La Plata - Capital of the Province of Buenos Aires

La Plata is a city of about 1/2 million people and is the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires and home to the government offices of the province. It is also known for its many universities and museums. So last Sunday, I took the hour-long bus ride to check it out for myself. The weather was brisk but sunny and I invited a friend from Cordoba (a province in central Argentina) to tag along. Before going, I asked Gabriel if he wanted a bagel before going, since he had never tried one, let alone heard of them before. I had recently found one of the few restaurants in BA that serve American breakfasts (waffles, pancakes, omelettes, etc) and it was 1/2 way between our apartments. Well, the bagels were the driest, most tasteless bagels I ever had. Some days I really miss Dunkin Donuts.

So we finish our bland bagels and headed for the bus station. The drive to La Plata takes travelers south and through some of the poorest areas of the province. Scattered along the 50 km drive are dozens of developments where thousands of people are living in metal shacks. It's the part of Buenos Aires that most tourists never see.

We arrive in La Plata - a city of 500,000 people - at 1:00 pm and the city was dead. It was like a ghost town. Fortunately, it's small and easily navigated (the streets don't have names, just numbers) and we were able to cover all the sites by foot without having to ask anyone for directions. The most spectacular sight was the Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepion de la Plata (photo #3 and #4 above). This is a gothic style church that took over a century to complete and, to me, is reminiscent of St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. Across the street was the Municipal Palace (photo #4 above) - a strikingly white building (and free of graffiti - rare for a government building).

After a few hours of sightseeing, we stopped into the "Wilkenny Irish Pub & Restaurant" which seemed to be the only restaurant open in town. Upon walking in, one feels like they are entering a true Irish pub, with the wood seats, Irish decorations, and beer signs on the wall. Only after being given the menu did Gabi and I realize we were still in Argentina. There was not one Irish dish on the menu and they didn't even have Guinness beer!

A digression on nicknames in Argentina. Argentineans often take just the first syllable of their name and add an "i" to it for their nickname. So for example, Gabriel becomes Gabi, Matthew becomes Mati, Barbara becomes Babi, and so on.

Anyway, after our hearty Irish/Argentine meal, we headed to the plaza where, finally, there was life. Hundreds of people were there and vendors were selling everything from chickens to artwork. I bought a few DVDs of movies I missed in the theater (5 pesos each) but other than that, there was nothing of interest, so we headed back to the bus station for the depressing drive past the "villas miserias" of Buenos Aires' poor before arriving home.