In spite of the government shutdown, we made it out on our flight and landed in Buenos Aires early. We exchanged some money at the airport. Really the rate was decent and we figured we’d like to have pesos before getting into the city. Got dropped off at the apartment to drop our bags and we were told that we could check in a few hours early. That was fantastic as we really wanted a nap after being on the plane from Houston for 10 hours.
Got our nap and were ready to venture out for groceries and a transit card. It was easy to buy a SUBE (transit card) at one of the local tobacco shops.
I found a gluten free cafe within walking distance. So, we just made our way there to pick up stuff for dinner that night. Of course I had to get a dessert too.
The next day, we didn’t have anything scheduled until later that evening. So, we headed out to the Palacio Barolo and thought we’d take a tour of the building. It was designed by an Italian Architect and he was inspired by “The Divine Comedy” poem. Well got there just a little late for the first tour and the next one wasn’t for another 4 hours. So, we found a nearby stop for the hop on/hop off bus. The weather wasn’t the best as it was raining so the bus was a good option to get an overview of the city.
We hopped off at the La Boca neighborhood stop. It is the birthplace of tango and home to the Boca Juniors soccer team. Blue and gold can be found everywhere. We ended up having lunch at one of the more touristy places complete with tango dancers and a singer. Lunch was good and it was nice to be out of the rain.
Got the bus back and got off near the Recoleta Cemetery. This is the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried along with other well-known Argentinians.
We walked back to our place as we needed to get ready for dinner that night at Betty and Marcelo’s. This family has created an Argentinian Asado experience for travelers. It was really nice and the BBQ was amazing. They usually take a maximum of 16 people for each dinner. We highly recommend checking them out if you’re in Buenos Aires. You’ll have some great food from Marcelo and learn a lot about Argentina and their culture from Betty.
The next morning we headed out early to catch the ferry to Uruguay. We were spending the day in Colonia del Sacramento. The ferry takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. We took the Colonia Express ferry. The immigration process was super easy. they check you out of Argentina and then head straight to another cubicle that has the Uruguay agent who stamps you in.
Colonia has a pretty historic area that’s nice for a day trip. We didn’t make any plans here either as we just wanted to enjoy walking around and also enjoy the warm spring day. I wasn’t able to climb the lighthouse as they only accepted the Uruguay peso. Everywhere else we were able to use a credit card and so decided not to change any money.
For our last full day in Buenos Aires I had a arranged a gaucho (cowboy) experience tour. I had picked a small group tour that included lunch on a ranch. They picked us up right in front of our apartment building and drove us to the group meeting spot. Oriana was our guide. She was a lot of fun and gave us a great tour.
We were shown the proper way to drink Mate. It’s a drink that’s very popular in South America. Basically it’s a variety of herbs that are put in a cup and hot water is added. You drink through a filtered metal straw. So, kind of similar to tea, but Mate is quite bitter. I think I might be developing a taste for it.
We arrived at the ranch and were greeted with appetizers and drinks. We checked out the meat on the grill and got ready for our horse ride. It was a lot of fun watching the few people who had never been on a horse before. Then there was lunch and after, a few dances. Maybe we should have done the dancing before the multiple bottles of wine?
