Flag Day & Casa Rosada Tour

Today was a federal holiday in Argentina.  Many of the businesses, banks and all of the government agencies were completely shut down today and the public transportation system was running a limited schedule. This means... there was no school for us either. There was a rally in the Plaza de Mayo and because it was not a regular working day for the President and her staff the Casa Rosada was open today for tours.  It is safe to say that flag day here is taken a lot more seriously than in the United States.

We took the tour completely in Spanish because it's nice to practice and because we were the only three that   weren't from Argentina on the tour.  The tour lasted about 45 minutes from start to finish, but we had to wait about an hour with our tickets before it started.

This is the outside of the Casa Rosada and each fence section has a different crest on it.

This is the foyer where we had to wait for the tour to begin.

One of the many garden areas inside of the residence.

One of the garden areas that was open to the public had windows to the desks of actual government workers.  I thought it was interesting that this particular employee decided to leave phone numbers and other information in plain sight on sticky notes.  I have no idea if this information is sensitive... so you viewed it and you might be wanted by the government.

Chapel

This is where the President does her press conferences.  

Another of the internal gardens, I think this was probably my favorite one.

The view of the Plaza de Mayo from the Presidential Balcony.  Basically I felt like Eva Peron.

This was the "white room" and it is probably one of the most ornate rooms I have ever seen.

One of the meeting rooms... usually used for photo ops.

Presidential Office - we learned that the sitting president no longer lives in the Casa Rosada and it is only used for official government work.  The Presidential Residence is at another location.

The fireplace in the President's Office - I just thought the attention to detail was amazing.

So, now it can feel like you all took a tour of the Casa Rosada today too... Feliz Dia de la Bandera!

Ciao,

Tim