Author: ccoop14

So Buenos Aires is the Capital of Argentina. Want to read more? Plus a bit more I took from the net.

Buenos Aires has a temperate climate year round although it can get quite hot and humid in the main summer months of January and February and cooler and damper in the winter. The average seasonal temperatures are:

• Spring: temperatures range from  22.5°C (72.5°F) to 13.2°C (55.8°F).
• Summer: temperatures range from  29.1°C (844°F), to 19.3°C (66.7°F). Summer is the rainiest season.
• Autumn: temperatures range from 23.0°C (73.4°F), to 14.0°C (57.2°F).
• Winter: temperatures range from 16.3°C (61.3°F) to 8.1°C (46.6°F)

Sadly the hot summer has started early for us, two days in the 30 plus range already.

So I had done quite a bit of research before leaving – hmm I think I said that yesterday.. so anyway I had a BIG day planned for today. One item was to:

Marvel at the Teatro Colón

Another one of the Top things to do in Buenos Aires is this stunning, seven story masterpiece, one of Buenos Aires’ most prominent land marks. It is the City’s main performing arts venue, and is the only establishment of it’s kind in the entire country! One step into this gigantic building and you feel instantly surrounded by history and elegance, with it’s outstanding acoustics, european eclectic design, and world-class opera forum, this comes as no surprise. Backstage tours and guided walks are on offer daily, with English speaking guides offering their services on the hour, every hour. You really must see this magnificent display when visiting Buenos Aires to truly appreciate the country’s heritage and artistic background.

Ok so we skipped the tour, but here is the outside and a pic of a pic of the inside. We had a lot of ground to cover as you will see and, well, we have THE Opera House at home.

Looking at that pic, maybe we should have taken the tour… still plenty to see. On the way here we spotted this huge Obelisk.

It and the Opera House are both on Avenue 9 de Julio, an amazing road with many lanes (16 maybe) here is a glimpse of part of it.

Where I took this pic from Garrie noticed an ant trail. Yes nature alive and well in the middle of a busy city.

Pedestrians have no idea it is there.

So our next port of call was the most beautiful bookstore in the world. Rated 1 by Qantas Insiders and National Geographic. El Ateneo Grand Splendid.

There is plenty of history on the link but in essence it started as a theatre in 1919 and in 2000 was leased by the book shop and publishing group and turned into a bookshop. The boxes are in use for customers to “read before you buy” and the stage area is a cafe where we enjoyed a lovely cuppa whilst taking in the beauty.

Of course the building had scaffolding…

So then we headed to Antarctica.

Sorry the kids section…well worth a visit and I don’t think my pictures do it justice.

So the Opera House, a book store – what next? A cemetary! Recoleta Cemetary is a must do in BA. Take a peek.

There are many famous names buried here as you’ll see if you click on the wiki link above, however the one everyone wants to see is that of Eva Perón – Evita!

So we followed a couple of tour groups thinking they would take us there – nope. Wandered by ourselves – nope. Went back to the entrance where there was a list of plots – no Eva Perón. What the…. Back to wandering and then we spotted a queue.

Yes, sure enough, this was it. Down one of the narrowest passageways and in the Duerte mausoleum as that was her maiden name – doh! You’d think it might be pointed out somewhere! Anyway here are the three quick pics I took as we meandered past with the crowd.

Such a short life but so much achieved and she is till much loved. Click on this link for more info on Eva Perón. I took this image of her from a building today.

So then it was off to the Japanese Garden. Still moving further away from our hotel. It cost 150 peso per person to get in so maybe A$7.50 all up but well worth it. A little piece of paradise within the city hustle and bustle.

Plenty of koi carp, including nursery pens, though Garrie and I were concerned the water was a bit too green and lacking oxygen for these big guys.

You have to love this calendar which is obviously changed daily.

English people were here – is my take from the coins in the water.

Major origami!

All together a very beautiful oasis on a very hot day. Next? Still moving away from the hotel. Ian – our travel guru had recommended the rose garden. It was very hot and our bodies were getting just a wee bit weary, but we were so close. It was worth the extra effort. Another gorgeous space and, this time, entirely free. Definitely dedicated to the rose loving Halletts!

The most enormous fig tree. Couldn’t get it all in!

Time to turn for home. Roughly an hour and a half walk away. Gosh you so appreciate tree lined streets. Away from the trees the temperatures were sucking the life out of us. More Eva Peron on the way home.

I didn’t take many, but loads of statues, especially of men on horses.

