Argentina - December 2022

In December of 2022 the long awaited trip to Antarctica was finally about to happen.  The trip had originally been set for the prior year but had to be canceled due to Covid.   This time, Covid test permitting, it was going to go ahead.

We started off with a few days in Buenos Aires.  I flew from Sacramento to BA via Houston.  It was a long layover in Houston so I had time to leave the airport and take a Covid PCR test at a nearby clinic.  A negative test that day would be sufficient to allow me to get on the boat some three days later.

I arrived in BA on a United flight whilst Mary Ann arrived a short while later on an American flight.  That’s what happens when you have elite status in different airlines.  Of course when we made the original plans for the trip we were a couple and now we were not.  That could have been bad but fortunately we are still good friends.  I waited for her in the airport then we took a taxi into the city and our hotel, the Cassa Lepage. 

 

The Casa Rosada, Plaza de Mayo

After lunch adjacent to the hotel we took a walk around the city.  The hotel was close to the center of town and it was an easy walk to the Plaza de Mayo, the Cathedral and the Casa Rosada, the pink presidential palace.  We then walked down the major thoroughfare, Avenida Presidente Pena, to the intersection with Av. 9 Julio, where there is a large obelisk (originally built in 1936 to commemorate the 400 year anniversary of the city). 

The Obelisk

Teatro Colon

 

From there it was a short walk to the Teatro Colon, the beautiful old Opera House.  There were no English Language tours for the rest of the day so we decided to postpone the tour until later time.  

The Bibliotheque National

We continued to walk around.  There were many wonderful buildings and the streets were quite busy.  One of the more impressive ones was a building that had something to do with the Navy - its entry was very gilded and ornate.  We walked over to the Plaza Martin and then on to the Recoleta Cemetery.  By this time it was late in the day and the cemetery was closed so we postponed that until a later day.  Just beyond the cemetery, we stumbled across the Bibliotheque National. A rather brutalist building but interesting all the same.

In the evening we had a booking for something called a “Taste of Argentina” and that was out past Recoleta so we continued to walk out to the restaurant where that was taking place.

At first the event felt a bit corny as we were all given chefs hats to wear, but after some wine and food it didn’t seem to matter that we all had ridiculous hats on.  The main entertainment for the evening was ourselves making our own empanadas - little mini Cornish Pasties.  We had lots of fun with that and it was all helped down with plenty of wine, fine Argentinian wine.  The main course was, of course, steak.  It would be hard to be in Argentina and be a vegan or vegetarian.  The steaks are just wonderful.  I had mine Jugoso which, I believe, is rare or medium rare, or as it translates into English - juicy.

A fine, but very large steak

We also tried the national drink of matte.  This is basically a bunch of leaves and twigs from the matte plant infused in hot water and drunk through a metal straw.  It is a little bitter and perhaps something you had to be raised with but certainly it is something that is very popular and much loved down there.

The next morning I was up early and went for a walk around the city while Mary Ann slept.  The streets were not at all crowded.  I went to the Plaza de Mayo again and then down to the Kirchner Cultural Center and over to the old dock area. 

Old Cranes by the Docks

There are many old cranes preserved along the quayside - no longer functional but they look nice.  

La Puente de la Mujer

There is also a bridge by Mr Calatrava - La Puente de la Mujer.  It looks like all his other futuristic bridges in Redding, Dublin, Dallas, etc, etc.

The Firehouse in La Boca

After crossing the bridge back to the city center I walked further south towards the other port area, La Boca.  La Boca has wonderful colorful houses and wall sculptures and it has become quite a tourist destination.  Fortunately at that early hour it wasn’t too busy but by the number of stalls and shop keepers setting up it must be quite congested later in the day.

One of the many wall sculptures in La Boca

I remember the area from when I was there back in the 80’s.  Then it was not so busy and the colored houses did not cover such a large area as now.

A touch of color in La Boca

Back at the hotel, we had breakfast then we set off again to explore the city.  Again we visited the Plaza de Mayo where we discovered that the strange memorial of names painted on rocks is a recent memorial to those who died of Covid.  Apparently the government in Argentina did not do a great job of distributing vaccines to the people.  It appears there was preferential treatment of certain members of the population and there is a lot of bad feeling around that.

Memorials to the Covid dead in Plaza Mayo

There were also a couple of ongoing protests in the square too - one encampment that I thought might be associated with indigenous peoples rights while another led by the mothers of those that were “disappeared” in the 70’s and 80’s. 

A March in the Plaza de Mayo

While we were there another march came into the square protesting about something or other - I never did get to find out.

Recoleta Cemetery

We then made the trek out to the Recoleta Cemetery once more.  This time it was open and we went inside to marvel at the elaborate tombs and memorials.  Eva Peron’s final resting place is there.  After her death in 1952 her body was taken to Italy for a while and then to Spain before finally returning to Argentina some 20 years after her death.  Her crypt is remarkably low key for such a significant figure in Argentinian history.

Eva Peron's Crypt in Recoleta

The Kirchner Cultural Center

After the cemetery we walked back towards the center and paid a visit to the Kirchner Cultural Center.  The center is housed in the old and impressively large Post Office which has been modified to house art galleries and a concert hall.  There were some very nice pieces of art in the galleries and I really liked the bits and pieces of the original old Post Office.  It must have been quite a building in its day.  Eva Peron had an office there, the Sala Eva Peron, and it has now been reconstructed - the cascade of letters from the ceiling to the floor is quite impressive and helps you understand how admired she was in the 1940’s when her husband was President.

The mountain of mail in Eva's Office

Outside and in front of the Post Office there is a statue of Samuel Morse, the creator of Morse Code.  I am not sure why he is being honored in Buenos Aires but at least it is outside of the old Post Office, a fitting place for his statue if there is one. We crossed the Calatrava Bridge and walked back up to the Plaza Mayo for a beer in a cafe before returning to the hotel. 

