Blogs from Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America - page 18

On the first day of the new year we began our adventure! It did not start glamorously, with a 7am start and one sore head from the celebrations the night previously. Though as we discovered nothing cures a hangover quicker than 29 hours of travelling! That's right, as we booked these tickets on points, we couldn't get the direct flight to Buenos Aires ("BA"). Instead we took this wonderful journey, Shannon Airport to London Heathrow to Newwark New Jersey. From there we had 3 hours to get across Manhattan to JFK and catch a flight to our final destination. Long, but we made it! Our first impressions of the city are: There are big, wide, leafy streets, and in Palermo (where we are staying) there are lots of cafes, bars and restaurants. Lots of dogs! It ... read more

Rachel arrived and now we are three. It is great having her here. We took a yellow on and off bus around the City. I would not recommend it. You wear a head set and the information about what you are seeing is never complete. It will say this building is important because and then it will cut out. We never got a full explaination without the info cutting out. When it was not giving us info it played music that could give you a headache. We did get to see parts of town we would never visit like La Boca which is not a place you would want to walk around. If you want a tour I would take a private company tour not the yellow bus. Book stores are very popular here. We have ... read more

Today we had a news warning that there was a heat wave and that temperatures would stay at 38 degrees all afternoon in Buenos Aires. I had planned to go to Cordoba this morning but I didn’t want to travel in such conditions and I had some unfinished history lessons to attend in Buenos Aires before leaving it. The history lesson took on the form of a walking tour around the famous historical sites – the National Congress, the Palacio, Avenida de Mayo, the Evita mural, Cabildo and Plaza de Mayo. I got a quick glance at Peronismo, Argentina’s dictatorships, Argentina’s political history and the famous economic crisis. After Antonio’s (the hostel owner) thorough demonstration of how to test for fake peso bills and why the blue market exists I now felt confident at changing my ... read more

Buenos Aires is described as the Paris of South America. As we stepped off the metro and onto the apartment lined streets of San Telmo (the district we’d be staying in), we really could have been walking the streets of the French capital. One constant reminder of our true location still remained; the need to play hopscotch, dodging the pieces of dog poo that seem to plague the entirety of South America. Apparently the issue plays highly in the local mayoral elections and yet those same mayors are yet to come up with a way to clean up the issue. The Parisian theme continued at the hostel. A converted townhouse, a narrow winding tile clad staircase linked the reception to the rooms above. We planned to stay in Buenos Aires for a significant amount of time ... read more

We have settled into our apartment. We are exploring the city. We take the metro 8 stops up then walk back. We find the neighborhoods have their own personalities. Recoletta is an expensive barrio and the shops and restaurants are high end. Palermo SoHO is the largest barrio and has the most green space. We find the City has a lot of small parks but Palermo has a large park like Golden Gate Park. Our apartment which costs $35.00 per night is fully furnished. Our landlord stocked the refrigerator with milk and orange juice. The apartment also includes a cell phone. Mark brought his iphone, he had it unlocked before we left home. We bought a sim card so now his phone has a local number and I carry the phone provided by our landlord. We ... read more