bus stop, wet day

if someone were to grade my navigating and co-piloting skills, i think i'd rate a solid, all-around B...plus?

high marks for map-reading and general calm.

very good at assessing the snack and drink situation, and "the hand-off" (as co-pilot).

but--distractible. that messes up my average.

it's a different thing when it comes to traveling by bus, especially to new jersey. i seem to find new, inventive ways to get myself lost.

this both amuses and horrifies my family, since new jersey is my home state. but i contend that the route looks different from day to night, and season to season. the homes look, if not the exactly the same, similar enough--or it's a good bet that trees have been felled or what i have chosen as my "landmark" has been razed and replaced, or expanded, mcmansion-style, beyond recognition (at least, within the few seconds it takes to see it and process what it is, before i pass it).

last year, on my way to a dentist appointment, i panicked--got off far too early. i made my way there fine on foot (i am a good new yorker that way), but i was late. what i didn't know was after i declined my dr's kind offer to pick me up on the boulevard, he sent his assistant out in her car to come find me (i beat her back to the office). the family loved that one.

yesterday, all went according to plan. i braved the still strange route without (much) panic, and even timed it perfectly. so no good stories, but i have pictures (it took for-ev-er to get home)...

"bus stop, wet day"

the mills bakery! i have never been, but i love the sign. when i see the sign, i know where i am (for a little while)

oof, the turnpike.

tracks

photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: on the street where you "live" (day 1)

the bumpy flight from bogota to buenos aires left me sick--incapacitated, really--for a few hours after our arrival. z went off exploring on her own, while i took a recovery nap. by the early afternoon, i was able to hit the streets outside of our rented apartment in search of something light and argentinian to eat.

we stayed a two-bedroom, duplex apartment in a recoleta, not in the section of town where tourists would typically stay, but in a residential neighborhood off a busy main street, avenida pueyrredon. i loved watching people go through their every day lives, going to and from work, picking up their kids from school, walking their dogs, meeting for coffee...

these photos will not be the best of the bunch-- i struggled to take photos at first, i hadn't adjusted to the tight, busy corners and the bright sun-- but i'm sentimental about them as they mark the very first things i saw and loved and would sort of set the stage for the rest of the week.

a cafe on "our" corner, avenues berruti and pueyrredon...

the festive buses...i soon found out that each line has its own design....

portenos, waiting for the bus...

i loved the architecture...and the power lines that cut across the streets...

and duero, the euro-style coffee shop where i had my first meal, on the corner of avenidas pueyrredon and santa fe.

since i was still recovering, i had tea with milk (te con leche) and toast with dulce de leche.
duero would become our regular breakfast stop, with only a couple of exceptions.
and i basically always ordered this (but with coffee...good, strong coffee)

two of the fine staffers at duero...


all photos © anita aguilar