The Four Seasons hotel is also into horses, but at this time of year they try to make them look like reindeer.

Very definitely time for a break and a beer. Lesson one – when someone asks big or medium, beware what big might mean…

So this Argentinian beer was an improvement on last night – rating a 7 on the Garrie beer scale. Being very hot and thirsty probably helped and yes he drank the lot. They had little English in the bar and I asked for a lemonade but we think what came back was some kind of mojito.

It was very pleasant too and for about A$10 the lot we were pretty happy.

We passed this hotel on the way home and I quipped that you’d have to have guts to stay there.

There are beautiful buildings hidden amongst the modern.

So back to our hotel for a big rest and a much needed shower. Then off for some dinner. We had seen a few cafes up from Tortino’s last night and decided to try one out.

We had hesitated outside and an Aussie couple came out and said to go for it as they had just had a pizza and salad for A$11. Why not – we thought. Our waiter was very pleasant and suggested a steak and salad to share – seemed reasonable so I said we would leave it in his hands. We told him Garrie wanted a local beer.

OK not as big as mid afternoon but it is clear that Garrie is not an IPA man. Way too bitter and aromatic and rating only a 3. (When I saw his face I had figured minus 1). I had asked for a Malbec.

So then a huge salad arrived and he also asked about French fries, ok we say. Then two steaks arrived a skirt steak – a bit tough and a rump which was melt in your mouth. Oh and also a bottle of water that would also be charged and some pizza, on the house… also bread but the olive oil was not a patch on last night. I am looking at all this food and wondering how big the bill would be. There was no way we could eat it all though much was good, but not a patch on last night. Surprisingly it came in at less than last night ( well a fraction more with a tip) so not too bad but we won’t be leaving choices to the waiter again.

I should also say we have gained some local currency. Exchange rate for Aussie dollars is terrible and Citibank withdrawals are not free here as they sold out to a local company, however our concierge suggested we change a small amount of US$ for small items so that has done the trick.

So here we are at 9.35pm having 28,132 steps under our belts, (we have once made it over 30,000 and 5 times over 25,000, so not quite a record), and we are very much ready for our bed. Ciao for now. Xx

Hola from Buenos Aires. Ok no responsibility for blog and photo quality as have now been up for over 30 hours.

So this has been a very long day. Awake at 5am after a not so great night. Thanks to the lovely Colette & Rod for delivering us safely to the airport.

Not long to wait in the wee Coffs Harbour Qantas Club and we were heading for Sydney. My first impression was “what have they done to this plane?” Outside seemed incredibly dirty. A combination of moisture and the bushfires.

We passed a lot of burning land but sadly the phone focussed on the dirty windows. This shot gives you a bit of an idea how much peril homes have been in (and yes many lost).

A quick look at the Harbour bridge and Opera House and the one hour flight was over.

Normally Garrie is the one who sets off the alarms at the airport but today was my turn and after three goes in the body scanner (will I be glowing the dark I wonder?), a pat down was ordered as the alert would not disappear. It was just a zip on the pocket.

Not long in the airport and an announcement that our flight to Santiago had been delayed… oh oh we only have a one hour 30 minute gap between flights there… Final take-off had us wondering…

I watched a Brad Pitt space movie. Ok is as good as I can give it, though I did laugh when he had to pay an exorbitant fee for the “blanket pack” on his commercial flight to the moon.

I have to say the Qantas food was delicious with a lamb shank that just melted in your mouth. Premium economy definitely gives you more room and a few extras and so nice not to be asked to pay for movies and food etc.

So before we started to descend we were presented with a paper telling us our flight had been changed. We were landing almost an hour later than scheduled. “Just head to the transit desk and they will swap over your boarding passes.” Said the overly chirpy flight attendant.

Arrive Santiago. Walk for a couple of miles. Suddenly the transiting passenger signs disappear. First we find ourselves in the line to pay the exorbitant “welcome to Chile” entrance fee. (In fairness we are told that is just for Australians because we charge them.). We aren’t staying so get out of that queue and join what is an enormous queue towards transiting. Our new flight is just an hour later than the original so clearly this isn’t going to work. We head down and find a Qantas uniform and he scoops up a group of us and finds our new boarding passes. But wait, thinks I, we were being picked up in Buenos Aires so we need to let them know we’ll be late.

