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Published: January 9th 2007
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Arriving into Buenos Aires from Iguazu on December 9, we had a few surprises. We were surprised at the huge size of the Rio de la Plata. We were surprised at the grandeur of Buenos Aires. (People say it’s the Paris of South America and we can see why). And we were surprised at how crappy our hotel was.
We had made our hotel reservation in advance and had informed them of our arrival time. Not only did they not have our room ready, they didn’t have a place to stow our luggage. So after waiting around the small lobby for two hours, we were shown our room with a non-functioning ceiling fan, a door that wouldn’t lock, and a window overlooking a noisy street. We only stayed one night….
We had until December 16 to visit Buenos Aires (one week) and its surrounds. We were hoping to get to Uruguay and visit an estancia outside Buenos Aires to see Argentinian gauchos as well as visit Buenos Aires. We got busy right away, trying to get it all in.
Our first day, we walked over to Puerto Madero via Avenida de Mayo, which ends at the Plaza de
Casa Rosada
the White House of Argentina Mayo where we saw the famous Casa Rosada. Puerto Madero is a new waterfront area being revitalized for pedestrians. It had a really cool looking pedestrian bridge and near it the Frigata Sarmiento ship. Ben and Oliver could have visited this ship everyday.
We continued past Puerto Madero to the Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur where (our guide book said) where they had bikes for rent. We ran into difficulties finding bikes, then finding bikes suitable for Ben and Ovie and ended up renting a four person surrey type bike to ride for awhile. In the end we were so tired from all the walking and biking that we returned to our hotel, no energy left.
Avenida Florida, an exclusively pedestrian street, is renowned for being a shopping, pedestrian, and street performer area. We got to see some tango (which is everywhere) and some puppet shows while strolling down it. Our favorite performer was a fellow who was dressed like a businessman with gust of wind blowing his coat off. He was frozen in mid-step. If you put a coin in his can he would take another step and freeze in another position.
While riding the subway, some
guy came into our car yelling and talking and holding a young woman in his arms. Ben and Oliver were wondering what was up with these people. Then another woman came on and started yelling at the man. Turns out -- it was all street theater (subway theater in this case) and they were acting out that he was cheating on his wife. You knew it was all an act when the hat came around for a donation.
This is the first city in Argentina where we have seen the people drinking mate in earnest. These poor Argentines go around with only one arm free. The other arm holds their mate plus a thermos of hot water for refilling their cup. And here it is so hot and humid. We just loved it when we a young guy on his motorcycle on a hot day, riding with only one hand because the other arm was occupied -- holding his mate and thermos.
While in Buenos Aires, our paths overlapped with our friend Maureen (who we had met in Peru). Together we all went to the Museo de Armas. It contained all kinds of armor, swords, and modern war
urban wildlife
downright tropical implements as well. It started to freak Ovie out after a bit. We also went to the Manzana de las Luces, a Jesuit church, which contains defensive tunnels. The historic tour included only a view of the tunnels, much to Oliver and Ben’s disappointment.
There are lots of parks in Buenos Aires and we did our usual visits of parks - Plaza San Martin, botanic gardens, and a few other off-beat ones. One of the best places we visited was the Museo de los Ninos. (This is not on the typical tourist’s trip to Buenos Aires). It was fabulous. It is a hands-on museum but revolves around careers. The boys got to run luggage through the x-ray machine and operate a crane, lifting cargo on and off a ship. Great fun.
Our last stop in Buenos Aires was to the Recoleta Cemetery. This cemetery is pretty cool, complete with street names and lots of cats. Very nice statuaries.
This is definitely a single person’s town, or at least not a family town. Although there is stuff for families to do, the tango, the night clubs, the night life, all cater to a childless crowd. This town stays
more urban wildlife
(maybe a relative of the roadrunner?) up late and everyone seems to have a good time. But with all the noise and traffic -- we needed to get out of Buenos Aires. We couldn’t take it anymore. So with only a few days left we headed to Uruguay for a day of peace and quiet.
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