Buenos Aires, April 2006

Ugarteche

A good friend of my mother's named Marta lives in a famous apartment building on Ugarteche street. It's known as "El Palacio de los Patos" (The Palace of Ducks). What the hell does that mean? In Argentine slang, to be a duck means that you don't have money. The building where Marta lives was constructed to house previously rich families who had fallen on difficult times and could no longer afford to live in actual houses. The apartments in this buildings are huge, most with 3-4 bedrooms. All walkways and stairways are marble and have an old-world, opulent feel. Not to be outdone, a group of builders wanting to capture the feel of the Ugarteche apartments, constructed their own building across the way. Not being nearly as finely built, it was dubbed "El Palacio de los Gansos" (The Palace of Geese), implying that silly people lived within its walls.

Exterior ironwork	IMG_7368.JPG	Interior courtyard	IMG_7370.JPG	Mom with Marta	Linden, Marta & Fed
IMG_7373.JPG	IMG_7374.JPG	IMG_7376.JPG	Marked for Mom	IMG_7378.JPG	Fed, Linden & portrait
Hallway	IMG_7382.JPG	Courtyard clock detail	Courtyard clock	Mailboxes	IMG_7387.JPG
IMG_7388.JPG