Thursday, February 24, 2011

South: Buenos Aires-- Dakar shopping and weapons museum

Day 20:

It's hot.  I am homesick.  I just lost my fantasy football playoff game.

We take the subway to the center of the city.  The ride costs about a quarter per person.  The subway car is packed solid and there is no air conditioning.  Enterprising (and loud) young men sell their wares on the train.  One is selling MP3s (I think you choose the songs listed on a piece of paper and you get a password you can use when you go online at home).  Another sells calendars.  Yet another sells bamboo beach mats.

We walk up onto the street surface.  I am not expecting to see the Obelisk right across the street.  It appears shorter than the Washington Monument and the street is not nearly as wide as I had imagined.  It's weird how you grow up with certain misconceptions, based only on pictures you see in books.

We're looking for tango lessons.  We find the venue in a grand old, but dilapidated, building.  Despite all the marble inside, it's still hot.  I was a baby about it and put the kibosh on the dancing idea.  I'm a grinch.

We continue up Florida and go to a fancy mall.  Marge searched high and low for a new leather purse, which she found.  I found a Dakar concession stand.

I bought a t-shirt with a Dakar logo.  I wanted one with a picture of a Kamaz truck, but they only had shirts with cars and motorcycles.  There was also a KTM motorbike on display.  The 250 SX was driven in 2009's Dakar rally in Argentina and Chile by Lucas Daniel Emilio Pombo.  Since I only follow the truck and car categories, I don't know if he or the bike is significant.

What I am really excited about is the glossy book I bought.





The mall is busy with shoppers.  Christmas is just four days away.  It's hard to comprehend as the heat wave is in full effect.

We capped off the day with a visit to the Museo de Armas.  It contains thousands and thousands of small arms.  But what really piqued my interest was this gas mask for horses.

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