It's all about the feet today...

My feet have so many blisters that walking was a challenge today, so I stopped at the most exquisite looking building I found and went into the Museo del Patrimonio, which was built in the 1887 out of 300,000 "multicolored faience bricks mady by Royal Doulton and shipped from Britain" (Frommer's Buenos Aires). It was built in response to the yellow fever epidemic, a building to hold water because it was the highest point in the city. However, BA was made capital of Argentina in 1880, and people fled to this area, avoiding yellow fever, and building enormous mansions. This water Palace had to fit into the grander scheme of both place and position of Buenos Aires. It IS spectacular in the front, and the museum is full of water/sanitation gadgetry, among which are these toilets, all positioned in one room. Nice, eh?

Then, although I didn't eat there, I went to the famous Cafe Tortoni, the main literary cafe of BA.
there was a long wait for a table because the group in front of me left instead of waiting. Next to this cafe is the Tango Institute where I could have gone for a 3 hour lesson, but the feet, the feet...

I decided to get a closer look at the Casa Rosada, the big, pink building on Plaza Mayo. The president doesn't live here, but he does work here in this pink building. Why is it pink? Frommer's has two theories: the colors of the two opposing parties are red and white, and painting the building pink was a truce-like maneuver. The second theory is that the building was originally with cow blood that dried in the sun, creating the pink color. I did try to go to the museum at the side, but everything was closed for the month of March. Just my luck... so off I went to Puerto Madero where I wanted to pass over into the Reserva Ecologica Costanera, which is some ecological area where over 200 species of birds live, the irony being that this spot was established from debris and rubble from demolition and reconstruction in BA. It's a good place to run, and as I hobbled there, I noticed all the men who were "running" wore the same little sweat shorts in gray and t-shirts, all of which said "ESERCITO." I think I have it right. None of these runners were vigorous runners, but the path along the reserve is concrete and no streets intersect it. It overlooks a bleak, overgrown area that seems to be the reserve itself.
After about three hours of walking, I thought about going to the movies again, but my puritanical self drive me to the next museum I saw - the Museo Etnografico, which was wee and wouldn't let me go to the collection upstairs, so I went through the two rooms downstairs and saw some wooden carvings from Terra del Fuego, things that looked as though they were used for sick or dead people; my spanish is not very good, as you can see.
Finally I wandered to the Subte and got myself home where I have been ever since, waiting to hear from Jack whom I have not heard from in two days. To say that I am worried is putting it mildly... My next step may be the police because it seems so very peculiar to come all this way and have him disappear like this when we were to talk last night and have dinner tonight. Breathe slowly...
I shall just think of the man I photographed today - he looked so calm and content.