Andrew Patton - Trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina

In December, 2004 I started my second trip to South America by taking a nonstop flight on United Airlines from Washington, DC to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The flight was great as I somehow was seated in United's EconomyPlus section. In EconomyPlus while you still have an Economy Class seat, you get about 4" more legroom which makes the flight quite bearable. After passing immigration and customs, I was met by a driver who took me to my hotel in downtown Buenos Aires. (I had arranged my travels within Argentina with Argentina Discover). At the hotel, I was met by a person from the company which arranged my tour to update me on the arrangements that were made and I made an addition to my arrangements by adding a tango show for that evening.

After making all the arrangements with the tour company, I headed off to to Avenue Florida to due Christmas shopping. First thing to due was to find an ATM to get some pesos for shopping. After finding a bank and getting some money, I went to a leather shop to get a leather coat for myself. I walked around looking to buy some local things as gifts for my family and found a leather map for my father and two small filetes (Paintings done on copper plates) for my mother and sister. With shopping taken care of, I walked around for a while before heading back to my hotel to get ready for the night's tango show.

While getting ready for the Tango show, I watched some TV and could easily see that I was in Argentina and not in the US as ESPN had coverage of a polo match - the one with the horse and riders, not water polo. I had not seen a polo match before and was impressed with the horses and their riders were doing in their attempt to play the game. The tango show was quite good and included a meal. There were several option of what to have as an entree, but as Argentina is famous for its beef, I chose the steak and it was very tasty.

The next morning I took a prearranged tour of the city seeing the Plaza de Mayo, La Boca (including La Bombonera), and Palermo. I ended the tour in Recoleta, where I went to the cemetery to see Eva Peron's grave. I then took a leisurely walk to downtown BA, via the Avenida 9 de Julio - a road that is 16 lanes wide. Along the road, I passed the Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires's Opera House) and the Obelisco (Obelisk). In the evening I went out for another steak dinner at a Parrilla (Argentinian Steak House) and was not disappointed. I had a bife de lomo (tenderloin steak) with French Fries and a beer. It was one of the best meals I have ever had and it only cost me 10 USD. After the meal, I took a taxi to my hotel and slept very well.

On my third day in Buenos Aires, I took a trip out of town to an estancia (a ranch) about 90 minutes out of the city. Before leaving Buenos Aires, we stopped at the market in San Telmo. The estancia was large and had several thing for the guest to do before lunch was served. You could ride a horse, take a carriage ride, or see the homestead. I decided to see the homestead - a nice old house with original turn of the century furniture. Lunch was served in a large dinning hall and was a carnivores dream. Chicken, sausage, and steak were served with a salad and the usually vegetables as side dishes. After the meal, a horse riding demonstration was given to the guest before we headed back to the city.

For my last full day in the city, I took a hydrofoil access the Rio de la Plata to Colonia, Uruguay (See Trip to Colonia, Uruguay). After getting back from my day trip to Uruguay, i went to bed early as the next morning I would need to wake up at 4:00 AM to catch a plane for my next destination in Argentina - the Tierra del Fuego (See Trip to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). On my way to the airport the next morning for my early flight, I had more proof I was not at home - as I was stating my day, I saw people leaving the bars and nightclubs heading home ending their days.