February
6, 2017 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Decided
to walk to the famous boulevard “Ave 9 de Julio” (July 9, Argentina
Independence Day). The street is 140 yards wide and is the widest street in the
world with 18 lanes, some express, some bus and some general traffic lanes. The
goal is supposed to be able to make it across all 18 lanes in a single signal
light. We did not try it. In the middle of the length of the boulevard is an
obelisk that looks like our Washington
Monument. We walked down
the boulevard for about two miles then turned off to visit “Casa Rosada.” Casa
Rosada is the Argentina White House where their president works but does not
live. There is a presidential palace where the president actually resides. Casa
Rosada is the working office. Called Casa Rosada, or “Pink House,” the building
is a pink color. There are a number of rumors about its why it is painted pink,
but no one seems to be able to agree on the real history. Saw the famous Evita
Balcony from which Eva Peron addressed the Argentine people. We then wondered
our way back to our hotel stopping for some good Argentina beer and to visit some
shops.
Walking on Street 9 de Julio Avenue (July 9) in honor of the Independence Day of Argentina on July 9, 1816. It is the widest street in the world. At the end of this street in photo 1 is the Obelisco erected in 1936 on the Plaza de la Republica to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city.
Here we are at the La Casa Rosada or the Pink House the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. Evita Peron made her famous speech from the balcony on the second floor left side.
Puesta en Valor Basilica San Francisco
Elaine enjoying the tango dancers every day on the square afternoon and night.
Edward on the square every afternoon with tango dancers. Edward at the restaurant in our Hotel.
February
7, 2017 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Decided
to take the “Hop-A-Bus” tour of the city that allows you to get on and off the
bus and visit various areas of the city then wait for the next bus. Buenos Aires is divided up
into 3 different routes covered by the bus and it takes more than 4 hours of
riding just to cover all the sites. Saw many historic sites and learned a lot
about the city. There is a subway line which is the oldest subway line in the
Western Hemisphere, even predating New
York City, and the line still uses the original wooden
rail cars. Saw the two soccer stadiums occupied by rival teams, one from the
older side of town and one from the newer part of town. We were told that when
they play each other, tickets are impossible to get and all the sports bars in
town with TV screens fill up. Sadly, there is a memorial to the “Disappeared,”
all the people who were arrested and simply disappeared during the last
military dictatorship. Did not remember that the last military government
lasted until 1993 which was not that long ago.
That
night we had dinner in the plaza across from our hotel. Had an excellent bottle
of Argentina
wine and terrific steaks. I think I have to admit that Argentina beef is better then Texas beef. There were tango dancers in the
plaza for entertainment. You could pay $90/each to go to a tango show. For the
price of a $5 tip, we got all the entertainment we wanted. Maybe the dancers
were not professionals, but they looked awfully good to us. The end of a fine
trip.
Walking on the river front looking for a place to eat breakfast. Restaurants were not open so we finally came up to a McDonalds! The McDonalds has a walk up ice cream window on the river front walkway and inside they have a separate walk up McCafe with all the coffee and pastries. The view across the river is all new apartment and office buildings. The Big Mac was much better than I remember from the U.S. (must be Argentina beef). The boys on the left of the center photo are school boys in their white shirts, tie, black coat, pants and black dress shoes. Also skirts for the girls. No jeans or baggy pants, t-shirts or tennis shoes etc.
Next we located the Hop On Hop Off Bus location. It was a really nice tour and ended up taking the rest of the day. Covered a lot of areas in Buenos Aires not just the central area.
First stop was Casa Rosada the President's Office
Colorful street art in the area.
BOCA is the local soccer team stadium.
This is a colorful older area with a lot of people and street vendors.
Compared to the new area with high rise apartments and office buildings.
BUQUEBUS is the ferry terminal. Torre Monumental the British clock tower, built in commemoration of the centenary of the May Revolution of 1810. Elevator will take you to the top for great views of the port.
Floralis Generica Sculpture opens and closes according to sun activity. Planetario or Planetarium.
The rival to the BOCA, Jr. team is River Plate (El Monumental)
Active Shopping and Restaurant area
Central Area
Florida Street is the famous shopping and pedestrian street.
Elaine watching Tango dancers again.
February
8, 2017 – Buenos Aires
to DFW
Checked
out of the hotel and wondered the streets again until our late night flight.
The international airport is a long way from our hotel. Made it through
security with no issues and boarded the plane only to find that a noisy two
child and his parents were in the seats in front of us. And when I say noisy, I
mean the parents did nothing to try to keep the child from screaming. About 4
hours into the 10 hour flight, the kid finally went to sleep. Needless to say,
we arrived at DFW exhausted and were happy to find our driver waiting for us.
He delivered us back to Robson Ranch where we promptly went to bed. The trip
was truly a trip of a lifetime. Saw many great scenes and had a great time in
the process.
Local market with fresh vegetables and meats. They looked soooo fresh. Serving a Chivito which also has fries on the sandwich.
Tango Shoe Store by our hotel
Edward having a Chivito type sandwich - a Complete hamburger consists of bun, hamburger patty, tomatoes, lettue ham, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, sliced boiled egg, pickles, red peppers, sliced onions
