November 2007

Buenos Aires 1-5 November

David had worked in Buenos Aires over a period of about 10 years with one or two trips to the City each year and was keen to show Cathy the places he had come to love over this time. Buenos Aires today is buzzing with a new found energy. The economic crash of 2001 has turned Buenos Aires into one of the hottest destinations on the planet for travellers in search of a good value break. Buenos Aires had come to mean a lot to David - watching the amazingly orchestrated kicks of the tango dancers feet while performing in the street, enjoying tender juicy steaks washed down with wonderful Malbec wine and wandering through the city's downtown under the grand facades of elaborate European style buildings. BA is a mix of modern infusion into old world languor mixed with Argentina's own personality.

The stimulus for the trip was David's decision to run the Buenos Marathon after getting infected with the Marathon bug from his friends in the Peru Runners Club.

Puerto Madero and the hotel
We decided to treat ourselves and stayed in the Hilton Hotel, normally beyond our purse but in BA affordable, the hotel was in the heart of the new wharf developments overlooking the old port dock basins. Its a wonderful place to stroll, boasting cobbled paths a long lime of attractive brick warehouses that have been converted into lofts, offices and restaurants. Spanning one of the docks is the distinctive Puente de la Mujer, a beautifully modern bridge that resembles a sharp fish hook or harp. Our hotel was on the east side of the docks and our room had a brilliant view overlooking the bustling city, and was convenient for many restaurants, so we enjoyed our luxurious break!

Walk around the City

Our first day was spent on a leisurely stroll through the city from the hotel into the Microcentro and Plaza de Mayo. The Microcentro is where the big-city hustle begins and is the home of the historic Plaza de Mayo and the presidential Casa Rosado. We wandered by the docks then up to the pedestrian Av Florida. This is the main artery of the area, always jammed with business people, shoppers and tourists. Buskers, beggars and street vendors thrive here as well adding colour and vitality. The beautiful Galerias Pacifico shopping arcade adds elegance to the area.

The Plaza de Mayo is always filled with people resting on benches or taking photographs of the surrounding impressive buildings. This plaza has been the scene of many civil protests including the long standing demonstrations by the relatives of those that disappeared during the dirty war of the 80's.

Taking up the whole of the east side of the Plaza de Mayo is the unmistakeable pink facade of the Casa Rosada (pink house) the Presidential Palace. It is from the balconies at the back of the building that Juan and Eva Peron addressed throngs of impassioned Argentines when they felt it necessary to demonstrate public support. Madonna also crooned from here for the movie Evita.

Recoleta Cemetery

This is BA's number one attraction, the city of the dead. We wandered among the feral cats, impressive statues and marble sarcophagi, peeking into crypts and dusty coffins. The cemetery holds the remains of the city's most elite sector of society - past presidents, military heroes, influential politicians and the just plain rich and famous. Evita's grave was found along in amongst the commoners. The saying goes that is cheaper to live extravagantly all your life than to be buried in Recoleta Cemetery.

Tango Show

Tango's popularity continues to boom. We had seen some wonderful tango dancing in a touring show in Lima so we were keen to see how this compared with a show in the city.

We went to the show at the El Viejo Almacen theatre. This long running show (since 1969) is highly regarded with exceptionally professional dancers, singers and musicians. The show consisted of various tango couples, a small orchestra as well as folkloric musicians. We enjoyed the evening but it was clear from the standard of the dancing we saw how exceptionally talented the musicians and dancers we had seen in Lima had been.

Buenos Aires Marathon

The race started at 7:30 on Sunday morning from Parque Roca, a small stadium on the way to the international airport. An early start was needed to get there is good time. It felt good to start the race and the weather was perfect - not too hot and with a slight breeze. The route entered the city and went past the Casa Rosado before diverting to La Boca. The bridge near the hotel was the point where Cathy caught David on the camera mid run. The final destination was the Park de los Ninos near the national airport. David finished the race in slightly over 4 hours with sore feet but in good spirits.
Please see the note about sponsorship on the home page

San Telmo Sunday Market

San Telmo is a lovely neighbourhood of cobbled streets colonial mansions and tango. Its a wonderful place to amble around. Sunday is the best time for this when the San Telmo antiques market is in full swing. The heart of San Telmo is Plaza Dorrego which hosts its famous and extremely popular flea market, the Feria de San Telmo. You find antique jewellery, gaucho items, artwork, vintage clothing and collectables. Tango dancers entertain the visitors and the sidewalk cafe provided a welcome break.

El Establo Restaurant

A few blocks from the Avenida Florida is a wonderful local Argentinean grill called El Establo. This restaurant is next to the hotel David stayed in many times during work trips to Buenos Aires and so became a regular haunt. It has the feel of authentic Argentina and is extremely popular with locals. One customer, a retired university professor has been going to restaurant every night for the last 30 years !

The food, atmosphere and friendly service by Jorge and the rest of the waiters makes this restaurant David's absolute favourite in the whole world.

A great evening meal at the restaurant completed a very memorable day.

