A few days in BsAs

When my sister and I rode the bus from Montevideo to catch the ferry, we noticed smoke from a very large pasture fire outside Colonia.

The next day, that smoke conspicuously mixed with fog on the other side of the Rio de la Plata.

An oddity worth pondering.

We were staying next to Recoleta Cemetery, so a short walk to the famous tulip sculpture, which we expected to watch close at sunset but which was already closed.

Google automatically cropped and adjusted this photo (why not any others?).

We went the next morning, and it was still closed. I thought of my transatlantic flights in DC-10s back in the day, because the tulip sculpture was apparently engineered and build by McDonnell Douglas. Fortunately the DC-10s were more reliable.

Walking to and from it, we passed the Monumento de Francia a la Argentina. Buenos Aires has many lovely, clean parks with statues and amazing architecture from the early 20th century.

This sign was also on the way. Be there or be square! I know that’s what you’re thinking.

I commented to our walking tour guide that this must be a monument to the bird trainer. Not birds, but a trainer, Juan replied.

Monumento del Libertador José de San Martín, the guy who formed the second Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers in 1903, which of course means he trained them.

Over dinner the last night, my sister and I imagined the challenge of trying to market this brand in English speaking countries.

No discussion of Argentina would be complete without mentioning money. When my wife and I were there in 2005, the exchange rate was about 3:1, and a meal for two costing $75 seemed about right – only that was in pesos; in dollars it was $25.

The “informal” rate was in the range of 420-445:1 when we arrived; 450-460:1 three days later. The largest bill in circulation, 1,000 pesos, is worth about USD 2.20. On my last cab ride, 4km or so to the ferry, the meter read $976. I gave the cabbie $1,500.

I should have just given him everything in my wallet. I ended up home with this, worth USD 0.33. The 10-peso note is worth US 2.2 cents. Well, interesting bookmarks. Wait a minute: what are bookmarks, again?

Arg, Argentina.

Advertising, UY style

I picked up one of those little advertising booklets. Flipping through it, a couple of things struck me. A guy advertising his transport service with a picture of a 60 year old truck.

And who could possibly think this imagery is going to inspire confidence in a locksmith?

Ah, Uruguay, es lo que hay.

The mind of the ceibo

As I said a few days ago, I have always thought trees have an innate sense of what, well, makes sense. I received this ceibo as a gift in a bucket, maybe half a meter tall. I let it dry out the first winter, and the main trunk died. What remains are three branches. I tied the dominant one vertical when I planted it out front. It was about half this height.

But obviously it has decided, “I am a branch. I do not grow up. I grow out.”

All righty, then: ¡adelante!

The mind of the palta (avocado) tree

I has always thought that trees have innate intelligence, but one of our two avocado trees is doing its best to prove me wrong. The last time it bore fruit heavily, it had so much weight on this branch that I had to put a board underneath so that it wouldn’t break. And now this.

A little skinny twig forks, one side becoming hugely thicker, then doing a 180 and growing upwards.

Really. Where did this tree go to school?