Buenos Aires, Argentina

Glaciers this past took me too long to get published. I was just enjoying other activities. We were in Buenos Aires from January 24-28.

Since our flight was at 1pm we were able to have a slower morning. We had breakfast together and then got all packed up. It was nice that all six of us were on the same flight. We got to Buenos Aires at around 4:30. This is where we parted ways with Mike and Jen-they were heading back to Oklahoma. However Greg and Christian were staying one more day with us. After getting checked in to our hotel we had a little time to explore before our evening activity. We started by walking to a place close by and getting a good view of Torre Monumental. It was this cool clock tower.

Then we took an uber to visit another part of town where we could visit La Casa Rosada - The Pink House. It’s their version of our White House. It’s where their president resides. The buildings and plaza around it are pretty impressive-especially this cathedral. Sadly it was closed so we had to visit it another day.

Our activity for the evening was a dinner tango show at El Querandí. It was incredible!

Not only was dinner extremely delicious, the tango show was phenomenal. The show took you through the history of the dance in Argentina. What a crazy difficult dance! They also had a live band with an amazing piano player, a bass, a violinist, and, of course, an accordion player. The two singers were also very talented.

It meant for a late night as dinner didn’t even start until 8:30, but it was very worth it.

On Saturday morning I got to have a slower morning. Matt went for a run and Greg and Christian got massages. Once they were all back and we got Greg and Christian’s luggage in our room we headed off to the Recoleta Cemetery. It was another beautiful mausoleum style cemetery with ornate structures.

This is where Eva Peron is buried. The person “Evita” the musical is written about. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

After the cemetery we walked over to this market that they had in the plaza. Matt bought a new belt and Greg got some fresh squeezed orange juice.

Art museum

Cool bridge we walked across

Our next stop was the Puerto Madero area. This is a riverfront area that is so pretty. Matt was excited to eat at an Italian restaurant that he had gone to with Miranda. It did not disappoint. We had some pretty amazing desserts too.

Tiramisu

Chocolate lava cake

After eating we took a bit of time walk around the waterfront. They have a very cool pedestrian bridge dedicated to women’s rights.

All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel so Greg and Christian could get ready and head out to the airport. It was a lot of fun having them around for an extra day.

So, now it’s just the two of us adventuring for the rest of this trip. I have to say the heat and humidity was wearing us out a lot sooner than we would be otherwise. Matt and I took time to be lazy in our air conditioned room. The EFE hotel that we stayed at was for sure the nicest place we had been so far. We did head out a little later to a place close to where we were staying to grab a light dinner and some drinks. Matt was excited to have a yummy gin and tonic.

Sunday started off slow again with Matt going out for exercise and me being lazy. Our real day began with our 11:30 AM reservation at Don Julio‘s. When we first started to plan this trip, I had ChatGPT suggest activities for two days while we were in Buenos Aires. One of the things chatGPT said that we should do was go to an Argentine steakhouse. It gave a few suggestions for good steakhouses and said Don Julio‘s was its first choice. So, a few weeks ago I got on and made reservations for this restaurant. Little did I know that I was booking a reservation at a Michelin star restaurant, and the steakhouse rated the number one in the world. Oh my goodness what a treat it was to be able to eat here. As we arrived, they were handing glasses of sparkling wine to everyone waiting to be seated. The restaurant opened at 1130 so they were seating everyone. Matt and I got to sit at a table outside. After we got to our table and were looking at the menu the staff brought around small empanadas for everyone. They were of course very yummy. After we ordered, they brought around an heirloom tomato for each table with salt and oil. I’m not a tomato person, but this was deliciousness.

The tomatoes showcased inside

Next up, mind you all this is before we had even ordered, they brought out This delicious bread with several different spreads to put on. Matt and I knew better than to eat all this bread we had to save room for all the rest of the deliciousness we were going to get.

The a starter we ordered provaleta (fried cheese) We had already had provaleta several times in Argentina when we were in Patagonia however, this provoleta was beyond amazing- probably one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Melty perfectly seasoned cheese-yes please!

Then the rest of the food came out. Unfortunately, we had made the novice mistake to each order a steak. What you see here on our plate is splitting one and then saving the second steak on the side to heat up when we were ready for it. We ordered three sides-grilled zucchini, heirloom tomato and onion salad, and mashed potatoes. Of course way too much food. Although it was all fantabulous! The grilled zucchini was so incredibly flavorful. Wish I could make it like that. The steak- melted in my mouth. The best I’ve ever eaten! Seriously every bite we took was an experience.

Surprisingly we ate it all except for half of a steak. When given the dessert menu I couldn’t resist ordering some of their homemade ice cream with chocolate sauce. There are no words in me to describe eating this. Pure heaven and joy.

What a meal!! So thankful it was only mid day and not late in the evening. The whole meal experience took just over two hours. I might come back to Argentina just to eat here again.

After our meal we walked around the Palermo neighborhood we were in. There were a few street markets and lots of stores. Very much had the feel of SoHo in NYC. Then it was back to relax in our air conditioned hotel room for a bit during the hottest part of the day.

At about 5pm we headed out to explore the La Boca area and Caminito street. As it turned out there was a futbol match with the local team Boca Juniors starting at 7 and the stadium was super close to where we were. It was very crowded and full of people wearing team gear. We were a bit out of place, but thankful we weren’t wearing the opposing team’s colors. This area of Buenos Aires was so colorful and vibrant! It had a completely different feel than other neighborhoods we had been in so far. The atmosphere was pregame rowdy and excited. It was fun to explore the many gift shops in the area.

After exploring the La Boca area we went back to the area by The Pink House to go to Cafe Tortoni for an evening snack (afterwards the lunch we had we didn’t need another meal). This cafe was opened in 1858. It was very beautiful inside.

I got yummy hot cocoa and carrot cake.

Our next day in Buenos Aires we had a tour of the Tigre Delta. What a fun time this was. We started off with about a two hour boat ride-one hour to the delta along the edge of Buenos Aires and then we spent about an hour floating right in the deltas.

Cool lighthouse

The river was filled with sediment so the water was very brown, but the delta was so beautiful. It was a good day to be out on the river.

It was cool watching how the waves moved the grass

I don’t really get a good photo of it, but the rivers were lined with vacation homes, each with their own dock. It would be a lovely place to vacation. It all looked very relaxing.

We got off the boat in Tigre and explored the waterfront area for a bit. Then our guide took us to an art museum so we could see the beautiful building. The museum itself was closed so we couldn’t go in, but seeing just the outside was well worth it. It was an amazing structure.

After getting back from the tour we explored the obelisco- very much like the Washington memorial.

Next up was visiting one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever been in - El Ateneo. They converted an old theater into a four floor bookstore. It was very cool. It made for a very lovely ending to our last full day in Buenos Aires.

On our last morning in Buenos Aires we took time to organize and pack all of our stuff along with a slow breakfast and enjoying time in an air conditioned room. At 11 we headed out for the last two stops we wanted to make while in this beautiful city -the cathedral and the theater.

The Metropolitan Cathedral is where Pope Francis used to officiate Mass. It is also where San Martin, one of the founders Agentina is buried. It was a beautiful cathedral.

Our last stop was a tour of Teatro Colon - one of the oldest and largest opera houses in Argentina. The architecture was mind blowing. It was so beautiful. It was just what you would think an opera house would be. It was built in the 1880’s and again pictures don’t do the lavishness and extravagance of this place justice.