There is a lot of what is considered únofficial work`in Argentina for those who don`t have a job such as these lads who clean the windows of the cars at the traffic lights, the guys you tip to put your bags on and off the bus or the one`s you pay to watch you car when you park it in the street!! And not to forget the kids (and sometimes adults) who step out in front of the cars stopped at traffic lights and juggle, perform handstands etc to take away the boredom for a few peso`s tip......
And of course like most cities there is always a few eccentric characters around......
The Monumento a la Independencia - which houses the crypt of Manual Belgrano who created the Argentina flag.
As the birth place of Che Guevera there were a few tributes to him scattered around the city...
I had to ask what the celebration was when I saw the girl get covered in flour - she had just graduated with here Economics degree....
The river area had a few small beaches and a little fishing market with some big fish!!
A birds nest on top of the lampost - pretty good building skills!!
The reason I only stayed in Rosario for one night was because I couldn`t get any accomodation over the weekend as Argentina were playing Brazil in the world cup qualifiers (I think that was the competition!!).....as you can imagine football fever was in the air and even if I could get a bed I am not sure a city with 40,000 drunk Latino men was the best place to be!!
Of course there was a few Plaza`s around as well with some greenery (or in this case beautiful pink trees) and local entertainers.
Next stop was San Antonio de Areco - the guacho town.....where the customs and traditions of the Guacho are still part of everyday life here. The pink bridge was the first toll road in South America - as during the wet season the only way for horse drawn carriages and wagons to cross the river (which was a main route to Buenos Aires) was over the bridge!!
I couldn`t come here and not the day doing some horse riding traditional Guacho style on one of the local estancia`s (ranches). The estancia`s used to all be cattle farms but with various changes a lot of them now run as hotels/tourist attractions. Feliz was particularly excited to get some horse riding lessons from Antonio a real guacho wearing the traditional guacho outfit (which is worn around the town and not just at the tourist spots!). We got shown a few horse tricks and I got to drive the horse drawn carriage which was fun as I think it was the first time I had ever even been on one. When there are more people the estancia`s will put on a more elaborate show to demonstrate the horsing skills of the guacho`s, who like Antonio, have usually been riding horses since they could walk - but we did get to see some photo`s of this.
The dogs in Argentina are pretty crazy - they often decide to have a fight with a passing car!! It`s surprising that you don`t see them lying dead at the side of the road!
A lot of people from Buenos Aires come here at the weekends to get away from the city - here some of the visiting kids are getting horse riding lessons.
The estancia was having a traditional music and dance party in the evening so I went along - it was fun watching some of the locals strutt their stuff - particulary this older couple who were very good dancers.
There was even a museum dedicated to the Gaucho`s - unfortunately you were only allowed to take photo`s in certain areas and none of the fancy saddles etc but it was very interesting.
The Southern Lapwing - I spotted these little birds in a few places but the one's here were quite amusing. I later found out that they are the national bird of Uruguay.
Everywhere in town there were tributes and memorials to the Guacho.
A traditional gaucho bar - guns and all!! Though it was open for business from the dust on the bottles it looked like it had been desrted for years!!
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