Tango in Buenos Aires

After two days at Iguazu Falls, we were ready for our next destination:  Buenos Aires (BA).  We drove about an hour across the border again to the BA airport.  We just had to identify ourselves walking across the border.  Our luggages were not checked.  At the airport, we checked-in to our LATAM flight.  It's good that we've been flying LATAM so far because I gave them my American Airlines frequent-flyer number and received mileage credit for it.  Being a domestic flight, everything went smoothly, including security.  Again, I was allowed to bring bottle-water with me on the 2-hour flight without any issues.

We checked into the Two Hotel on Moreno Street, next to the InterContinental Hotel.  It's a great location; about 3 blocks from Avenida de Mayo, which leads to the Plaza de Mayo, the city center.  Unfortunately, the Plaza de Mayo is under renovation so we couldn't see much of it.  In front of the Plaza de Mayo is the Catedral Metropolitan (Metropolitan Cathedral).  Around the Plaza are statues, monuments, government buildings, etc.  Avenida de Mayo is like the Fifth Avenue of BA.

Catedral Metropolitana

Statue near Plaza de Mayo

Inside the historical Cafe Tortoni

Historical Cafe Tortoni on Avenida de Mayo

On the first evening, we went to a Tango concert.  Argentina is famous for its Tango dance.  The energy that they put into the dance and the moves they made are amazing.  It costs US$100 per person, including transportation, tips, and a very nice dinner and all the alcohol you can drink.  It was a very nice evening for the group to get together.

Our group at the Tango Concert

The next day a few of us took a walk towards the Recoleta Area.  This is an upscale area, with museums, parks, and the well-known Cementerio de la Recoleta.  The cemetery contains mausoleums of some of the rich and famous people and families from Argentina.  A wealthy family buys a plot and it stays within the family for generations.  Some of the mausoleums have multiple generations buried in the same mausoleum.  Among the famous buried here is Eva Perón, former First Lady of Argentina.

It was a long walk through an old and nice neighborhood.  It reminds me of some of the cities in Europe.  On the way we passed by places of interest like the The Obelisco (Obelisk), Teatron Colon, Plaza Lavalle, etc.  Following the cemetery, we popped in at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.  We continued walking past the Japanese Garden to the Planetario Galileo Galilei.  They charged admission fees so we decided to spend anytime there.  By then we were fairly tired and ready to head back to the hotel.  It took us some time to get a taxi.

The Obelisk

A famous general buried here

One of the mausoleums

A plague commemorating Eva Peron

The next day we went to the La Boca area, a poor working-class neighborhood with colorful buildings that has turned into a tourist spot with gift shops, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a former theater turned into a bookstore

A colorful store with dancers in front

another colorful building

A colorful apartment

Another colorful apartment

It was a wonderful and short visit to BA.  There are many areas to explore but with 3 days, you just hit the well-known spots.  The food is wonderful too.  Steak is the specialty here.  We had a great dinner at the London City restaurant on Avenida de Mayo and the Desnivel Restaurant on Defensa Street.  There is a street market on Sunday on Defensa that has many local arts and crafts.