Blogs from Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America - page 10

This morning at 07:43, after sailing 124 nautical miles at an average speed of 11.5 knots, we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The ship has tried to make us all terrified of venturing out in Buenos Aires on our own by disseminating information about how dangerous it is in Buenos Aires. No doubt this is to encourage the passengers to book Holland America Line on-shore excursions!? Bernie and I decided that BA is probably no more of a risk than any big city in the world and, provided you remain aware of your surroundings and exercise a sensible level of caution, all will be well. Apparently the big scam in BA is to squirt or spray something onto your clothing and then tell you that you have bird poo on your back/shoulder which they will help ... read more

Travelling to Argentina was a last minute decision. I had been backpacking for a year and so much had passed with family and friends that I was wondering if it was the time to go home, plus with spending nearly 4 and a half months in Australia and New Zealand I had been in a safe place, with English being spoke everywhere and it being just like home. South America was going back onto adventure territory and although I was ready to get a bit of normality in my life, I took the big leap of the 11 hour flight to get to Buenos Aires. I had attempted to learn Spanish via an app on my mobile phone but only got a few words that would not really be helpful on getting around. Things like an ... read more

R : We have reached something of an impass. I have always wanted to go to Patagonia - it was a "must" for our trip, and had been since day one. Our plan from Buenos Aires was to head south to Patagonia and in specific see the glaciers and Torres del Paine national park in Chile. But it wasn't to be. The next blog is more about the frustrations we have been feeling at this point in the trip. In no way do we forget how lucky we are to be able to do this trip, but at the same rate, it becomes your life, and when things don't go to plan, the worries and frustrations feel the same as any impass you might find at work or at home. It hasn't helped that both of ... read more

Wednesday January 27th, 2016. Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and is its largest city. It has a population of approximately 2,890,151. The city is divided into 48 districts. People from Buenos Aires are known as "Porteños" (people of the port). The city is the birthplace of the current pope, Francis, who was the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The city is known for its European-style architecture, rich culture and the Argentine Tango. It hosted the first Pan American Games in 1951 and the 1978 FIFA World Cup and in 2018 will host the Summer Youth Olympics. A settlement at the present day site of the city was established briefly in 1536 by conquistador Pedro de Mendoza. However, attacks by the local indigenous tribes forced the new settlers to move to Asunción ... read more

Now that we've left Buenos Aires and moved on to Brazil we wanted to share a few observations during our stay in Argentina. We feel we made the right decision to start in BsAs and stay there for the first two months. It's been a great experience - it's an amazing country and BsAs is a lot fun. It also gave us the opportunity to get into the 'sabbatical vibe' (so easy! can't believe it's already been two months). We could easily spend more time here (still have a few points of interest left on our To Do List). Below, are a few observations, some good, some bad. - There are still many things that can be improved in AR, but there is free wifi everywhere. Literally! In parks, metro stations, buses, restaurants, cafes, etc. - ... read more