Don't cry for me Argentina...

  Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District, Argentina
Saturday, May 31, 2008

Mike & Rachel doing a tango in La Boca

Wednesday May 28th
Alison: We arrived in Buenos Aires at about 4.00pm and eventually arrived at our very nice apartment in the area of Recoleta, a nice buzzing place, but not too noisy at night. We overlook the huge Recoleta Mausoleum where Eva Peron, amongst many others, is buried. After unpacking and relaxing for a bit, we headed out for dinner at a very nice Argentinean restaurant and then headed home for an early night.

Thursday, 29 May
Alison: Next day, leaving Michael back at the room, the kids and I took 4 loads of laundry to a nearby Lavanderia and got breakfast at a coffee shop a few blocks away where the Ayres Apartments have an arrangement to provide breakfast. It was absolutely freezing out. I hadn't realised Buenos Aires would be so cold, but it's lucky we had all our winter woollies with us from Canada. The contrast between it and balmy Rio was quite striking!

La Boca

Our plan was to do a bit of a tour of the city so after lunch in a restaurant across the street which was incredibly cheap, we went on a tour bus which took us round the various city sights, such as La Boca, where Tango was born in this working class suburb full of Italian and other European immigrants to Argentina mixing with the locals. The traditional houses here are made of corrugated iron, all painted different colours, apparently because they would use whatever paint was left over from painting the ships' hulls in the docks.

Rachel blowing a ball on the bus

The kids got a bit restless on the tour, especially Tom who never was one for sitting still on a bus and listening to a tour guide (wonder where he gets that from?!) but they cheered up when we bought them an icecream. Of course everyone thought we were crazy - it was about 10 degrees if you were lucky - but it cheered them up and it came with a little pipe and polystyrene ball that you could blow upwards, which passed the time on the bus well.

Beside Eva Peron's mausoleum

The other major stop was at the Recoleta Mausoleum which we scooted around and finally found Eva Peron's tomb, not nearly impressive as some of the others there. Then we headed back to the apartment and had a nice meal at another nearby restaurant before turning in.

Busking tango dancers on Florida mall

Friday, 30 May
Alison: We had to change hotels as our apartment was booked out for Friday night, but we found a really nice hotel just around the corner (albeit quite a bit more expensive) so after a relaxed morning of packing etc, we wheeled our bags to the Loi Suites and checked in there. Then we caught a taxi into the city centre of the Av. 9 de Julio and the Teatro Colon. This was meant to be a beautiful building to view, but it was being restored and was covered in scaffolding!

View towards Obelisk on Av 9 de Julio

Never mind, we crossed the huge Avenue (at 140 m wide often reputed to be the largest in the world, well maybe South America, well maybe Argentina - but it's certainly wide!) and wandered down to the Calle Florida, a lovely pedestrian street full of vendors selling leather goods and others. There we saw some busking tango dancers, Rachel contemplated buying a leather purse but finally decided against it and I got my shoes shined and polished - I felt so decadent but they needed it! 

Tom along the quay in Puerto Madero

From there we walked down to the Puente de Mujur, a lovely restored docks area a bit like Darling Harbour in Sydney, lined by yummy restaurants. We had a beautiful meal at a very upmarket Italian restaurant called Bice overlooking the quay in bright sunshine, where I drank the nicest wine on this trip - a yummy chardonnay. Their pasta and risotto was out of this world.

Enjoying a lovely lunch at Bice Restaurant

Feeling mellow and replete, we wandered back up to the Plaza de Mayo and the Pink Palace which faces onto it. Mike and Rachel showed off their pink clothes in front of it. Apparently this traditional colour was from mixing blood and tallow with white paint originally to give it a waterproof coating, but I think they just use normal paint now!

Pink Palace

  Then we walked up the Av de Mayo until we once more reached Av. 9 de Julio and decided to catch a taxi to the Plaza Naciones Unidas, going past the Congreso de la Nacion on the way. This was where we had seen the giant sculpture of a flower, the Floralis Generica, on the tour the previous day and we wanted to get a closer look.

It closes at sunset, but we didn't wait

Up close the sculpture really was striking, glinting in the late afternoon sunshine. The winter weather was sunny but freezing, and after chatting to a nice American family whose boys played soccer with Tom, we headed back to the hotel.

