There's No Place like San Francisco

Toward the end of any trip I start to think about returning to my home town of San Francisco. And as we all know, there’s no place quite like San Francisco.

As I was passing through Plaza de Mayo -- you know the plaza in front of the Casa Rosada (Pink Palace) that I made fun of earlier because it’s pronounced as pla-tha de ma-jyo -- I noticed a lot of rainbow flags. Not the rainbow of seven colors we learned about in elementary school, but the rainbow with six colors designed by a San Franciscan to commemorate gay pride. Yep, I had stumbled upon the Marcha del Orgullo (gay pride march) of Buenos Aires.

Just as in San Francisco, people wrap themselves in rainbow flags.

 

 

Being Latin America, there’s a touch of Mardi Gras as well.

 

 

And there’s lot of pretty things to look at.

And some not-so-pretty things.

And some more pretty things.

And some more not-so-pretty things.

The gay pride march in Buenos Aires is not as commercial as it is in San Francisco. The floats are simple and don't have corporate sponsors. And a strong political tone remains, demonstrated by the rally in front of the Casa Rosada where the President has her office.

And “the gays” (a nod to Kathy Griffin) love their president. The Putos Peronistas (roughly translated as Queer Peronistas – think Eva and Juan Peron) have their own float. The banner proudly displays Evita on the left and former president Nestor Kirchner and current president (his wife) Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in the center. Can you imagine a float in San Francisco with a president’s face so proudly displayed? Neither can I.

The crowds grew bigger and bigger. And I grew more and more impatient. So, I headed out before the march headed off to Plaza de los Congresos.

As I wandered around on my final afternoon before heading to the airport, I stumbled again. This time on El Barrio Chino. Bienvenido a China Town. And though China Town is just a little over two blocks long, you can find some of the same stuff (okay, crap) in Buenos Aires as in San Francisco.

 

And as a bonus, there are even a few sushi restaurants in China Town. Oy vey. After a 15-minute tour it was time to say "chau" to China Town.

Once again my thoughts drifted toward San Francisco. UAL flight 846 departs at 22:05 for SFO. There’s no place like San Francisco.