Buenos Aires: Grant Gravellese Junio 29

On the 29th of June, we went into the city for another sight seeing tour. We had breakfast in a beautiful cafe from the 1920's before continuing on our way. On the walk to the subway, we passed both the old and new national congress buildings. We made our way to the area around the 9th of July, the widest avenue in the world with 16 lanes, named after the independence day of Argentina. In the avenue, there are many things to see, such as a giant mural on a building of Eva Peron singing into a microphone, and a small representation of the Iguacú falls. We continued to the road where the old congress building is, and walked down that. We saw many statues, including a sculpture near identical to the thinker in New York. The old congress building looks very beautiful from that angle, and it was quite a sight. We went back to our host brother's homes when we got back to the school, but later that night we took a tour of an office building inspired by the works of Dante. The bottom floor was made to be like hell, the middle of the building as purgatory, and the top; which was a tower including a lighthouse, modeled as heaven. The building was originally the tallest building in Argentina, a gargantuan 23 stories high. The building was also intended to be the final resting place of Dante by the architect, who was worried that Dante's remains would be lost in WWI. When we got to the top of the tower, the view of the city was great. Though the view was great and the observation balconies were very cool, I was put off a bit by the height of the tower, and couldn't fully enjoy it. After that, we went down to the offices of the tour, where there was a toast and we watched two dancers perform traditional dances. Mrs. Gourlis even got a nice picture with them afterwards! Though the day wasn't totally unique, given that we had been around the city before; the tour of the building was very interesting. We all were very tired at the end of the day, but had gained a new perspective on the city of Argentina, making it worth the while.