So, today being our only full day in Buenos Aires, we all decided late last night that this morning we would take a city tour and stop off at some key points to get stock images and footage.  Stephen also mentioned that the Recoleta Cemetery, which was on the route, was something not to be missed and I was pretty anxious about that.  I feel that cemeteries can give invaluable information on a culture, past and present, especially on how their beliefs play into their lives. As we finally neared the cemetery, I was getting my gear ready when just like that, we passed it on by!  Ugh!!  I was bummed.  Oh well.

The tour continued and dropped us at some mostly un-remarkable places.  We were usually allowed 15 minutes or so, not nearly enough time I felt, but what can you do.  The more interesting areas were the places around the drop off points, as Stephen showed me.

I was a bit upset, but as we made our last stop of the tour in the La Boca neighborhood, I felt redeemed.  It’s host to an open air artist colony and the work was great to walk through.  We were allowed a half hour here and when I found myself seperated from Scotty, Scott, and Stephen, I almost didn’t mind missing the bus.  It passed through my head, that thought.  I could have kept walking for quite a while absorbing it all in.  The neighborhood, while alive and kicking during the day, can be dangerous later in the evening.  So I found the bus and joined everyone already in their seats.

We stopped for lunch and afterwards Stephen broke from us and headed out on his own.  The rest of us, led by Scotty, found our way to the local bus depot and boarded a bus for about five bucks to take us an hour out of town to the Lujan Zoo. It’s a controversial zoo and while Scott wanted to sit on a Lion, apparently this some of the controversy, I wanted to witness this and see the conditions of this place.  We boarded our bus and at first, as in the first ten minutes, I felt like this could be fun.  A half hour down the road, we were still in Buenos Aires and picking up more and more people all the time with no where for them to sit.  We also discovered quickly that this bus doesn’t drive straight to Lujan, but rather it makes stops in every litte town and village along the way.  And a bus with weak shocks sucks butt, let me tell you what!  Especially if you are in the very back row!!  Ugh!!  Anyway, we finally made it and as we hurried a cab to the zoo at sunset, I had a bad feeling.  We soon found it was all in vain,,,,the zoo had closed early and we weren’t allowed in!  Double Ugh!!!!!  We had just spent two and a half hours on a bus, we were hungry, thirsty, and now realizing we were still another bus ride away from getting back to the city.

We gave Scott grief, but it was all in good play and I did manage to get some images from the bus ride.  Make sure you head on over to his blog for some more bus story goodness!

We eventually boarded a bus back to Buenos Aires and while it was the “Rapido” bus, it still took us about an hour and a half.

Enjoy some pictures from today!  Tomorrow we pack up and head to Iguazu and will be there for the rest of our trip.  See you there!