February 6-8, 2017 Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2017 Cruise to South America & Cape Horn

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. 

  Taking a break after the bus tour.

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