We arrived back in Buenos Aires a day before Kevin’s parents arrived so that we would be able to meet them at the airport. Their flight was scheduled to arrive at 6:00 am but they were slightly delayed leaving Miami and ended up arriving closer to 7:00 am. We woke up bright and early at 5:45 am, left all of our stuff at the hotel that we had rented, and walked out to the main street to find a cab at around 6:15 am. We found a cab quickly and thankfully the morning commute had not started up yet. We made it to the airport just before 7:00 am and had time to get some gourmet coffee at McDonalds (the only option near the arrival gate) before finding a good vantage point to search the arrivals for our latest travel companions.
We had made signs prior to going to the airport with Kevin’s parents names on them so that we could hold them up while we looked for his parents and make them smile when they arrived after a long flight. Unfortunately, they found an exit from customs with less traffic and managed to pass through the arrivals gate undetected. Kevin’s Dad saw us, snuck up from behind, and turned the surprised around on us.
We didn’t have a set plan for our first day in Buenos Aires because we weren’t sure how Kevin’s parents were going to feel after their long travel day. When the four of us arrived at the apartment that we had rented his parents each took a shower and had some coffee while we walked to our hotel from the previous night to collect our stuff. When we returned to the apartment his parents were relatively refreshed and ready to go exploring. We decided that we would go for a walk around town in the morning and then do a walking tour that afternoon.
From the apartment we walked through some of the scenic downtown and along the waterfront, enjoying the nice weather and the chance to catch up. As we got closer to the time of the walking tour the sky began to get darker and darker. With an hour to go before the tour the thunderstorm began dumping rain with deafening cracks of thunder that you could feel in your chest. We were forced to find shelter in a cafe along the the Avenida 9 de Julio, one of the major avenues of Argentina. We bought coffees and had a light lunch while waited, hoping that the storm would break in time for us to do the walking tour. Unfortunately, every time it looked like the storm was letting up and we would get ready to leave the cafe the rain would begin again in earnest. We ended up deciding to walk back to the apartment when the rain was slightly less intense and wait out the storm there. The rains continued into the evening so we finally decided we needed to brave the storm again to go get some dinner. We found a nice restaurant a couple of blocks away and had a quiet dinner.
The next day we did a self-guided tour in the morning, exploring a bit of the Recoleta neighborhood and the cemetery located there. The cemetery was definitely one of the most impressive that we have been to. The beautifully carved tombs and statues made it feel more like we were walking in a museum than a cemetery. There were several famous people buried in the cemetery but the hodgepodge spacing of walkways and tombs meant we had to search for a while to find the burial place of people like Eva Peron.
From the cemetery we made our way across town towards the Congress building where our tour started at 3 pm. On the way to the tour we stopped to introduce Dave and Glenda to empanadas, a staple of our diet throughout our travels.
The walking tour lasted about 3 hours and had over 50 participants, one of the highest attendances of all of the walking tours we have done on our travels. We learned a great deal about the mismatched architecture styles of the city, the ongoing economic and political challenges that Argentinians face, and history of the city as well as the country.
Our third day we went in search of Samba and street markets. We started our day walking along the waterfront at Puerto Madero making our way towards the neighborhood of San Telmo. In San Telmo we were explored the antique market though we had no real interest in buying souvenirs that we would have to carry with us for an extended amount of time. We also walked by the Boca Juniors stadium and the colorful houses of the Bocas neighborhood.
The next day we toured the Opera House and planned to see the Bellas Artes and Eva Peron museums. We did not count on another torrential downpour forcing us to dive into another cafe and see if the storm would pass so that we could continue our walk. Again fate was not on our side, but this time we were much farther from our apartment and the rain more intense. We ran from the cafe to an underpass where we tried to get a cab, but the many taxis that passed were already full. We ended up making a run for a nearby bus stop where we ironically found an open cab to take us back to the apartment.
Our last day in Buenos Aires we took the train to the Tigre Delta to see another local market and explore a picturesque town. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and we were able to spend the day walking around town enjoying the sites. We were also there in the off-season which made it feel as if we had the entire town to ourselves.
Tomorrow we have to get up early and make our way to Iguazu Falls, one of the attractions that we have been the most excited about visiting, especially since we will get to share the experience with Kevin’s parents.