pictures part 4

So today we went on a field trip to the Teatro Colón, which is this super high class, super awesome theater where they have their opera, ballets, and concerts. Apparently the price of a seat where we were is usually more than 1000 pesos (about 250-300 USD), but the government sponsors free concerts frequently, so we went to one of those. For homework we did some research about it, and apparently its acoustics are some of the best in the world. The other most important opera houses are the Met in NY, one in London, the Sydney Opera House, One in Paris and one in Germany somewhere.

Stuff outside:

Building across the street, also a statue

kind of better--and I just realized, IS THIS THE SYNAGOGUE? I´m definitely going to have to check. I mean, look at those tablets on top.

Plaza across the street from it--I forgot the name.

Detail on the pillars on the outside of the theater

Ornate, pretty doors

close up

The front of the theater, to the side of the entrance place.

This building has a red roof.

gorgeous

this is confusing, turn your head to the right to see this right side up. This is a balcony outside of the theater: the swirly thng is the top part of a column, and the bust is a bust that was on the balcony.

 Inside the theater:

tiles in the entrance hall/reception area

gorgeous stained glass skylight

Random statue in the hall

Turn your head to the left. This is the main foyer. To the left is where the doors to the Sala (the main room) would be, with steps leading up to it.

This is awesome. It was right above the area in the previous picture, also as a skylight.

details in the corners of it

The skylight on the other side of the hall from the first skylight.

the rest of that skylight

In the Sala:

Tilt your head right. Thems is the balcony seats. The very top row is the paraisia, which is basically the standing room, or the nice way to say nosebleed seats.

Apparently the curtain is brand new. We´re lucky because for the last number of years the theater was closed for renovation.

the chandelier on the ceiling. So gorgeous.

One quarter of the painting around the chandelier. So much prettier in real life. Also, these pics were a pain to take because I had to hold my camera perfectly still, pointing up, for long enough for it to realize that the picture should have a blue background.

Next quarter.

By this time I had turned my camera in order to get the scene right side up. The stage is to the right.

The last quarter.

Private balconies closer to the stage.

The awesome gilding at the top of the private balconies, right under the ceiling

above the stage they had the names of various composers who had their work performed here. This one says Chopin

The... top part of the stage. Totally forgot everything I learned in drama class in like eighth grade.

pretty light fixtures.

My Spanish teacher (Paola, left) and another teacher, Cecilia.

The awesome blue painted part was facing the audience.

The awesome decorated corners of the ceiling, right beneath the names of composers

Horrifyingly bright flash. And I couldn´t figure out how to turn it off. =/

better view of the patterns on the curtains (and the musicians´chairs)

 Other buildings in the area:

The Obelisk. Like the Washington Monument, only smaller. It´s kind of in the center of everything, and apparently Argentinians use it as a point of reference.

I can´t read all of this, but: Federal capital, this is for the national congress, the 11 of september of 1880. Dedicated to the president Nicolas Avell Aheda (or Aneda, I can´t see), Decreed by president Julio A Roca, 11 of december 1880.

Pepsi advertisement, and I hate to say it but I definitely saw this before I saw the obelisk

You can see some of the political protesters here (all non-violent, don´t worry, they apparently do this pretty regularly). Also, the Claro logo.

while trying to get a pic of the protesters, I got a pic of a taxi. Here´s what they look like, except that the Radio Taxis (which are the safe onesto take) have a little thingy on th top.

This is what they think of America.

too lazy to transate, just google it

Loving the architecture.

Kind of puts a damper on the heart-warming last picture, eh? lol

And finally, birds and plants and Prometeo:

This is neat because it´s an example of plants basically being immortal. Obviously someone cut off all the branches on this tree, but the vascular cambium was like "no big deal" and started growing new branches. This is basically what people want to do with grafting and other plant technologies.

The street sign.

Some kind of thorny bush. My camera can´t get how bright red the flowers are.

What the heck car is this?

Cool plant in someone´s garden, they´re fairly common here

close up of the flowers

blackbirds in the neighbor´s tree

Maria´s... flowers. they look kind of like mint, but aren´t.

The awesome bird that is too fast for me to take a picture of. It is bigger than the other birds and has a yellowy-orange breast.

pictures part 3

These were from Wednesday. After class, me and some other students went to the Casa Rosada again and took pictures. It´s in the Plaza de Mayo, by the way. Afterwards, we went to Calle Florida, and much like American Florida it was overpriced and not too thrilling. But, have some pictures anyways.

Sunrise from the window. I need to go on the roof terrace at some point.

This is Murdock, excited about going out for a walk.

He is 9 years old, very well trained and intelligent, and enjoys having his stomach rubbed.

Awesome architecture near Plaza de Mayo

You see the itty bitty oranges on the tree? No?

These. There are tons of orange trees growing on my block, but we can´t eat any of them because of air pollution. So, the boids get them. xD

The awesome roof of what I believe is the courthouse, I don´t remember

This is a bit unclear, but the point is that the building has a torch lit.

About 2% of the pigeons of Plaza de Mayo. There´s about an acre of space taken up by pigeons at all times.

Some poor porteño knee deep in pigeons. If you put food in your hand, they will fly up and land on you and eat it out of your hand. I have never seen more spoiled pigeons.

La Casa Rosada, which is basically their version of the White House, only it´s pink. The reason for that is that when it was built, there were two major parties, whose colors were red and white. So, to be unbiased, the builders decided to make it "neutral" and pink. The Statue in front commemorates Argentinian independence on the 9th of May, thus the street named Nueve de Mayo.

These were on the gates outside the Casa Rosada. No clue what it means.

close up of the windows and ornamental carvings

This is just an awesome plant that was growing in the Plaza, and a neat picture of la Casa Rosada.

The top part in detail, with awesome statues and arches and pillars and a clock.

There was another fountain on the other side of the entrance too. Also, fyi, I had to stick my camera through the fence to get this picture without bars.

A statue of what I guess was once copper, of a soldier in the War of Independence. Idk, go look it up, it´s been a few days.

Pretty.

A neat church nearby. Not as neat as the one in Recoleta by the cemetary, but still pretty cool.

Another building near P d M with awesome domes.

This was at the base of the statue. I came a few days too late to get the graffitti that was on one of the sides. And sorry I can´t center pictures.

the figure on the statue.

Statue at the entrance of Calle Florida.

This was in Calle Florida, some neat domed buildings.

Calle Florida action shot.

Another cool building on Calle florida

A clock tower near the entrance of Calle Florida

The Subte, aka subway. It´s how Ana and Maddy and I get to school every day, and travel basically everywhere on the green D line. Sorry the picture´s blurry.

Freaking Farmacity. At first I was like "oh, how cute", but this is literally the Walgreens of Argentina. There were THREE Farmacity´s within THREE blocks on Calle Florida. And they´re freaking everywhere. But, at least they´re not so integral as to actually pay for street signs as advertisement, like Claro does. I´ll try to get a picture later.

In a mall on Calle Florida. I felt it was my civic duty to take this picture. Literally two blocks down I saw a storefront version of the store.

There are little stalls everywhere. They usually sell newspapers and magazines. Other vendors have just blankets on the ground with their merchandise on top. Also, note the Starbucks in the background. =/

Okay, this one takes some explaining: Because porteños love dogs, but work long days, some people pay dog walkers to take their dogs out during the day. So there are always guys walking around with five or six dogs on leashes. Occasionally, the walkers will tie the dogs to a pole to go take a bathroom break or whatever. Well, on the way to the university, we saw 15 dogs tied to the pole, all of them just sitting there quietly. It was crazy. Also, tons of dogs have little jackets like the one in the front.