“Direct” flights out of Pearson at midnight that actually stop in Brazil suck.
We’re off and if you can’t tell, it started with a really late flight. I think there was only one flight after us before whatever curfew Pearson has kicked in. Because Argentina is so big, we’re flying between our locations and since we didn’t want to deal with checking bags for so many flights (not to mention risking that they don’t make it on the plane…), we’re doing this trip with just carry-ons.
Yup. Two weeks with just a carry-on. And since we’re super unsure how the weather is going to be - there may be a heatwave coming - it was difficult to pack. There was absolutely going to be some rain so my favourite new thing in the world, my Rover Rain Cape, had to come along and so did waterproof runners. Trying to balance clothing for +30℃ with clothing for rain was super fun but in the end (and with some help from EDP), I got everything into my bag.
And then we were off! But not before I realized I forgot the charger for the camera battery. We were on the jetway when I remembered it was still in my old camera case. I got a much smaller one to save space and didn’t move the charger over. UGH. We’ll see how this goes but I’m pretty disappointed. After a long flight with a 3-hour stopover in Sao Paolo (it’s not a direct flight if there’s a stopover and you make us get off the plane with all our stuff and go through security again, Air Canada!) we were in Buenos Aires and en route to our hotel. Along the way, we saw so many families enjoying the green space of the city, having picnics and playing, giving us a great first impression of the city.
With such a late arrival, after we settled into the hotel, we headed out for dinner at a nearby parrilla where we started with a couple of empanadas (delicious) and EDP took on the job of ordering from the family-style menu. The steak (strip loin) was delicious. The mashed potatoes were excellent. The grilled cheese was literally provolone cheese on the grill with ham & peppers and was delicious. The wine was great. The flan was tasty. Overall, the bar was set fairly high for meals for the next two weeks. Our waiter was kind enough to remind us their hours so we could come back later but we’ve got a lot of places to try so while this was great, I’m not sure we’ll have time to come back! We ended our day with a stroll through the plaza across from our hotel - Plaza San Martin, enjoying how Torre Monumental was lit up and taking a peak around some of the side streets.
So one real downside to arriving late on Sunday is that basically everything is closed on Mondays. Our first full day was a bit of a mishmash of whatever we could fit in that was open. We started off with a visit to Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosada, passing the famous Obelisk as we walked down. To me, the Obelisk isn’t anything exciting but it has come in handy to help place us in the city as we’ve continued to wander around. The rain started as we walked through the city down to the Plaza and it was a bit drizzly when we got there but it made for some dramatic backdrops to the Plaza. Casa Rosada sits at the end of the plaza and while it’s currently a main government building for Argentina, it’s also where the Eva Perón balcony is!
After spending some time wandering around the Plaza, we started making our way towards Teatro Colón for our tour. We ended up on a main shopping street where the Cambios were all trying to get us to exchange our cash. I think Argentina is the place where money has been the most perplexing - inflation has been out of control and so American cash is highly valued to maintain some stability for the local folks. But pesos are still the official currency. So long story short - you bring hard, cold American cash and exchange it on the black market at Cambios, where you get a more favourable rate than at banks. Exchanging money on the black market sounds super risky but it’s pretty well established and there are really reputable places. We changed money at a location that looked absolutely no different than the currency exchange up the road from us. There was nothing sketchy or questionable about it - you just get a better rate than at the banks! There is one little spot in the city where all the Cambios have people trying to convince you to pick them over the others. That was an interesting thing to see with them all clustered but EDP had done his research already and knew exactly where he wanted to go so we just passed on by.
While we we wandering, the rain started in earnest so we didn’t linger as much as we might have if the weather was better. We tried to find a charger for my camera with absolutely no luck so I’ve given up on that and am relying on my phone, saving the fancy camera for some of our other adventures. With the rain getting pretty heavy, we headed towards Teatro Colón to dry out a little before our tour. Sadly, we haven’t been able to get tickets to anything in the theatre, which is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world and did our tour ever prove that! It was such a beautiful and fascinating tour. So many interesting facts were shared with us so I’m picking my favourites - but know there was so much more we learned!
The theatre took 18 years and 3 architects to build. Two of them died, both at 44 years of age.
All of the materials came from Italy, with the exception of the marble for some lion statues, which came from Portugal and the stained glass, which came from France.
There are busts of composers over the doorways in the hall between the main lobby and the theatre. The first performance in the theatre was a Verdi opera so he is considered the father of the theatre.
The auditorium has some of the best acoustics in the world due to its shape & materials, allow the sound to get through the whole theatre without echo.
There’s a chandelier in the auditorium that weights 1500kg. Once a year, they lower it to change the lightbulbs and clean it.
Lunch ended up being at another parrilla that EDP was super excited to try. This one doesn’t take reservations so we weren’t sure if it would work out for us. Happily, it did and we had the most delicious chicken sandwiches And more flan. The flan was better than last night’s so I may now be on a quest to try flan everywhere we go. After lunch, we were off to one of my most anticipated stops in Buenos Aires - El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a former theatre converted into a bookstore. It was like dying and going to heaven. I found a gorgeous copy of Pride & Prejudice in Spanish that is coming home with me so it was a very successful visit. After the bookstore, we headed towards La Recoleta Cemetery, a national cemetery where many important people from Argentine history are interred. It was so interesting - we’ve never done cemeteries before so this was a completely new experience. It was like a little city with all the crypts lining tile paths. The only name I recognized was Eva Perón but there are tonnes of presidents and high-ranking military officers there. The rain made it a somber & moody experience.
We ended our day with dinner and a tango show - though not at the same place. A tango show is one of the must-see events for tourists in the city but they can be quite large so I’m just not confident the food is going to be anything other than standard banquet fare - and that’s not what we were in for. So we ended up having a light dinner of cheese & meats just beside the hotel before heading off to the El Querndí tango show. Our tickets came with wine & dessert. As expected, it was fine but nothing special so I’m glad we didn’t spend a couple hundred dollars on dinner. I was highly entertained by the show, though EDP thought it was a little bit lacking. I don’t think I feel the need to see other tango shows but it was an experience!
Wandering the streets of this city has been so enjoyable, even in the rain. You can really feel the French, Italian and Spanish influence on the architecture. It’s a beautiful city and the type that you can spend hours exploring. We’re looking forward to an amazing food tour tomorrow, followed by a day of gardens & museums!