In the evening we walked to a restaurant where we had tickets for a Tango show.  It was certainly interesting, and the dancers certainly put on a performance.  I of course liked the bandoneon music.  It is so distinctively Argentinian.  Dinner was also a part of the show and we again had the opportunity to have another steak and more delicious Malbec wine.  This time it was just too much meat for me and I couldn’t finish it.  What a waste of fine steak.

Puerto Madero

The Ecological Reserve Constanera Sur

The next morning, Saturday, I again got up early for a walk around the city.  This time I went over to the park by the ocean near the new modern area of the city, Puerto Madero.  This is the Ecological Reserve Constanera Sur. It is quite an expanse of green belt and if it wasn’t so hot and humid it would be a nice place to run. 

Fangio and his Mercedes

There was a statue of the motor racing champion Juan Manuel Fangio in one of the parks.  Fangio, an Argentinian, was one of the early champions of Formula 1 and dominated the first 10 years of the sport.

San Telmo Market

I then walked over to the San Telmo area to find the San Telmo Market which was supposed to be worth a look.  It wasn’t open at that time of day but it looked like it was now taken over by restaurants and bars and tourist stalls.

Back at the hotel we had a late breakfast and then got ready to leave for the airport and our flight to Ushuaia.  The airport in Ezeiza is quite a way out of town and the traffic was stop and go for much of the way.  Fortunately the domestic terminal at the airport was not busy and we moved through there quite easily and quickly.

There were a few people on the plane who were also on our Antarctic trip.  Sitting next to me was Laura, a Canadian, who was to be a Zodiac driver on our trip.  She became known as Grizzly Girl as her previous job was guiding bear tours in British Columbia.

View of Ushuaia from the Hotel

The flight to Ushuaia was uneventful and we were met at the airport and transported to our hotel, the very fine Arakur Hotel. In the evening we had a wonderful meal in the hotel where I had some of the best lamb I had ever tasted.

Trail behind Arakur Hotel

Early the next morning I went for a walk around the hotel.  The Arakur sits on top of a hill overlooking Ushuaia and there are some lovely trails around the hotel.  I followed one around to an overlook with a great view up the valley behind the hotel.  Then there was a peat bog that somehow was worthy of recognition by the trail builders.   Most of the trails were thickly wooded.

Trail behind Arakur Hotel

Trail behind Arakur Hotel

Back at the hotel we had a very fine buffet breakfast and then we checked in with the Polar LAtitudes people for our Antarctica trip.  The test that I had done in Houston on the way down came back negative and that was enough to get me cleared for access to the boat.  I was then issued with my very fine jacket which, standard issue for everyone.  It was a hooded red jacket that was waterproof but not insulated.  It was perfect for spotting you in the snow of Antarctica.  A jacket that was ours to keep but not likely to be worn again back home.  At least not by me, it was a little too brightly colored.

With our preparations complete, I took another walk around the area - this time with Mary Ann and we went out a little further than my earlier walk.

Old Boat in Ushuaia Harbor

In the early afternoon we took the shuttle bus into town.  It was the final of the World Cup in Qatar and Argentina were playing France.  There was more than a little local interest in the game.  The streets were deserted and everyone was inside somewhere watching the game.   Many shops and restaurants were closed and ships were unable to dock in the port as there were no pilots or dock workers available to bring ships into port.

Celebrating Argentina's World Cup Victory

We watched the game standing outside the Hard Rock Cafe.  It was actually a very good game - 80 minutes of domination by Argentina, followed by 2 quick goals from France to tie things up, then extra time with a goal each followed by a penalty shoot out.  What an exciting game and fortunately it ended in Argentinas favor.  The town then erupted in celebration.  The streets were full of people waving flags, honking horns and singing.  The few roads that were moving were full of flag waving supporters driving around and around.  It was quite the celebration.  I can't imagine what it would have been like if Argentina had lost.

Celebrating Argentina's World Cup Victory

Somehow we found the shuttle bus back to the hotel (it couldn’t park in the pre-arranged spot as the road was full of celebrating people) and we went back up the hill.  In the evening we had another fine meal in the hotel.

Tierra del Fuego Park

The next morning after breakfast we had signed up for a tour of the Tierra del Fuego National Park and so we all piled into a bus along with our fellow Antarctic cruisers.  We drove over to the park which was just to the west of the town.  We made several stops by various lakes and scenic locations and made a few short hikes.  The countryside was quite beautiful and the weather was pleasantly warm.  There were a few interesting birds - Upland Geese, Black Necked Swans, Blue Eyed Cormorants and some Grebes.

Tierra del Fuego Park

After the bus tour we were dropped off in the center of town and we had a few hours to kill before boarding the boat.  We grabbed a light lunch and then slipped into the bathroom to apply our Scopolamine patches to our necks.  Scopolamine is a sea sickness medication and we were hoping that it would be enough to prevent any nausea on the boat.

Los Malvinas son Argentinas

Memorial to the Belgrano

There was a bit of waiting around near the port and I walked over towards the naval base where there was a memorial to the lives lost in the Falklands War.  Argentina is still very bitter about the Falklands and there were many signs pointing out that Los Malvinas (as they call the Falklands) son Argentinas.  Finally around 4:00 pm we boarded a bus outside of the port and were then taken to our boat, the Seaventure.  The good ship Seaventure wasn’t the largest ship in port, that was the Hurtigruten boat, Fridjof Nansen, but we weren’t the smallest either.  Just the right size.

Antarctica Cruise Ships

There are more photos of Buenos Aires here and more photos of Ushuaia here.