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Published: January 19th 2009
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After hearing from our friends Amy (Kansas) and Meghan (Boston) of an amazing bike tour, this morning Ludvig (Swedish) Tim (Scottish) and I woke up at 8am to get ready to take on Buenos Aires by bike. It´s pretty apparent from walking around the city that it is not the best idea to ride a bike here. Still, we decided to give it a shot.
We met our guides Fernando and Ana Ines in Plaza San Martin. The three of us along with Krista (California) then began our ride. We quickly found that riding in the streets of Buenos Aires is not to be taken lightly and not for the faint of heart. Taxi drivers do not avoid pedestrians here. It is up to the pedestrians to avoid the cars. They yell, honk, screatch tires. They will hit you, and it will be your fault. No worries though. The majority of the tour was on lightly trafficked streets, or bike paths. Along the route Ana and Fernando stopped us to explain the history of the area, architecture and culture. They were incredibly knowledgeable and fun.
The trip went from Retiro to Puerto Madero along the water, to La Boca,
then through San Telmo. It was a great time. Puerto Madero is gorgeous with its scenery along the river. La Boca is colorful like New Orleans with Tango on every corner. San Telmo is busy with vendors, jewelry makers and antiques. The city is said to be quiet with many people on vacation but if you were not from the area you wouldn´t know this as there are so many people in the streets.
Along the way Ana and I talked about music. She studies music and wants to research improvisation and its psychological effect on people. I was very excited when I heard this as I have written papers on the subject. We shared our feelings and thoughts throughout the trip.
Talking with Fernando he found out I was very into Jazz. He offered to pick me up at my hostel late night to take me to a jazz club by his house called Ether (www.Eterclub.com.ar). The club was in a non touristy part of town called Villa de Parque I think. The entrance was a door a with no sign where you walked up to the top floor. It was obvious that no tourists ever come
here because of its location. There were about 30 people sitting around the room drinking local beer and wine. The drinks were all micro-breweries from the area. The music was amazing. We thought it would be an open mic night where I could hopefully find a saxophone to play, but I was told many of the musicians were away on holiday. The night was mainly an open vocal night. The music was amazing. There is so much talent here.
Everyone in the lounge was friendly. I spoke with the owner of the club and he was very happy I was there. We spoke about music and opening up clubs here and my wanting to open one in NYC. Its funny, I was not expecting many people to speak English but here, because it was a jazz vocal night, many of the musicians would sing in English which would help them speak English. By the end of the night I had talked with many of the people. My new friends offered me there contact info when they heard I would be back to Buenos Aires in March and encouraged me to get a hold of them when I return. I met Laura Lotito last night, an amazing vocalist. If you are reading this you should check her out on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/lauralotito .
The past 3 nights have been amazing. I have met so many new people. Everyone is friendly, warm and willing to help.
Tonight I leave for Puerto Madryn where I will be in Northern Patagonia. Puerto Madryn is known for its nature. There are many whales there, penguins, and birds. At 7pm I will be taking a sleeper bus on an 18 hour ride with Via Bariloche. I have heard this is a great line.
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