First Qantas person finds a second who agrees to make the call. She tried the hotel number about six times – no answer. She tried Quark who answered from Ushuaia so couldn’t help. Eventually she tried social media and left them a message. First Qantas person returns telling her our flight is boarding. We race to the head of the, still, very long security queue, jump it entirely and go through. Then I panic as I see a LAT flight leaving at 12.50pm the gate has closed and the gate is 15 minutes away. We start to run. Brain keeps ticking. I stop. Our flight is at 1.50pm. Phew. We arrive at the gate just as it starts boarding.

My Spanish is non existent but I think “mucho loco” probably covers it. Let’s hope the luggage is with us! Sydney time 3.44am. Hmm not sure how much plane sleep we have had but we’ve been up almost 24 hours.

Not many pics. Have been running too much and flying in we were in the centre of the plane though we did glimpse the snow topped Andes. Taking off I was right over the wing and we banked away so metal was the view. Here’s one I tried. By the time we were over the Andes proper they were covered in heavy cloud.

For the plane spotters this one is a Boeing 767-300. The airline is Latam, local South American airline.

By some miracle our bags have made it. We’re we happy but we are yet to get some local currency as you cannot buy it in Australia, (mainly because it has been swinging wildly). So I head towards the bank whilst Garrie looks for our lift.

I find a long queue at the bank and try the ATM, which says it is going to charge me $630 to take out $2000. “I don’t bloody well think so.” I say to myself cancelling the transaction. Then Garrie turns up with a man in tow with our luggage. We must go, I am told, as this man is pretty cranky he has had to wait over two hours for us. The message did not get through.

So we head to the hotel and he calmed down and told us how good pizza was in BA. Who knew?! He had limited English but it was far superior to our Spanish.

So at last at the hotel after 24 hours. Our view is mixed with high buildings, gardens and some vintage buildings.

The room is very nice and has one or two surprises.

We are clearly not buying water in the hotel but thankfully that is $ peso. About 200 to A$5.

We unpack and decide to take a walk. Just a short one as it is now well after 6pm and we are getting weary but want our body clocks to understand the time and getting out into daylight is the only way.

I have done some research and we decide to head to Plaza de Mayo. Not too far from the hotel and basically the birth place of Argentina, so a good place to start. A couple of interesting buildings and statues on the way.

The Plaza is surrounded by historical buildings.

If you visit, try to visit on the hour. We were entertained by church bells from two directions that went on for some time. We walked down to the Casa Rosada, the very pink seat of Government.

Turning to retrace our steps down the palapa you can’t help but note the similarities with Paris.

I had read about The Cafe Tortini. A BA institution that has been around for 160 years. Again fairly close so off we went and my maps worked a treat.

Yes we had to queue but only for about ten minutes. This is an institution like Raffles of Singapore, or Betty’s of York, so we hoped it would be worth it.

Was it ever. The decor is fabulous.

Wow it started 100 years before I was born!

So beer in Spanish is cervezes (cerveza singular). So I asked the guy – how do you say beer? He responds “beer” – yes I should have added “in Spanish”…

So here is the cerveza of the day and it’s Patagonian!

OK we are starting a rating system. Erdinger, which is Garrie’s all time favourite is a 10 out of 10. Today’s beer was rated by Garrie as a 5. (As he said it could be the way it is stored – he can tell instantly if beer has been both hot and cold over time. It had a perfume aroma he didn’t like so much.

Having been told by Colette I should try a local Malbec, I did just that. They are not light on the servings either!

Oh and here we are waiting for the arrival of our food. Some local beef – one has to try Argentina’s beef and a pizza for our crusty driver.

The beef sandwich was delicious. The beef being likened by Garrie to home killed meat. The local olive oil just added so much to both the sandwich and the pizza. (Sorry driver we like thin and crispy bases, though they would not have been as good with the olive oil.)

Of course Tortini is particularly famous for its coffee so Garrie felt he should try that too. I opted for a hot chocolate with churros.

So Coffee ratings. Those who are long time blog followers will know that Panama booted Antwerp from the top of the list with a perfect 10. Garrie says Tortino’s coffee was equal. Wow! My chocolate was excellent. Garrie also tried the apple pie, though that was rated as so so.

So then it was time for the bill $2613.00 including tips. It does take a minute for your head to get around it but it was excellent value for not much more than A$50.

We staggered back to the hotel, so needing to walk further to lighten the load. So now here we are 10.05pm BA time, just 12 noon EDST (though we are still in Wednesday here), and it’s time, after 31 hours, to finally get back into a bed.

Yes we are off again. This time to Antarctica! (Hence the image from Switzerland – Europe 2014). Check out the Itinerary here and if you want to know more about us and our previous trips try here.
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— Oscar Wilde.