A day of Action!

Our plan for today, our last day in BA (Wednesday the 19th) had been to check out the world famous Teatro Colon (opera house). We put on our marching shoes and walked the 5km for our hotel to the opera house only to discover that today they were doing a lighting check ... We could still do the tour but would miss the main auditorium, ie the main attraction! Given the 25 dlr fee each we decided to pass and were both feeling a little disappointed about this turn of events. So we decided to visit Plaza Mayo again to see the Casa Rosada, or government house, as we now had a better appreciation for its role in Argentinian politics. Well were we in for a surprise as today was the day for a huge rally and march to Plaza Mayo! When we arrived things were getting started but not yet in full swing. Drums were being banged, flags being waved and massive BBQs were going to feed people. Turns out it was a rally of union groups for a political party. Each union had its own colours and they seemed to try and outdo each other with their show of support for the local politico.

We were quite amazed as one does not see such grassroots political labour action in Canada. As Lisa was posing for some photos one of the locals decided to get in on the picture; he and his mates were laughing at his bravado and it was all in good fun. After the photo, he passed us a tallboy of Quilmes, the local beer, which was really a lovely act. We hung around for about half a hour then decided to pop into a local bar for a drink. That is when we noticed that the march/rally was all over the news! So after a couple beers we headed back to the Plaza Mayo and by this time it was in full swing. The square was packed and more people kept spilling in from the side streets. It was quite a spectacle and we just hung out for another half hour watching the mayhem. Finally we decided it was time to head back which was a good thing as we were a bit like fish swimming against the current as massive amounts of people continued to head to Plaza Mayo. We walked back to our hotel and are currently in the process of finishing off a nice bottle of Malbec and discussing dinner options (its only 7:30 so dinner is not for another 2 hours). Tomorrow it's off to Uruguay!