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Published: August 4th 2008
Picking up from where I left off on the previous blog, once I found a job, it was time to look for a place to stay. To cut a long story short, the school knew of someone who was renting a house, I went to see it, loved it, and moved in 2 days later. Somehow I've really landed on my feet. My landlord is lovely. On the day I moved in he took me out to lunch at this awesome restaurant overlooking the Río de la Plata and also took me food shopping. The groceries I had to pay for, but he let me use his 10%!d(MISSING)iscount. But anyway, this blog isn't about how grateful I am to him. I decided that as it's still the winter holidays and I don't really have many classes on, I would take the chance to explore my new home, and then share it with you guys.
San Isidro
San Isidro is in the
Barrio Norte of Buenos Aires, and is commonly regarded as on of the more affluents suburbs of BA. It's 30mins by commuter train (a bit like the Spanish Cercanía trains) from Retiro Station. Whilst I have to
admit that I haven't seen all that much in the way of affluence and luxury, it could be that I have been walking around with my eyes closed. For sure, the houses are beautiful, and there is a lot of history here. But there are also lots of poor areas. Often only separated by a wall, or the train tracks. The shops are definitely affordable, and the main street, Calle Belgrano, is the main shopping area. Conveniently this is right by the school I teach at and less than 5 mins from where I live.
In days gone by, this area was full of weekend residences of the wealthy
porteños (the people of Buenos Aires). And you can still see some of these houses. It's also one of the oldest
partidos (similar to a municipality) of BA, having celebrated it's 300th birthday a couple of years back.
It's still a huge draw for tourists. Every day, there are tons of tour buses driving through and stopping, before heading further down the coast to Tigre. One of the main attractions is the Cathedral. As cathedrals go, it's on the small side, and whilst it's neo-gothic in design, it's recently been (and
is still being) renovated, so it looks very new and clean. The cathedral is in one of the older parts of town, sitting on a 2 tier
manzana (plaza/square). On the lower level of this manzana is what is thought to be Argentina's, if not S. America's, first floral clock. (It sounds more impressive than it is, well, in my opinion.)
At the bottom of the lower level is the
Estación del Parque. This is a shopping complex built around the station for the
Tren de la Costa. As it's a tourist trap, lots of the shops are full of touristy nick-nacks. But it's also where my local supermarket is.
The
Tren de la Costa is the second train line which runs through San Isidro, and goes all the way to Tigre. It was built using the original train line that used to link BA with the costa back in the day. Now it is primarily a tourist line. Lots of the stations on the way are the original stations, that have been renovated. And if they have a Victorian feel to them, it's because the Brits built them, as well as the original train network.
The attraction of this
train line, apart from the fact that it runs alongside the river, which is pretty in itself, is that it's final destination is Tigre (a place I'm still yet to visit) which is the entrance to the Paraná Delta. If I'm not wrong, this is the second largest delta in the world, behind that of the Nile. It's a maze of islands and river, and home to around 6 thousand people. It's also still growing, and will eventually extend way beyond Buenos Aires itself. However, as I intend to explore there myself, I'll leave a proper description until then!
I should mention tho, that the Río de la Plata is the widest river in the world, and forms a natural border between Argentina and Uraguay. It's so wide that it looks like a sea, and where I live you can't even see the other side. Unfortunately you can't swim in it, but it's very popular with wind and kite surfers, as well as sail boats.
My home
I'm extremely lucky in that I live in one of the nicer parts of town. It's very much a family orientated neighbourhood, a stones throw from the Cathedral and five mins
from the main shopping area and the train station (to take you to BA). It's a guarded area, which means that each street has it's own guard. The house I live in is the old family home of my landlord. His dad divided it into 2 houses years back and he rents the two out. The property does have a swimming pool, but unfortunately for me, that's on the other side of the property. But then I get the balcony terrace, and the
asada (barbecue) and a much bigger garden, so I can't really complain. I'm already imagining the sunbathing opportunities, when summer finally arrives! Even better is the fact that there is a gardener who comes once a week to look after everything.
I'm currently the only one in the house, which can make it a bit lonely at times, especially as most people have gone away for the holidays. However, I had cable installed at the weekend, so I can now watch all my sports as well as all the american crap I want!
The house is huge, and I can only imagine how big it was before being split into 2. It's on 3 levels, as the
attic has been converted into 2 rooms plus storage space. Which means plenty of room for guests!!
So that's about it, the photos will probably give a much better description than my vain attempts, but suffice to say it's a lovely area to live in. And the more I explore the more I'll be able to share with you guys!!
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Mum
non-member comment
I'm really proud of you Emma,you've landed on your feet. Enjoy your new life in Argentina. Love you lots. Mum xx