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

SOUTH AMERICA – AROUND THE HORN – AGAIN? Sunday, December 7th – Pearl Harbor Day (no Japan this trip however!) Another zero dark thirty morning for yours truly and when the dulcet tones of my cell phone chimed at 2:30am, what choice did I have but to drag my butt out of bed and prepare for another long and tiring transcontinental flight…..such is life these days, huh? Limo service with my favorite driver Sir Frank was prompt at 3:30am and an hour later I was checked in and reading the morning headlines at McCarran (Las Vegas airport for you uninformed folks). As always happens in Sin City on a Sunday, the place was a zoo – tourists heading home either happy or miserable, depending on their casino winnings for the weekend. Thank god my ... read more

My original plan was to try and get from Paraguay all the way down to Uruguay and Montevideo. Due to border and bus schedule logistics however, this would prove too problematic. It was much easier to get to Buenos Aires and with a load of newly made friends waiting for me there, I thought that I might as well head there first for my planned week in the Argentinian capital before going across to Uruguay after. To get down to Buenos Aires, I boarded my first overnight bus of the trip - fourteen hours from Encarnacion. It was pretty painless in the end. I managed to type out a blog entry before getting a pretty good sleep - the semi-camas are pretty much like La-Z-Boys so I had no trouble sleeping. With only four passengers in ... read more

Trip advisor and various other sites recommended a trip to La Boca, so we decided to see what all of the fuss was about. We took a bus from Plaza Italia which took us all the way to the famous El Caminito street. La Boca is considered as the working class barrio of Buenos Aires and a lot of articles online suggest that the place is considered dangerous after 5pm. Whilst doing my research, I had read that we should remain within the tourist parts, as even in broad daylight, this place could be unsafe. So we took their advice and remained within the main tourist area. We arrived around lunchtime and there were quite a few restaurants on the two main streets. They spoke English and every single one of them approached us and invited ... read more

It's been just over a week since we arrived in Buenos Aires. We have been immersing ourselves in the culture - speaking Spanish, travelling by bus, eating street food at the Ferias, drinking Yerba Mate... However, one thing that we still haven't mastered is the art of eating late. As Brits, we have been accustomed to having our dinner between 6-8pm. In Argentina, restaurants become busy after 9pm, and are at their busiest around 10:30pm. It reminds me of our Goan culture, especially at parties when food isn't served until 11pm! The good thing is that restaurants are open anyway so we can eat any time we want. Speaking Spanish We were under the impression that since Buenos Aires is such a big city and has European influence, more people would speak English. We were wrong. ... read more

We've been here for four days and are totally in love with the city of Buenos Aires. It helps that our apartment is downtown, close to the Botanical Gardens, Subte (Metro) and other sights. There is so much to do here and we are glad that we have the time to do just that. It reminds me of Barcelona and Paris - very European in its architecture and layout. The road crossings and downtown look reminds me of New York and Toronto. Buenos Aires is one of the more expensive cities that we have been to, and though living in London can be costly, grocery shopping is generally cheaper in London than it is in Buenos Aires. Restaurants and cafés downtown can charge a table service for each person, so check the menu / window for ... read more