STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ¡GOOOOOOOOL!

 

We had dinner the other night at an Argentine restaurant called La Boca. It is named for the eponymous neighborhood in Buenos Aires where all the tourists go. The name also refers to the soccer/futbol team based in the neighborhood, Boca Juniors, (Saint) Diego Maradona's club. A BJ match was in progress on the big screen TV. The waiter told us all the staff were all BJ supporters.

Most of the world loves soccer/futbol but it has always reminded me of Brownian motion.  

Home late tonight.             

Action Shots

I don't know much about soccer, or football if you prefer. I've only been to two professional matches. Both of them were in Buenos Aires, one with the north side team, River Plate, and their south side rivals, Boca Juniors. (That Boca game was a wild experience.) So, if I had any soccer sentiments they might be Argentine.

Unfortunately, Argentina's great star, Lionel Messi, didn't play. They said he had a leg injury. Maybe he was adverse to playing on a cold Midwestern night before tens of thousands of screaming Bosnian fans. Who knows. It was a great game nonetheless, with intense play and many scoring opportunities by both sides. As you can see in the third picture, the Bosnians were pretty tough.

On the same subject, congratulations to J.M. and condolences to Steffe on Portugal's victory over Sweden in Stockholm this week. Portugal moves on to the World Cup.

Oh, by the way, Argentina won 2 - nil. That's soccer talk for 2 to nothing. Baseball starts again in just over four months.               

Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina

This wasn't on my schedule.

We are starting to get international soccer matches in STL. Last spring Chelsea played Manchester City. The summer brought a game between Real Madrid and Milan Inter. Last night it was the national teams of Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina at Busch Stadium.

I walked over after work to take some pictures - lots of crazy people like in the video in my previous post. A local woman approached me on the street. She and her husband were stuck with two extra prime tickets, which she offered at a steep discount. Only one of me but she wanted some payback. I waffled, then bought a ticket for 60% off face value.

Glad I did. What a match. St. Louis has a big Bosnian population and there are many more around the US. The ratio of Bosnian to Argentine fans was maybe 50 to 1.

Gotta get to work. More of this to come.         

Images And Memories

.
People who visit Buenos Aires may remember the sound as much as any other sensation. The traditional accordion-like instrument is the bandoneon, played here by an old master in the show at La Ventana. It has a character all its own that can sing with exquisite lyricism (it seems especially well-suited to sadness) or tap dance around your ears. The great modern virtuoso was Astor Piazzola, who died in 1992. I recommend that you run right out and buy his CD Tango: Zero Hour. You'll thank me. The first track, Tanguedia III, makes me shiver. Watch and listen to Piazzola perform it here.

I suppose if I go dumpster diving I can come up with an Arch picture for tomorrow.

Images And Memories

.

I have no new local material and this week is horrible at work. For the next few days I will post a few images from Chile and Argentina that give me something to remember. Time to get back to leaving some notes on my friends' blogs, too. New St. Louis material around the weekend.

Many more pictures have been added to the trip set on Flickr here.

STL DPB Going Home: The Spirit Of Argentina

.
When this post goes up we'll probably be over Brazil somewhere in the middle of the night.

We had an exciting trip. It was our third visit to this country. We found a nation full of ambition and pride with an infrastructure often crumbling under its feet. I always got email and Internet on my iPhone. After a heavy thunderstorm Friday afternoon the aging storm sewers were overwhelmed and torrents ran down the streets of Recoleta, a nice part of town, starting to flood homes and businesses. The children - lots more than in white America and Europe - were ever cheerful. Yet the national poverty rate is about 25% (by someone's definition) and we saw abject shantytowns. Nearby the dangerous slums of La Boca, the steel and glass towers of Puerto Madero gleam over the Rio de la Plata - the Silver River. The people are stylish. You can dine fabulously well for a moderate price. The government plays to the crowd. Lots of people evade taxes. The sidewalks crumble. They have national health care, unlike someone else we could mention.

