Bus Ride Again!!!! This time to Buenos Aires…Day 18-23…

This time it’s because of neccessity and not financialy….the airport in Bariloche is closed so no flights in or out…so our options were to bus 7hrs to another city, then fly to Buenos Aires or to just bus the whole way…we decided to bus the whole way…20hrs!!!  It actually wasn’t that bad…we left Bariloche bus station around 3:30pm, I was alseep by 7pm and didn’t wake up until late morning the next day!!! The ride was over in a breeze!! The trick?? I had a sleeping pill on the bus and it worked like a charm…

On the hwy leavin Bariloche...ashes blanketed the countryside!!!

The wonders of a sleeping pill.....the only way to travel by bus, the 20hr ride seemed like 6...

We finally made it Buenos Aires around noon the next day and feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep, i grabbed my bags and headed for the taxi stand….Two and half weeks in hostels can take its toll on a person (yeah, I know it sounds wimpy, but I just don’t like no hotwater, no heat and no privacy), so it was time to splurge a little  and grab a hotel room for Buenos Aires…nothing fancy, just a decent bed, hot water and maid service…ahhh the simple things we miss!!! As in every big city (Buenos Aires population approx. 15 million), there are usually several barrios (neighbourhoods) that make up the city…In Buenos Aires, some of the popular ones are Palermo, Recoleta, Puerto Madero, Caballito, Retiro and Centro. These are the ones we managed to get to but are certainly not the only ones…it would take weeks to explore them all!!

Our hotel was located in Recoleta which is a downtown residential neighborhood. It is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery and is also considered one of the more affluent neighborhoods…the cost per square meter/foot of real estate is one of the highest in the city. This barrio’s “claim to fame” is the Recoleta Cemetary…who would of thought?? a cemetary?? but believe me, it’s definitely something to see…Recoleta Cemetery is a city within a city, with streets and alleyways winding throughout the massive, ornate mausoleums.  Many famous Argentines (including Eva Peron) are buried here, and it’s fascinating to stroll around and check out the myriad of different architectural styles evident and not to mention the caskets dating back several hundreds of years…

Entrance to the famous Recoleta Cemetary......

Check out this one!!! The whole place is made up of these mausoleams...

In some of these you can even see the caskets of the "dead" people

Although these mausoleams are above ground, inside, there are stairs going down beneath the ground...these are all "family plots" and as people fom the family die, they get stacked up in the "plot"...

Next on the list was Palermo…It is located in the northeast of the city, bordering the barrios of Belgrano to the north, Almagro and Recoleta to the south and is loosley made up of two areas, Palermo Soho and Palmero Hollywood…Soho is a small area of Palermo Viejo around Plaza Serrano (officially Plazoleta Cortázar) on Serrano near Palermo’s south-western edge. It is a newly fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants, bars and street culture. The atmosphere in many cafés and restaurants strives to be “alternative”, which makes this area of the city especially popular with young, upper-middle class Argentines as well as foreign tourists. The traditional low houses have been adapted into boutiques and bars, creating a bohemian feel….kinda a little like Gastown… sorry, no pics…there really wasn’t too much to take a pic of other than a bunch of cafes and restaurants…and it started to rain, so the tour was cut a little short…

Secondly, Palmero Hollywood, like its neighbor, Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood is all about wining and dining as opposed to sightseeing and is the colloquial name for the section of Palermo Viejo (which, for the map lovers, is the half of Palermo that’s bordered by Santa Fe, Córdoba, Dorrego and Coronel Díaz) that lies between Juan B. Justo and Dorrego. There are a lot of radio and television studios in the area – hence the name – but now it’s more known for its nightlife, which includes some of the best restaurants, bar and clubs in the city…I didn’t really get to confirm the ratings on the restaurants and bars cause the restaurants were out of my budget and I’m too old for the night clubs…I guess we’ll just have to take their ratings at face value…sorry, no pics here either (see above).

So two down, a couple more to go…next day, we were off to Puerto Madero, a Yaletownesque area…minus the “port” part…as the name suggests, Puerto Madero was originally a port and oddly enough it was only a functioning port for about fifteen years after it was finished in 1897. It was built to accommodate the cargo ships of the day, but  becuase of the increasing use of larger cargo ships, the port quickly became obsolete. A new port built to accommodate the larger ships opened in 1911, and that was it for Puerto Madero. Up until 1999 the port decayed…rusting ships and empty warehouse were abound…then the “let’s turn the dock area into an apartment tower luxury hotel and international corporation office precinct”  brigade took over, and the rest is history. Gone are the rusting ships and vacant warehouses, and in their place is an upmarket and clean area that feels like it could be in any city in the world….sounds kinda like Yaletown, doesn’t it?? We spent the day there walking the port and checking out all the restaurants and shops and ended up doing an “all you can eat” parilla (Grill) restaurant for lunch…the pace was packed and all you could smell was grilling meat!! and I love my grilled meats!!! As with any “all you can eat” joint, quantity comes before quality and this place was no different…having said this, the food was still “passable” and we ate enough meat to choke a dinosaur….

An old naval ship turned museum docked at the port....

Funky pedestrian bridge crossing the ports....

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Some of the buildings in the revitalized port...

A couple of the Port's residents gettin some sun...

Just a little sample of the many plates that were had....see that black sausage thing in the middle? blood sausage, it was horrible...

Me leavin the "meat joint"...15lbs heavier!!!

Enough with Puerto Madero!! It was time for San Nicolas, or better known as El Centro which is the city center and home to most of the government buildings and the headquarters of Argentina’s largest companies…. We spent the day walking the streets and touring all the major attractions….Plaza de Mayo, Casa Rosada (Presidential House), various government buildings and churches…and El Obelisko ( a memorial monument centered on one of Buenos Aires busiest streets)…and of course, all the shopping malls located in every city center…

Casa Rosada (red house)...is the presidential palace....hmmm, what an appropriate name!!

El Obelisko....the phallic monument in the middle of the busiest street in Buenos Aires...

One of the Government buildings surrounding Plaza de Mayo....can't remember which one though...

This has got to be the biggest city street I have ever seen....10 lanes for one direction!!!!...also El Obelisko is also on this street...

Pretty much in any large city in South America is pretty much the same….a center square surrounded by government buildings and churches, lots of shopping malls and tons of people milling around…I gotta tell ya, it was starting to get a little monotonous and a little boring…but when you’re in th city, I guess you gotta go….one part of Buenos Aires that wasn’t monotonous was La Boca and Caminito!! A small barrio located in the south east La Boca ,La Boca is the oldest, most colorful, and most authentic neighborhood in Buenos
Aires. The neighborhood was settled and built by Italian immigrants that worked
in the warehouses and meatpacking plants in the area and it’s colorful nature came from the leftover paint used for the boats on the docks…The main street in La Boca, Caminito, is the most famous for its street lined cafes/restaurants and Tango dancers…Tango shows are pretty much in every restaurant and Tango lessons are abound on the streets!!! So if you are a tango fan, this is the place to be in Buenos Aires…

Caminito Street...You probably seen this shot on a few postcards....

A quick tango lesson in the streets....Dam I look good!!! The jacket and hat were borrowed....

So that Buenos Aires in a nutshell…at least my version of it……we’ve been here for quite a few days now and I’m starting to get the itch to move on now…tomorrow, back on a plane (screw the buses!!!) and off to Puerto Iguazu, home of the famous Iguazu Falls…