Checking out my area in Buenos Aires.

Arrived after a short flight from Santiago and this time I didn't avoid the reciprocal tax at the airport of $35.00 US. 
My hostel is located in the older part of the central area, as usual.  It is Estoril Terrazas on Mayo.  It is fine as hostels go, not everything in perfect working order but the staff is excellent.

Today I walked to the plazas on each end of the street I am on.

This is the National Congress building in the Plaza de Congreso.

Again there is a European look to the buildings, it is springtime in September and the weather is pretty nice.

Streets like this with shops, hotels and restaurants go on forever.  I didn't ever walk out of this type of area.  I decided to take a miss on the Metro as the routes were not convenient and I saw very few people going into the Metro stations.  Today I heard of a mugging down there.  The streets are full of people and it feels safe.

I was fascinated by the spires and rooftops of the old buildings.

There were lots of pie shaped buildings.

From the Plaza de Congreso I walked the other way to the Plaza de Mayo.

This is the Casa Rosada Museum.  It has pictures of political and national statesmen and heroes.

Looking across the Plaza there is another museum, the white building left of center, but I wasn't in that one.

Guards on duty in Casa Rosada Museum.

This is the Metropolitan Cathedral.  It is on the square de Mayo too.

A peek inside.

Avenue de Julio is a huge main road through the city.  Here we are looking from Ave Mayo toward the obelisk.

This is the elevator in my building.  My hostel is on the sixth floor.  It was constructed to fit the center space in the circular marble staircase and holds two people at a time.  One evening three girls got on with all their bags and it stopped running.  The elevator guy didn't come to reset it until the next day.  It seems the walk up the stairs is tough as even the young ones came in puffing.

This building is the most amazing thing I have seen here.  It was built over 100 years ago by an Italian architect who designed it based on images from Dante's Divine Comedy.  His idea was to bring Dante's body here for burial under the building but apparently that didn't happen.

It is too close to get the whole thing in one picture so here is another view.  There will be more shots later.

It looks like walking will be my method of transport here.  The several things I want to see are walkable distances. Tonight I am settled in and happy with my place.