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Published: March 12th 2007
Home to Buenos Aires Home for the next 9 days.
Our first impression of Buenos Aires is that it has a very continental feel. Can´t believe we´re still in South America!
Our hotel is located on Avenida de Mayo, which is very well situated for the city centre.
As the end of our first (and only) organised tour draws to an end we spend the next few days visiting various parts of the city, in particular La Boca where all the brightly painted houses can be found around a street named Caminito. Unfortunately this area has a reputation for being quite dodgy so we don´t bring the camera for fear of having it stolen (and hence, no photos - sorry!). There are a variety of very touristy souvenir shops and one or two cafés and there are also tango "dancers" everywhere you turn, with whom you can have your photo taken - again, no camera meant we had to decline these offers!
We try out lunch in one of the most famous cafés in the city, Tortoni´s. Not sure exactly why it´s famous, but the interior is beautiful, with lots of frescos and stained glass on the ceiling, Tiffany Lamps
and a decor that comes from the 1920´s and waiters dressed in suits with black bow-ties.
We also try out a couple of Tango shows - one held at Tortoni´s, which gives us our first taste of Tango music and dancing, then another at a more up-market joint ,where the locals mix with the tourists, you sit right by the stage and are served a 3 course meal (unfortunately the food wasn´t so good, but the show was great).
Sunday, 18th March, Av´s birthday.
We start the day visiting Evita´s grave in the huge Recoletta cemetary - it´s like a little city made up of 1,000´s of mausoleums belonging to various wealthy families in Buenos Aires, some of which are extremely ornate and impressive. The afternoon is then spent at the zoo, where they have successfully bred the Albino Sumatran Tiger and we spend ages watching the 3 cubs playing rough and tumble - they´re so CUTE!
The rest of our time is spent wandering around the many streets, browsing the shops, avoiding the leather goods sellers and trying to find the legendary Argentinian steak.
Having planned the next leg of our adventure we will
Plaza de Mayo
and Casa Rosa, where Evita made her famous speech from the balconyleave Buenos Aires on Wednesday, 21st March, and start making our way down the south coast and further into Argentina...
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James
non-member comment
Dear Judith Chalmers
ITV want to know how much you charge for presenting!