Cost Calculations

During my journey I scribbled down the costs I made every day in the back of my Moleskine. Apart from keeping track of my costs it was also handy to make a note of how much of each currency I had in the various pockets and bags where I kept my funds.

Finally got out a calculator last night and worked out the total. My costs came to approximately 45 euros per day, including everything; buses, beds, boats, an internal flight, food, films, theater, museums, penguins... Plus the transatlantic flight which was about 1000 euros including insurance stuff. So for the 40 days I was away that's another 25 euros on top of my daily costs. It would have been less per day on average if I hadn't taken the boat trip, which was 100 US$ a day for 5 days.

And while I've got my Moleskine out I have of course been reading bits and pieces of my diary entries:
clicking on the photos enlarges them for easier readingBig Beggar instead of Big Brother??

A clean start

Have just had my rucksack in the washing machine to remove the layer of travel grime it had acquired. Just another advantage of having the smallest backpack ever. Finally got around to emptying it after leaving it undisturbed in a corner for half the week. As if by not unpacking I could still pretend I wasn't 'really' finished with my journey yet... A lot of people I've spoken to this week have said that the time has flown past. Whereas I feel as if I've done so much and seen so many new things that I've been away for much longer than the 5-and-a-bit weeks that it actually was. Ach, but that's how it always was in the Narnia books too of course. Seasons came and went and meanwhile back home barely a few minutes had passed on their return.

home again

I thought I would need to catch up on missed sleep as I felt much in need of some this afternoon when I was in the plane from Madrid but seem to be wide awake now. Last photos on the camera... Have been reading back some of my blog for the first time - I hadn't realised how much it was!

sunrise in madrid

one more try at a photo then...

ha! worked! air photos are above uruguay, wall painting is in arrivals here. it´s 4am for me, off to find more coffee nowand to put my clock forward to dutch summer time again

For Fokko

Metro, Marches and Penelope Cruz

So this is the Dutch bear...

After a morning wandering about the busy shopping streets spending my last pesos on various things I decided it was time to tackle the metro. What I really wanted was a day-ticket where I could just hop on and off but that wasn't an option. What you get is a one-way ticket to anywhere. As soon as you come out you have to have a new ticket. A ticket costs 1.10 ar$, about 30 euro cent. You can buy multiples to save you from having to queue for a new one every time. I didn't know this at first and thought it was a pretty daft system till I did... So I went on a number of different lines. The A line has old wood lined carriages. The C line has the best tiled stations.

I didn't really have time to gO anywhere in particular as at 3.30I wanted to be at the Plaza de Mayo as every Thursday afternoon at this time for the past 31 years the Madres de la Plaza, mothers and grandmothers of people who 'disappeared' during the dictatorship in the 70's, have a sort of miniature protest march in front of the government buildings. Over the years they have become a sort of alternative tourist attraction in themselves, complete with flags and printed headscarves. It's a very odd sort of atmosphere. Festive even, this is a part of their lives now, just 'what they do' on Thursdays. But you can never forget why they're there. Before the march they sell various cards and books and things to raise money for publicity for their cause. In the background there was another protest march going on, this time by the workers of the Teatro Colon, I think a lot of them have been sacked or put on unpaid leave during the renovation. The day before I'd also got caught up in a protest march, older male workers. I think after years of living under a dictatorship where such things were banned the Argentinians take every opportunity to make use of their right to protest publicly now.

In the evening I went to see the film 'Vicky, Christina, Barcelona' in a cinema with a strange optical illusion which sometimes made you feel as if you were lying back looking up at the screen. It was like being inside one of those drawings that you can look at in 2 separate ways to change the perspective. Something to do with the slope of the floor and the diagonal bloks of wood on the walls. Film is worth seeing. Even if it's only to hear Penelope Cruz being hysterical in Spanish. Most of it is in English though.

Afterwards was up till about 3 postponing packing my bag...

Last Day in Argentina

At the airport with at least 2 hours to spend before boarding as I took the earlier shuttle to make sure I was here on time. The other day there was a traffic light fault in the city and half of it didn't move for hours so I didn't want to risk being late. Anyway, time to upload some photos I think...
Ha, good, it's all working like it's supposed to.

Boarding Card

Have just printed out my boarding card for tomorrow... well, for the first flight anyway, for some reason I can´t get the Madrid/Amsterdam flight for now, no doubt because it´s not till a day later. So I have the back window seat on the right hand side which I hope will let me see some of the coast of South America. Ok, off out for my last day here.

For the Boekgrrls

The mural is in Colonia, the library in Bs/As.

Buenos Aires by bike

Got to borrow a bike from the hostel across the road yesterday and had a great day cycling about the city. In between my visit to the Iberia offices to confirm my flight home (which wasn´t necessary after all despite the advice from Cheapotickets.nl that it was) and looking up theatres I saw various people with whole hordes of dogs on leads. It´s quite something to see dogs on leads again after all the roaming strays of Patagonia and these were a lot of dogs. After a while came across the park where they all congregate and are let out in smaller groups in a fenced off area. More photos, including of course yet another Max, to come. (I had to wait for Max the WonderWeimer to die before making this trip but he´s still following me around, even after I'd discarded the tiny bits of his remains I brought with me :-) More about the last photo later as that´s more a part of today´s ´programme´. I got caught up in a protest march at one point and also cycled through the harbour area and a bit of a nature park bordering on it, which is wonderfully green and peaceful after the traffic chaos of the city.

In the evening to Eva, which was very well done as a piece of theatre with lots of good use of archive film and creative scene changes but nothing spectacular. Ah well, at least it gave me a chance to wear my best frock, which had been hanging in my showerroom for 2 days to decrease it after a month in the corner of my rucksack. Really enjoyed the walk home, via 2 still open bookshops, bought a book and a cd at almost midnight, which was a novelty in itself really.