Come here if you get a chance.

This time next year we hope to come back to South America and focus our attention of Chile. Our little taste last week was enticing. Home by this afternoon. More new pix in the set on Flickr here.

STL DPB Far From Home: Life, Death And Transitions In Buenos Aires

.
My co-workers have an unfortunate habit of throwing black balloon birthday parties at the 10 year marks. I'm having none of it. I turned 40 and 50 far from St. Louis. Today I turn 60 in Buenos Aires.

This city has an intense sense of life and death. I shot some more in Recoleta Cemetery yesterday and was again struck by the monuments of mourning. Over the top by today's standards, sure, but so robust, so brazenly displayed by those who survive. In the evening, we went to the obligatory tango dinner show at La Ventana. Fabulous. Well-performed tango is electric, a swirl of motion and full of grim sexual energy.

A couple of museums today, then an overnight flight back to the US. Home tomorrow afternoon.

STL DPB In Buenos Aires: Evita

.
We spent yesterday on the streets of Buenos Aires. It seemed strange to be touring on on a warm summer day, knowing how cold it is at home. We ended up at the Museo Eva Peron, an interesting and well-designed place. It was not a house of Evita worship. The contradictions of her life were presented in a balanced way. Visitors were left to answer the big questions about her for themselves: angel or devil? Tireless champion of the poor and workers, or power and luxury-mad woman, clawing her way to the top? In the end, her personal tragedy is depicted simply. It was very moving.

The quotation below is from Evita's book The Reason For My Life. It translates as something like, "when my life crossed paths with the life of Peron."

More new photos in the trip's Flickr set here.

STL DPB On The Road: What's New, Buenos Aires?

.

Apparently not much. Got into town late this afternoon and went out to run a couple of errands. Looks like the same old issues around here. The grafitti on the top photo roughly translates as "gorillas tremble when Kirchner [the current president, Cristina, or her predecessor and husband, Nestor, who was term-limited out] is around." It is signed by JP, a descamisado, or shirtless one, the workers and populists who put Juan Peron into power. The Kirchners are nominally Peronistas. Looks like some of the public isn't buying it any more.

The bottom ad says something like, "Enjoy yourself without hiding. Pay your taxes." The billboard portrays a couple lounging on a beach wearing clownish disguises. Argentines aren't coughing it up any more freely then they ever did. It doesn't surprise me. All the Argentines I've talked to don't trust the government.

TOMORROW: on the streets of Buenos Aires.

STL DPB On Ice: La Presidenta Al Glaciar

.
We went to the Perito Moreno glacier yesterday outside El Calafate and who showed up but Cristina Kirchner, president of Argentina! There is a new walkway and overlook system and she came to dedicate it on the anniversary of Lake Argentina's discovery. I've never heard the president of any country speak but now there are two photos of national leaders on STL DPB (this being the other one). It was quite a thrill. Oh, and the glacier was pretty nice, too.

TOMORROW: mucho mas hielo.

STL DPB In The Middle Of Nowhere: Patagonia

.
In the middle of nowhere but with all the comforts of home. The town of El Calafate, three hours flight southwest from Buenos Aires, lies on the south shore of Lake Argentina. There is some rugged back country behind it, like this. The town itself has swelled from 6,000 to 22,000 in the 10 years since a jet airport was built. The local sheep industry collapsed with the use of synthetic fabrics. It lives on tourism now. And what sights to see! I haven't had much time to edit pictures but there are more sure to come.

TOMORROW: the glacier.

BELOW: your intrepid adventurers next to yesterday's vehicle.

STL DPB On The Road: Buenos Aires

.
It's 4:55 AM Sunday morning and we just got up to go to the airport for out flight to El Calafate. We had a little time for a walk when we got to Buenos Aires yesterday afternoon so we went to famous Recoleta Cemetery. Eva Peron is the best known resident but her tomb, shared with many family members, is not so impressive. There is still lots of weepy funerary sculpture to photograph. More later if possible.