La Boca

In the mid 19th Century, La Boca became the home to the Spanish and Italian immigrants. Many of them came in during the booming 1880's and ended up working in the numerous meat packing plants and warehouses here. After sprucing up the barges, the port dwellers splashed left over paint on the metal corrugated sidings of their own houses - giving La Boca the multicoloured paint scheme that is one of its main claim to fame. El Caminito is the most famous street in the area and this short alleyway offers a colourful panorama. Buskers and tango dancers were performing and we got our photographs taken behind fun cardboard cut-outs.

Puerto Madero and the hotel We decided to treat ourselves and stayed in the Hilton Hotel, normally beyond our purse but in BA affordable, the hotel was in the heart of the new wharf developments overlooking the old port dock basins. Its a wonderful place to stroll, boasting cobbled paths a long lime of attractive brick warehouses that have been converted into lofts, offices and restaurants. Spanning one of the docks is the distinctive Puente de la Mujer, a beautifully modern bridge that resembles a sharp fish hook or harp. Our hotel was on the east side of the docks and our room had a brilliant view overlooking the bustling city, and was convenient for many restaurants, so we enjoyed our luxurious break!
Walk around the City Our first day was spent on a leisurely stroll through the city from the hotel into the Microcentro and Plaza de Mayo. The Microcentro is where the big-city hustle begins and is the home of the historic Plaza de Mayo and the presidential Casa Rosado. We wandered by the docks then up to the pedestrian Av Florida. This is the main artery of the area, always jammed with business people, shoppers and tourists. Buskers, beggars and street vendors thrive here as well adding colour and vitality. The beautiful Galerias Pacifico shopping arcade adds elegance to the area. The Plaza de Mayo is always filled with people resting on benches or taking photographs of the surrounding impressive buildings. This plaza has been the scene of many civil protests including the long standing demonstrations by the relatives of those that disappeared during the dirty war of the 80's. Taking up the whole of the east side of the Plaza de Mayo is the unmistakeable pink facade of the Casa Rosada (pink house) the Presidential Palace. It is from the balconies at the back of the building that Juan and Eva Peron addressed throngs of impassioned Argentines when they felt it necessary to demonstrate public support. Madonna also crooned from here for the movie Evita.
Recoleta Cemetery This is BA's number one attraction, the city of the dead. We wandered among the feral cats, impressive statues and marble sarcophagi, peeking into crypts and dusty coffins. The cemetery holds the remains of the city's most elite sector of society - past presidents, military heroes, influential politicians and the just plain rich and famous. Evita's grave was found along in amongst the commoners. The saying goes that is cheaper to live extravagantly all your life than to be buried in Recoleta Cemetery.
Tango Show Tango's popularity continues to boom. We had seen some wonderful tango dancing in a touring show in Lima so we were keen to see how this compared with a show in the city. We went to the show at the El Viejo Almacen theatre. This long running show (since 1969) is highly regarded with exceptionally professional dancers, singers and musicians. The show consisted of various tango couples, a small orchestra as well as folkloric musicians. We enjoyed the evening but it was clear from the standard of the dancing we saw how exceptionally talented the musicians and dancers we had seen in Lima had been.
Buenos Aires Marathon The race started at 7:30 on Sunday morning from Parque Roca, a small stadium on the way to the international airport. An early start was needed to get there is good time. It felt good to start the race and the weather was perfect - not too hot and with a slight breeze. The route entered the city and went past the Casa Rosado before diverting to La Boca. The bridge near the hotel was the point where Cathy caught David on the camera mid run. The final destination was the Park de los Ninos near the national airport. David finished the race in slightly over 4 hours with sore feet but in good spirits. Please see the note about sponsorship on the home page
San Telmo Sunday Market San Telmo is a lovely neighbourhood of cobbled streets colonial mansions and tango. Its a wonderful place to amble around. Sunday is the best time for this when the San Telmo antiques market is in full swing. The heart of San Telmo is Plaza Dorrego which hosts its famous and extremely popular flea market, the Feria de San Telmo. You find antique jewellery, gaucho items, artwork, vintage clothing and collectables. Tango dancers entertain the visitors and the sidewalk cafe provided a welcome break.
El Establo Restaurant A few blocks from the Avenida Florida is a wonderful local Argentinean grill called El Establo. This restaurant is next to the hotel David stayed in many times during work trips to Buenos Aires and so became a regular haunt. It has the feel of authentic Argentina and is extremely popular with locals. One customer, a retired university professor has been going to restaurant every night for the last 30 years ! The food, atmosphere and friendly service by Jorge and the rest of the waiters makes this restaurant David's absolute favourite in the whole world. A great evening meal at the restaurant completed a very memorable day.
La Boca In the mid 19th Century, La Boca became the home to the Spanish and Italian immigrants. Many of them came in during the booming 1880's and ended up working in the numerous meat packing plants and warehouses here. After sprucing up the barges, the port dwellers splashed left over paint on the metal corrugated sidings of their own houses - giving La Boca the multicoloured paint scheme that is one of its main claim to fame. El Caminito is the most famous street in the area and this short alleyway offers a colourful panorama. Buskers and tango dancers were performing and we got our photographs taken behind fun cardboard cut-outs.