the Subte
During the day time, I go around town by riding the subway called the Subte.
There is also a network of buses running all over the city and some runs 24 hours. But their routes are simply too complicated for visitors; we end up relying on the 5 lines of the Subte system and walk to our destination.
The Subte runs very frequently except during the public holidays. However, one weekday evening, the entire system was shut down because of a political rally in downtown. It coincided with the evening rush hours, so everyone were fighting over taxis. Only till then did I realize I might be stranded in downtown.
It costs 70 cents (approx US$ 0.25) to ride the Subte, and it is not transferable to the bus system. It is the best bargain in town, and it definately is a better way than being ripped off by the taxi drivers who could take us for a ride around the maze of one-way streets just to rack up the bill.
I also noticed that there is a lot of beautiful wall decoration made from hand painted and glazed ceramic tiles at the Subte platforms.
They are either a single mural of a certain scenery, or a wallpaper of repeated geometric patterns and figures. Each mural at a platform bears a certain theme. Most of them capture the early days of immigrants entering into this country. However, there is one station called Gardel, honoring Carlos Gardel, a famous tango singer.
The blank tiles for the mural were first placed together to form a "canvas" for the artist to draw on. The artist painted the overall picture across the tiles. Then each tile was removed individully for firing at the kiln. Thereafter, the tiles were installed onto the wall.
I don't know if the Argentines enjoy viewing them, but for me, I am fascinated by the delicate design and the well thought-out theme. These details can only be appreciated when one spends the time going through tile to tile.
| Accent tiles with Roman figures. | Decorative tiles in blue white and yellow, with Roman figures and gargoyles. | As majority of the immigrated Argentines were from Italy, this mural depicted an Italian Village. |
The Italian immigrants arriving to the port. |
Elaborate color scheme. |
Moorish theme at two separate stations. I wonder the meaning of the Arab writing on top of the patterned tiles. |
Greek mythology theme at another station. |
| Immigrants moving inland on bandwagons. | Part of the joy is to sort out the mis-placed tiles, and visually trying to put them together in our minds, as if the mural is a giant puzzles game. Here, one tile of a blue bucket was mis-inserted. |
| At the Gardel Station, the theme there is about tango music and dance. Here a couple is dancing to a typical band composed of two bandonians, three violins, one base and one cello. | A close up shows the street sign of the "Calle Carlos Gardel", honoring the famous singer. | There is a set of 3 murals, each showing the potrait of Charles Gardel, but each mural features different objects of art in front of the Gardel's image. This particular mural amazingly shows a Chinese theme; there is a Chinese doll and a golden Chinese Hotei. |
| At one connection hub, there is a tile with a figure of a saint. Fresh flowers are donated each day. Some of the weaving passers-by will touch this tile and then kiss their own hands, which is a common practice for some of them when they walk by a church. | I am staning in front of a mural depicting the busy action at the port during the years of industrialization. Here, the theme was even called out at the tile "Rio de la Plata"-- river of the plain. |
What could this be? |
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This is an old and beautiful escalator, made of polished brass and wood. |
I was told that there are plenty more uniquely beautiful Subte platforms. My mission is to visit these places. So please come back to check out my new "digs".