Beautiful tango dancers

That night we were off to Senor Tango, the tango show which we had eagerly awaited, although I was concerned about how late it was going to go. The Argentineans don't generally eat until about 8 or 8.30, so we had been turning up early to restaurants at 7.30 just as they were opening their doors and trying to get the kids to bed by about 9.00. The bus to pick us up to take us to the show came at 8.30, then it was at least half an hour bus ride to the huge venue, then we finally got settled in tables to eat our set menu at 9.30, by which time Tom was exhausted. He especially needs his sleep and the evening had the potential for a Tom meltdown! The show finally started at about 5 to 10. We were on the top level looking down on the stage and unfortunately next to the massive speakers which boomed out the songs, so when the show actually started Tom went hysterical from the pain of the music booming in his ears. I finally settled him back on the banquettes where we had sat to eat the meal, with Michael's jacket around his ears to dampen the sound and after a while he fell asleep and I could enjoy the show. Needless to say, Rachel stayed bright eyed and bushy tailed throughout, loving every minute of it.

and more tangoing...

The whole show was quite over the top and very well done, with brilliant dancers and music telling the story of the evolution of the tango. Then came on an apparently highly renowned male singer, who wooed the crowd with his rendition of various smooth songs and repartee with the audience. He was assisted by two attractive twin singers who also interacted engagingly with the crowd below us. The couple next to us absolutely loved him and really got into it, as did Michael, although Rachel just wanted the dancers to come back on. He quite reminded me of Julio Iglesias, or a single older member of Il Divo, but you felt he was absolutely genuine in his love of the songs which he sang with such passion, unlike the manufactured smoothness of Il Divo. The whole thing finally finished with the dancers and singers doing a huge finale which effectively woke up Tom. Luckily, when I felt the sub-woofer kick in I turned to Tom, saw him wake and raced over to comfort him so that we didn't get too hysterical. By that time it was 1 in the morning and we still had to get the bus home, so it ended up being a very late night!

Rachel & Alison at Senor Tango

Rachel: We went to a Tango show that started at 9pm and went till 1am! It was a dinner show and when it started it was amazing. The tango looks like a really hard dance, especially because of the amazing fast footwork. They all had beautiful costumes and in the end there was a huge gap in the ceiling which the Argentine flag fell down from, with lots of sparkles too. Everyone sang their national anthem and they all had their hands on their hearts. The stage was a circle that moved round and round so everyone could see them.

Leaving port

Saturday, 31 May
Alison: After a good sleep in we decided to spend our final day on the Tigre Delta north-west of B.A. We caught a taxi to the Tourist Train that takes you to the Delta, and on arrival wandered through the markets down to one of the piers where we booked a river cruise and had a quick meal in the sunshine across the road. The cruise went for an hour and a half and was very relaxing, with Mike thriving on sitting on the top deck and soaking up the sun. I enjoyed it too, but it was still pretty chilly and the kids got a bit restless and did some drawing downstairs in the cabin whilst I wandered between them, taking photos and enjoying the peace and quiet. Apparently this delta is very rare as it does not go directly into the sea, but ends in a river, a result of geological changes during the last ice age.

Heading along the canal

Anyway, we had a lovely time, and then caught the train and taxi back to Recoleta before taking the kids to the movies. There was a huge movie theatre complex across from our hotel and we noticed that they had the latest Indiana Jones in English with Spanish subtitles which was perfect for us. We all loved the movie, which was ridiculously over the top, and even used some of the locations we had travelled through or were about to, such as Iguazu Falls and bits of Peru. I just had to keep assuring the kids that the archaeology, history and actual events were totally dodgy or impossible! Anyway, it was a great evening and then we had a quick meal before going back to pack and get to bed as we had to catch a taxi to the International Airport at 6.30 the next morning.

Mike: Having just been to the wonderful city of Rio I thought some sort of letdown was inevitable, but in fact Buenos Aires is a wonderful city in its own right. Entirely different in its look and feel, much more Parisian/European, replete with parks, monuments and lovely architecture, B A is a vibrant, bustling, charming city that we greatly enjoyed. 

The band played on

The Tango Show, though inevitably somewhat commercial, turned out to be really enjoyable for me, particularly because I was sitting next to an older Argentinean couple whose passion personified both the country and the dance. Singing along at the top of their voices, waving their arms and beating their hearts, I relished the opportunity to join with them in this enjoyment of the music and the experience, with a highlight being singing 'Don't cry for me Argentina' with us all holding hands high in the air, full of joy. This was particularly fitting as I had enjoyed bellowing out the self same song by Eva Peron's tomb the previous day in the cemetery much to the amusement of passers-by!

Mike reclining in the sunshine

Our tour of Le Tigre Delta was also a highlight for me with the boat ride along the canal, soooo pleasant and relaxing, basking in beautiful sunshine on the top deck, whilst taking in the lovely surrounds, lovely houses dotted along the river and just in general a gorgeous environment.
We discovered that it's not only the Brazilians who love their red meat and enjoyed more of the same, although with some distinct regional differences as well. We also discovered some superb local wines including notably a Mendoza Sauvignon Blanc and St Felicien Chardonnay, all at remarkable prices given the quality. (Note to self: go hunting for South American wines on return home!)