Sunday, May 29, 2011

The rising waters……….



 
The day was bright and beautiful…. So how nice to have a picnic on the beach.  White sands, only touched by the wind, blue sky, a quiet dark blue sea. Yes this is how it should be forever, but the waters are rising……



The first thing you notice when you start crossing the last of the dunes are large metal strips across the entrance to the beach. “What is this? Another amazing new real estate investment?”








And then you get a bit further, over the dunes. “Oh help they are digging… there are pipes… oil???” As we look over the fence my friend tells me this is a project to protect the coast against the rising of the sea level.







Of course I cannot pass without taking some pictures. A workman comes to the fence (are we trespassing?) and hands us a folder. This really is a strange project! But I am beginning to like it.







In short: The Dutch fought the sea for so long, that now they want to trick it into helping them. Loads of sand are brought to the coast. They are creating a kind of sandbank that reminds me of the sands in Sicily near Tindari looking more or less like a Madonna. 





And then it starts to get interesting…. The sea will spread the sand along the coast in stead of taking it from the beaches. The name of the project “Sand Engine” says it all.







This was an educational picnic! We enjoyed the bright yellow rubbish bins.

A little plant, looking a bit like a succulent, was struggling for life.














The fence that vanishes in the distance.
Just another perfect day……







Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Hotel with a view....



It always feels great to look over a city from a high building. In Buenos Aires we had a hotel in the old part of town on “Moreno”; between the Plaza de Mayo and San Telmo. The view from our room was interesting, but the view from the roof terrace was wonderful.





Looking in the direction of the Plaza de Mayo there is the church from the “Convento San Francisco”. Two elegant towers at both sides of the entrance, a large cupola in the middle.






Next to the cupola you see the little Big Ben. It chimes exactly like its Big Brother in London


 

 



Like on many old buildings in Buenos Aires little trees grow on the walls. The neigbourhood of the hotel is old and sometimes falling apart. The first impression is "where are we now"? Looking back it was an ideal place. Quite "bohemien". And there is much evidence that things get better.











Next door to us are some very freshly painted white ladies sitting on the edge of the façade of the Ethnographic museum. One is almost sliding down and her sister is looking in a mirror. Sure, they are not afraid of heights. This museum is being restored.






But take a look at this rooftop. The grasses grow wild. The rests of a greenhouse, the remnants of a beautiful dream… This must have been a small paradise in a rich past.






Inside the bloc, on top of the tangle of buildings, al kinds of different roof terraces. It must be nice to make a BBQ at the end of a busy day on this cozy roof terrace. Although you must have your back to the watertanks, the peeling walls, the fire stairs, the happy colored washing of the neighbors….  Just keep looking at your own plants and everything will be fine.
  

 

Further away the skyscrapers of the Puerto Madera dominate the horizon. It is obvious; there Buenos Aires is booming.






Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Tortoni

Tortoni is a famous restaurant on the Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires. Antonio and me went there after the Cabildo was closed. There we spend the evening of march 6 2006. A date to remember.

 




I still feel your arm
Showing me the pictures
On the wall at Tortoni’s
I still see your eyes
So dark, so deep
I feel your shyness
And you must feel mine
As though we are children
Loving for the first time
Living in a world called Tortoni’s







My glass of wine
Thirsts for the deep brown sea
Of my lovers eyes.
Red and brown
Black the depth
Of their longing


  







My love
Do I miss you
Our time together only six hours
Enough to fill a lifetime
Enough to feel lost these days without you
What is another 48 days
Just a bite out of this year
Endless in our eyes
Endless the few days since our last e-mail
Far away on the other side
Of our horizon of time





You look at me in black and white
Retouched by me
I am touched by you
I look at you in black and white
The essence of a person
Caught in one dimension


Tango
Tangible emotion
I cry when I hear your passion
I want to hold my love close to my heart
The music vibrating in our bodies
In a whirl that binds us together
Tangible love









And now we are back
5 Years later
We drink the wine of our love
In this place
Confirming the impossible
Gardel and Borges as our witnesses