La Boca

Today I followed the advice of a friend in New Zealand (thanks Moera) and visited La Boca. Literally "the mouth", being the mouth of the River Plate. Websites and guide books warn that it's a poor area, and tourists should not stray from the main routes. It certainly isn't the plushest of barrios, but it has the lovely Caminito pedestrian district with its colourful buildings and artwork displays. I also peeked through the fence at the Boca Juniors football stadium.

The Subte underground railway system is cheap and efficient, but pretty run down. The trains were especially crowded today, and with few places to hold on there were a lot of people struggling to remain upright. I had to argue, in very basic Spanish, with the ticket seller who gave me the wrong change. Eventually, I got the correct amount of money back.

Why do so many pigeons have crippled feet ? Did I pose that question in an earlier entry ? I certainly meant to.

Finally for today... in the lift on the way down from my 7th floor apartment to street level there was a woman and her tiny dog, called Pipi. Pipi is one of those squashed face dogs. He or she was very excited about being in the lift. You'll have seen the photo of a man walking several dogs. That's something I see frequently as I'm walking around Buenos Aires. In La Boca I saw an awful lot of dog poo on the pavements. Does no-one pick it up or clear it away ?

Oh... and another final thing. Thank you to the friends who have emailed me to express their condolences over the death of my mouse. Please rest assured, I've got a new one now. It's the same breed, but a different colour.