Yesterday I decided to sketch the Presidential Palace. It is called the Casa Rosada, or Pink House, because — well, it’s pink. I found the right bus and didn’t get too lost — mind you, it’s kind of hard to miss!

It took me over an hour to do the sketch, and it was right at the hottest time of day. And there was not an inch of shade in the square, so I was really exposed to the sun. Fortunately I had plastered myself with sun cream before I left, so although I got a lot of colour I wasn’t too burned. (And where was my genuine Panama Hat, made in Ecuador? At home in the cupboard of course! I’ve taken it out now though and am making a point of wearing it because the sun is very strong.)

If you saw the movie “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” you may recognize the building, as it was from one of these balconies that Evita addressed the crowd in the square.

Today I went out to sketch, but didn’t end up doing anything because it was way too hot. (Oh shut up, Helen, I hear you say!)

From there I went for lunch to another cafe, the Cafe Tortoni. This is the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, and they have kept it more or less the way it was. There are pictures on the walls of the famous writers and paintings by the artists of the thirties and forties, and there is art deco glass all over the place. I keep expecting Ernest Hemingway to walk in and sit down!

Tomorrow I am going away with Cecilia and a new friend, Donna from California, for five days to some kind of wetlands area in another part of the country. I don’t think there will be wifi, so I probably won’t blog again until I get back next Friday and then I can tell you all about it.