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Published: December 19th 2008
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Congess Building Buenos Aires
One of the many impressive official buildings Ola from Argentina
Well, nearly two weeks gone and lots of great memories already.
We have done a whistle top tour of Buenos Aires; visited Uruguay for the day - as one does ; stayed in an Estancia for the weekend to chill and caught a 10 hour bus to Cordoba.
Buenos Aires
A lovely city with lots of European influence in the architecture and cuisine.The streets seem to combine small cafes/bars ; beautiful carved buildings,some with ornate carved iron balconies ; derelict properties and exclusive boutiques.The city itself is set out on a grid system which makes it easy to navigate around especially if you have your own guide - I can highly recommend Cater Meander Tours !! We went to Recoleta which is the main city cemetery and has the final resting place of Evita - although the authorities dispute this.We also caught a bus out to the Boca part of town where Maradona hails from and is still revered. There are lots of multicoloured buildings there which,legend has it ,were originally painted using the leftover colours after the ships were painted.
The congress building is impressive and we saw the moving silent protest by the
Recoleta Cemetary
The Duarte family tomb where Eva Peron is buried 'mothers of the disappeared' in the Plaza de Mayo. I think my favourite building was the theatre converted into a bookshop with reading areas in boxes and a cafe where the stage used to be.
(S - it was good to visit the city again after my 3 weeks there last year, and share some of the sights i enjoyed.)
Uruguay
We visited Colonia De Sacramento on Weds for the day. It is a pretty, quiet village on the coast with a few shops, a lighthouse and bars/restaurants.It is not too touristy but you would be hard pushed to spend more than an afternoon here. I am certain that Uruguay has a lot more to offer, maybe next time !
San Antonio De Areco
2 hours north west of Buenos Aires by bus and famous for the gauchos.We visited the gaucho museum before heading to El Ombu a working estancia, on Sat morning for the weekend which was really lovely.'Zara' Cater was able to go horse riding 3 times over the weekend, around the property and fields (S- very enjoyable, especially watching the gauchos and their dogs herd the cattle) and I found time to catch up
on some reading.There were 2 swimming pools and it was very quiet ,with only 4 other visitors staying, so plenty of opportunity to find a quiet spot under a tree to chill - bliss.There was a large works group on the Sunday but they did not intrude too much.We had most meals outside in the shade of the Ombu which was lovely.
Cordoba
The 2nd city in Argentina and dominated by the university,70% of the population here are students.There are some beautiful buildings,especially churches and some of the university buildings date back to the 1600's.It is much bigger than we anticipated but easy to walk around.The Jesuit influence is strong and another pleasant city to walk around.
San Salvador de Jujuy
In the north west region and near the Chile and Bolivia borders so has a very ethnic feel to it.Only arrived this morning after almost 12 hours on a bus so yet to get a proper feel for the place.
Food and drink
Cuisine with lots of European influence but the emphasis on meat. Pollo or lomo - chicken or beef steak - feature heavily as does ice cream and chocolate which are delicious.There are also
cake shops everywhere which sell a wonderful array of pastries and cakes. We will not go hungry ! (S - I have not tested the drink properly yet!)
Accomodation
Varied but mostly very good.
Don Telmo - Small family run hotel , well placed off the 9th July Ave and ideal for sightseeing.Small but good room with good en suite shower; air con and flat screen tv plus WIFI throughout.Good choice for breakfast.Very helpful staff particularly Alex.
Patio de Moreno - Year old hotel and our room was first used a week before we arrived.Good large room with air con and bath en suite complete with bathrobes and slippers. WIFI again.Great choice at breakfast and very attentive staff.Good location again.
El Ombu - Well recommended estancia and not surprising.Good room with another bath - I was being spoilt. Small pool outside and lovely staff again.No tv or WIFI but probably would have spoilt the ambiance.
Hostel Joven - Big disappointment but 4 out of 5 isn't bad.Dodgy beds,cockroach in the bathroom and next to a main road.
Howard Johnson - Huge room with air con and views of the Andes from the floor to ceiling window - another bath
El Ateneo Bookstore
The theatre converted into a bookstore !! Well placed again for walking into town.
Transport
So far we have used the subte ( Buenos Aires metro ) ; local and long distance buses ; the rapido boat to Uruguay ; taxis and a horse and a carriage.The subte costs less than a peso - about 20p - for a complete journey and our overnight bus from Cordoba to Jujuy was about £35.This included 2 pre packed meals similar to airline food plus huge reclining seats akin to business class seats on a plane.
Weather
Very good so far with some rain at night.Almost too hot some days with temperatures nudging 100 but most buildings are equipped with air con and we are stopping for lots of drinks and ice cream - got to be done to stave off dehydration.
Thought we had better get the first blog done otherwise it would soon be 2009 and you would all be wondering how we were getting on.Hope you are all well.
(S- as you can see we have been very busy, so I haven't had time to write anything about my adventures in Antarctica, although Coral has selected some photos for me to use.
San Antonio de Areco
Gaucho estancia,part of the museum with an amazing sky Hopefully I will send something out over the next week or so, but to summarise it was brilliant, and I saw a lot of penguins and icebergs, and was not on the ship which ran aground)
Feliz Navidad from us both
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