| s/y Nine of Cups Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| We visited Buenos Aires several times and enjoyed it each time. We opted not to take the boat although many cruisers did. The city is exciting, vibrant and comes alive when most cruisers have long been asleep. The city was founded as a permanent settlement in 1580 and named by Buenos Aires (Good Air) by Pedro de Mendoza . With a metro population of over 3 million, the Portenos (por-tayn-yos...people of the port), as the inhabitants of Buenos Aires are called are friendly, cosmopolitan and proud of their city. |
| Buenos Aires is divided into several "barrios" (neighborhoods) and we stayed in the Congreso area each time. It's central and easy to catch subways or walk to other parts of the city. Named for the Congress building, shown to the left and right, this is where the Argentinian Congress meets. We walked the area on a bright, beautiful day and got some great photos. |
| The entrance to Recoleta, the upscale cemetery in the middle of town, expresses the need to be as grand after death as in life. |
| The mausoleums are huge and ornate, usually housing entire families. There are avenues upon avenues of crypts, each distinctive. |
| One of the most well-known inhabitants was Evita Peron. The crypt was nothing spectacular, but millions of people seek out her resting place and there are always flowers adorning the gate. |
| Instead of a White House as in the USA, the Argentines have a Pink House known as Casa Rosa which is the home and office of the President of Argentina. |
| The avenues are wide and spacious, but the traffic is horrendous. |
| The subway system is terrific and cheap and we used it extensively to get around the city. |
| We couldn't miss checking out the downtown yacht club with the city skyline as a backdrop. |
| A main icon for the city, the Obelisco, is a modern structure placed in Plaza de Republica where allegedly the Argentine flag first flew in Buenos Aires. |
| The Cabildo built in the 1600s was the colonial City Hall is located in the scenic Plaza de Mayo opposite Casa Rosa. |
| The flag man was one of many vendors lining the sidewalks around the plazas. |
| There are lots of plazas and open spaces in the city. Above a colorful carousel provided entertainment for young and old. |
| Brennan & Hannah joined us for our first trip to BsAs. Above, they wandered through the antique shops of San Telmo. |
| We visited several museums including the History Museum. |
| San Telmo was a great part of town with antique shops, lots of street performers and quaint restaurants. |
| We got a charge out of the fellow above walking along with a tatooed mannequin (in two pieces) which he was setting up to advertise his tatoo shop nearby. |
| On Saturdays, vendors lined the plazas selling everything from old bottles (above) and mate cups (below) to tango gear and gaucho wear. |
| Though we went to a "tango show", it was really touristy. We had more fun in LaBoca and when David donned a fedora, he looked great on the dance floor. |
| Our second visit to BsAs, we met up with Katie and Jim from "Asylum". Our time with the "inmates" was fun. Above, Katie & David pick out some sweet to have with our coffee at a local cafe. |
| LaBoca is colorful and eclectic with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants and tango demonstrations. Supposedly the workers who lived here got odd lots of paint from the boats they worked on and painted their houses with whatever they could find. The varied and colorful facades remain today. |
| The Teatro Colon, the world renowned opera house of Buenos Aires, was under exterior renovation when we visited so no good photos, but I nicked the one above from the internet. Hannah arranged a great backstage tour when we visited the first time then we saw "Swan Lake" with Katie & Jim on our second visit. |
| Feeding pigeons in the park...some things are universal! |
| Ah, "The Kiss" caught our attention as soon as we walked into the Musuem of Fine Arts. The museum's collection of sculpture and paintings was phenomenal. |
| We traveled by train to Tigre about 45 minutes away to the Rio Parana delta. We had the chance to meet with our friend Noel Marshall while we were there while he was preparing his boat for his Anarctica cruise. The port shown above is beautiful and picturesque. We caught a small ferry which took us along the muddy brown delta canals and deposited us at a neat restaurant for lunch. |
| Without a doubt, Buenos Aires is probably one of the most exciting cities in the world, offering so much to do and see, it's hard to take it all in. This is a city we could explore over and over again. Lucky for us, we had more than one opportunity to visit. If you haven't "visited" the rest of Argentina with us, click here. |
