Here I am writing about the very first day of our adventures in Buenos Aires more than one thousand kilometres away from the city … I’ll admit that I knew I wouldn’t be posting daily updates, but I thought I could have blamed it on poor wifi instead of poor time management and my preoccupation with Instagram. So here I am after arriving at Iguazu Falls spinning a few tales about our first adventures in Argentina.
After multiple international flights, missed connections, rescheduled times and the pursuit of our lost luggage, we could finally settle into our hotel. Although this wasn’t very strenuous at all! The Alvear Palace is a picture of gold and marble grandeur nestled in the heart of Recoleta, a suburb filled with French architecture, luxury brands, wide avenues and parks. While it is often hailed as ‘the Paris of the Southern Hemisphere’, Recoleta and wider Buenos Aires carries its own distinctive Argentinean charm. So to start the day off right we were given orange juice poured into wine glasses and a pastry filled with dulce de leche (Argentina’s decadent spin on condensed milk and caramel).
We were lucky to have the first day to ourselves to explore the city’s greatest attractions. While my family takes a gung-ho approach to travel and sightseeing we thought ditching official tours for the first day helped us shake any jetlag.
As with any large city, tourists are especially advised to be vigilant of their surroundings due to the possibility of pick-pocketters. It was suggested that we remove any jewellery, watches and hide our phones or cameras if we weren’t taking a picture. Police presence in Buenos Aires was exceptionally high compared to Sydney. We quickly learned that seeing groups of four or so officers outside shops or walking down the streets every few minutes was very normal. What we did find alarming was the size of the guns and batons at their sides and the caged cladding covering the entirety of their cars! However, over the course of our stay in Buenos Aires we always felt safe and rarely ran into a shady character.
Our first stop was the Teatro Colón, a famous opera theatre in the heart of the city. The theatre is internationally renowned and over a hundred years old. There was the opportunity to join a tour inside but the external architecture is so impressive and we had such a busy day ahead that we pressed onwards.
That phrase ‘Paris of the Southern Hemisphere’ really applies to the architecture in Buenos Aires. If you cast your eyes in any direction you’re likely to spot multiple buildings made from stone or that have pillars or domes that it would be socially acceptable to think you are in Europe – at least I think so, as is the nature of Gab Gets Lost. These classic styles are integrated with more modern designs and high rise apartments that give it its unique edge.
Even Buenos Aires has staked out its own take on public transport. Forget your Opal and your Oyster cards, the light rail and No Shave November moustaches on buses, these designs are actually functional and interesting. Buenos Aires’ unique lettering style Fileteado Porteño took off at the end of the nineteenth Century and is famous for its colourful and stylised designs – think Wild West. Since then, it’s become increasingly popular with tourists and can be purchased on small signs.
But it’s also on the buses! Each bus line has their own colour and has the end destination written in Fileteado style rather than an electronic sign. While the buses are likely all older than Sydney’s, seeing these was like a step back in time and almost made me want to use public transport?
Not quite driven to jump on a bus, we continued down 9 de Julio Avenue. This street was only just surpassed as the widest in the world with nine lanes. Keep in mind that vehicles won’t stop for you at pedestrian crossings, crossing signals don’t make sounds and indicating and driving in one lane at a time is rare, then you might be able to picture the chaos that ensued when we attempted to cross the Avenue!
Halfway over these lanes you can take a break and get a photo with the Obelisk. It stands at almost seventy metres tall and commemorates the quadricentennial of the city’s foundation. It has now become a national icon as it is the site for many protests and football victory celebrations. Given its height and the width of the streets, you can get some great shots all along the 9 de Julio Avenue or climbing to the balconies of multi storey buildings like we did.
Continuing on, we visited the Pink Palace where Eva Peron famously addressed her supporters with the line “Don’t cry for me Argentina!”. She was married to the President and generously increased wages paid to the unions until her death in the 1950’s. The Palace operates as the President’s office and contains a museum of objects from past leaders. We felt that a few photos were sufficient so we hunted down some lunch.
We found a cafe in San Telmo, the oldest neighbourhood in the city. I was able to put the somewhat limited Spanish Duolingo has taught me to good use and ordered an empanada – beef, vegetables and spices wrapped in pastry. Absolutely delicious and seem to be on every menu I’ve seen so far. After lunch we cruised through the streets of San Telmo and bought our own little pot of dulce de leche. We stumbled across a small local antique and food market and found a penguino, a wine decanter shaped as a penguin. I’m hoping this will convince me to buy nice wine more regularly in Sydney!
The San Telmo streets are filled with tango dancers of all levels. We watched a few songs before they started to approach the audience for pictures. Unfortunately I have never been a great dancer so I tried to look discreet. I was a little shocked when I was asked by a dancer to get a picture with him but it turned out to be great fun regardless of whether it looks ‘touristy’.
We returned to Recoleta a little tired but excited for the tango show in store for the night. Luckily I would only be part of the audience this time! As a complete tango novice, I was really blown away by the show put on at Gala Tango. I could finally understand how one style of dance could be so duplicitous with regular changes in tempo and atmosphere within one performance. Two instrumental acts were completely foreign to me. A man who I thought was playing a ukulele was actually holding the shell of an armadillo with nine strings attached (a charango). Another man was dressed as a typical gaucho and swung his boleadoras, a set of two leather ropes with heavy stones attached to the bottom. He was able to swing them so quickly and with such great force that I thought he might accidentally let go and let them fly across the audience – I’ve posted some great videos on Instagram of the dancers, gaucho and musician. I would compare it to the sounds and rhythm of tap dancing. By 1am we’d successfully lived our first day in Buenos Aires and survived the swinging boleadoras of the tango show.
Day One allowed us to tick as many top touristy icons off the list and settle into Argentinean time. As you’ll find out, our second day was a little more structured and allowed us to escape the city for a while and explore the Tigre Islands in the Parana Delta by kayak.
Gab Gets Lost 