus instead of wait for a taxi that might take about 20 minutes.
Since the port was in the “bad” part of La Boca, I trailed one of the ladies who asked about buses. She led me to the right street and I eventually found the right bus back. I still had to take a short subway ride back since I wasn’t sure of the bus would stop in front of my hostel.
Still, all is well and I was not mugged. Three cheers to that!
Where have you recently been to for a day trip? Share your comments below.
[I wrote this yesterday but forgot to click on Publish. Doh]
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
This is the first time during the entire trip that I’m conscious that it is a weekend. Usually everyday jumbles up together since I do not have a routine separating the weekdays from the weekends.
Today, I planned to finish at least 2 days of revision in the morning. Sadly, I had to deal with printing my documents for the US visa application and that took up half of the morning.
I spent another half of the morning reading up on Veelas in the Harry Potter world (I’m now at GoF!) which led to more useless web surfing.
In the morning, I also booked ferry tickets to Colonia del Scaramento, Uruguay, for my very first visa run.
Wait, YQ, you can’t just drop new vocabulary like that into your post and expect us to Google it.That’s just lazy.
Probably not how the Argentina-Uruguay ferry looks like
OK OK, I’ll explain. Long term travellers do visa run to extend the length of their visa. The do this visiting another country and coming back to the country of their choice in a short period of time.
Take me for an example, when I arrived in Argentina, the immigration officer gave me a 30-day visa. (I seriously thought it was 90 days. Damn you VisaHQ.)
That 30 day deadline is coming up in 2 week’s time and I will become an illegal alien if I overstay.
However, since I’m applying for a US visa, I suspect that my passport would be kept with the US embassy for at least a week since next Thursday and Friday are public holidays. If I have terrible luck, I might even overstay.
So to extend my visa, I will visit Uruguay. I will get an exit stamp at the Argentine side and a new entry stamp when I come back in the evening.
Thankfully my visa run is just a ferry ride away. I’ve read horror stories such as Juno from Runaway Juno who had to do a 573km visa run.
After concluding my affairs of the morning, I decided to take a walk and visit the second hand book stores my teacher told us about.
Streets of Buenos Aires
Luckily, Ave Corrientes, where the bookshops are, is very near the hostel. I only had to walk about 3 blocks to get there.
Along the way, I snapped a few photos so you can see how Buenos Aires looks like.
Street of Buenos AiresNot so busy street in Buenos AiresVandalism or smiley street art?Buenos Aires back alleysHead’s up on Buenos Aires’s streetI spotted this map of Westeros but I do not think the story universe actually looks this neat.
Poked fun by a jerk
I browsed through one of the second hand bookstores. It didn’t look like the usual second hand bookstores crammed with books from top to bottom shelf. Instead, the books were arranged in stacks on tables.
There were a lot of interesting books around. I was tempted to get a Book of Myths for Children which had Greek legends but 22 pesos wasn’t something I wanted to spare.
At last, I found a Sweet Valley Twin book. I’m more attached to the Sweet Valley High series but that book was only 3 pesos so I bought it.
At the cashier, I made a language mistake by saying, “Good.” when the cashier said, “Good day.” The other person at the cash register was unkind and asked his friend repeatedly if he asked “Good day” and laughed.
I was rather upset about that. When I left the shop, I kept imagining that I knew enough Spanish to retort, “Well, at least I’m learning another language. What about you?”
Alas, I do not know that much Spanish.
On Ave Corrientes, Ave 9 de Julio
Enough complaining, let’s get back to sightseeing Buenos Aires.
MetropolitanNewstand. I’m very scandalized that they display X-rated books publicly here. Mostly they have covers of half naked women with large breasts.La Americana, an empanada place.Pizza placeFrom the poster, Camila looks like a scandalously good show.obelisco de buenos airesSee that big poster of an Argentinine flag and the pope? It’s from the city, to celebrate Papa Francesco’s new job.
Dinner was another nice meal of home cooked steak with mushrooms. It’s strange that the mushrooms were more expensive than my two rather large pieces of beef.
I finally managed to pass the Candy Crush level that I was stuck for about 2 months. This morning, I was stuck at another level and I left the hostel for school a bit later. In the process, I forgot to put on a jacket and was assaulted by the bitter winter wind.
The last day of class for the week was a bit more relaxed. Even though I do not feel “TGIF!”, it’s great to take a break so I can catch up on my revisions.
[Memo to self, memorize numbers, important verb conjugations and write a few lines of composition during the weekend.]
After school activity today was a visit to the Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires. I’ve not visited any museums in Buenos Aires, which is strange since I love museums.
In front of MALBA is a system with lights of three different colors. I thought that it was just some fancy art installation in front of the museums.
Macarena, you know her from previousschool trips, explained that the lights show if there are too many cars on the road.
MALBA traffic lights
When we were going into the exhibition, there was a bit of confusion at the ticket counter. The museum insisted that all of us needed to have student IDs to pay student price even though there was a school letter. Out of spite, I did use my *wink* student ID *wink* and the price was 16 pesos (32 pesos for full price).
Interestingly, those with “Samsung Smartphones” can get two tickets for the price of one. It’s because Samsung’s one of the sponsors, or something. This was the one of the times I wish I own a Samsung instead of an Apple.
Art Moderno
Since the museum is about Latin American art, all the pieces were modern looking. This contrasted with the museums in Europe where many of the works were around the Renaissance period.
Even though the works were modern, some of them were dated from 1926 so we can’t really call them modern.
A modern installation: Rotting potatoes
Macarena asked us to tell what we thought the paintings were about. I’m glad to report that I was able to talk about the paintings in more words than gestures.
Out of all the works, I was most impressed with Diego Rivera’s Retrato de Ramón Gómez de la Serna (Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna). Even though Ramón Gómez is a good guy, I felt the potrait showed something like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Diego Rivera, Retrato de Ramón Gómez de la Serna (Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna),
Diego’s partner Frida is also exhibited.
I call this piece: Frida behind glass
My most favorite piece was this cheerful work: Rafael Barrada’s Quiosco de Canaletas (Kiosk in Canaletas). There’s something about the blue that catches my attention.
Rafael Barrada’s Quiosco de Canaletas (Kiosk in Canaletas)
I stayed on to look around at the museum while some of the others left. I was disappointed to find that only the first floor was exhibiting while the rest were closed.
Back to the hostel
Luckily, there was Wi-Fi at the museum and I found the route back to the hostel. I spotted a bus stop with buses going to Plaza Constitution. What I didn’t realize until I got down at Constitution was that I needed to go to Congressio, not Constitution.
When I arrived at the wrong destination, I had to walk back about 20 blocks to get back to the hostel. The sky was almost dark when I reached my elevator at about 6pm.
Dinner was a satisfying porridge of potato soup with spinach. The hostel mate who gave me rice yesterday gave me a whole bowl of leftover rice which I dumped into my soup.
I have a bad photo of my porridge so I’ll leave it to your imagination.
YQtravelling 