Finally Finished

More than a year ago, I went with one of my groups to see the Palacio San Martin, one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. After the tour, I sat down in the lovely green square in front to do a sketch, but it was early winter and too cold to sit. (Here is what I managed that day.) I’ve been promising myself since that day that I would go back and finish it, and today I finally did.

It’s a good half hour walk there, so I was happy to sit down to do the sketch. Afterwards I walked across the street to Rapanui, a place whose ice cream is legendary. I sat at a little table outside and ate passionfruit and kiwi ice cream — bliss!

I had planned to take a taxi home — we’re still not allowed to use the buses — but started to walk and ended up walking all the way home. It’s 4.1 km both ways and I’ll admit to being shattered when I arrived, but now I’ve had a wee rest I feel ready for what’s next.

I’m meeting Venetia for a glass of wine at La Biela at 8 pm and then going for a bite to eat somewhere. My friend Lina said recently that now that we can eat out again, she is doing it every day as she is so fed up with her own cooking. Ditto.

 

Palacio San Martin

One thing that struck me when I first arrived in Buenos Aires — and strikes pretty much everyone else — was the wonderful architecture. Being a sketcher, of course, I noticed it even more.

Among the really beautiful buildings are the many “palacios” that were built by wealthy families of the past — actually, “wealthy” doesn’t begin to cover it, which is apparent in some of the sumptuous homes. Some are used as office buildings, luxury hotels, grand apartments. Some are simply museums.

The one I saw today, Palacio San Martin, was bought by the Argentine government from the Anchorena family, and today belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I guess because of that, we were allowed to take photographs only outside, in the courtyard and the doorways, but nothing inside. That’s a pity, because they were jaw dropping. Here are the outside shots I took.

I have actually been meaning to sketch this building for, literally, years. I decided to go half an hour early for the tour and do it. Half an hour? What was I thinking? I’ll have to go back at least one more time to finish it. I’ll post it here when it’s done.

This is all I managed to get done — have to go back to finish it another day.