Reunited...and It Feels So Good! First Glimpses of Buenos Aires!

Saturday, May 5, 2019

Buenos Aires

Reunited...and It Feels So Good! First Glimpses of Buenos Aires!

     Buenos Dias from Buenos Aires!

     I landed at 8.30 am and immediately managed to get WiFi at Buenos Aires airport where I accessed all my WhatsApp messages instantly (unlike lousy Heathrow) and discovered that Llew’s flight was delayed upon leaving JFK airport inn New York. He had no idea what time his flight would land at BA—it was supposed to land at 9.30 am (exactly an hour after mine). But no such luck. I kept checking the Arrivals announcement board and it was 11.45 by the time we were reunited which meant that I had to wait for about two and a half hours; but I had a seat close to the Arrivals door and I was very comfortable. 

    When Llew eventually emerged, we had a picture-perfect reunion. I could not believe that I was actually seeing him again, in the flesh (instead of on Facetime and WhatsApp video) after 10 long months—the longest ten months of our lives!) Poor Llew felt so sorry that I was kept waiting for his arrival—but, honestly, knowing what the reward would be after the long wait, it did not bother me at all! 

     We did not lose any time finding out about getting a taxi—we chose the prepaid taxi service—and after we were able to get some money using the ATM machine, we thought we were all set. However, when we were paying for our taxi, Llew realized that he had actually exchanged only a very tiny amount of money. This made him return to the ATM machine to get some more money—at which point he realized that he had left his ATM card in the machine—and lo and behold, within ten minutes, someone had found his card in the machine and had already attempted to fraudulently get some money out of his account and had succeeded! Fortunately, it was not a very large amount and when the person tried to get multiple amounts out of his account, he was shutout of the system. Llew would have to contact his bank and sort the issue out later—which he succeeded in doing. 

     We had a very pleasant taxi ride to our hotel—the Recoletta Grand in the Recolletta section of the city (a very posh, very affluent area) and a lovely welcome in the lobby as we were led to our room on the seventh floor. We loved our room—it is spacious, has a coffee and tea-making machine, a very nice bathroom and ample space. The hotel also provided us with a WiFi password and adapters for our various devices. Breakfast would be from 6.30 am but since early tomorrow morning, we are leaving for the Iguazu Falls,  we asked for a packed breakfast for tomorrow to be left at the Reception counter and they were able to provide it. 

   

Off for our First Sight-Seeing Spree:

     We did not waste much time unpacking. Straight after we checked in, we decided to make use of the rest of the day and found that the main sights in the Plaza de Mayo were about a half hour’s walking distance from our hotel. We got a map and directions from the Receptionist and decided to go out and discover the city.

But First, Lunch...Empanadas!

     We thought it would make sense to spend a while just chatting and catching up after our long absence and what better way to do that than over something to eat and drink. Deciding to have a nice dinner later, a lighter snack would work well. We passed by smallish restaurants and eventually went into a place on Avenue Santa Fe called Santa Fe 1825 where we had beef and chicken empanadas with diet Cokes. It really did hit the spot, provided us with the little bit of sustenance we needed and fueled us for the sight seeing that lay ahead.  

Our Sight-seeing of Buenos Aires Begins at Plaza de Correo: 

     The walk, after we left the restaurant, was ultra-pleasant. The very first significant building that we came upon was the Theatre Colon,a really solid building that occupies a whole block. We would have loved to have caught an opera in this space but there were no performances scheduled until our departure from the city. We could, however, have taken a guided tour for about $20 which Lonely Planet does recommend as the interior is supposedly stunning...but we decided to use our time seeing the outdoor landmarks first.
       Our first reaction to the city was very favorable. Indeed there is a wonderful Parisian solidity to the city that we absolutely adored. In every way, Buenos Aires is exactly like a European first-world city. 
We enjoyed our wonderful first impressions of the city as we arrived at the Casa Rosada (Pink House) part of the plaza. This brought us right up to the Kirschner Cultural Center which we entered. It used to be the Central Post Office of the city before Nestor Kirschner came up with the idea of converting it into an upscale cultural center that presents opera, ballet and other such spectacles today. We took a quick circuit around the grand and very impressive interior and then enjoyed the mammoth sculpture on the plaza featuring Juana Aduruy who is surrounded by a vast number of past presidents and other luminaries of the country. 

Seeing the Famed Casa Rosada Up Close and Personal:

     I became familiar with the Casa Rosada from Andrew Lloyd-Weber’s opera Evita. I was, therefore, really excited to behold it. We then walked past the Kirschner Plaza filled with sculpture including one of Samuel Morse seated on a chair to arrive at our next big stop—the Casa Rosada, This is the building from whose balcony Argentina’s most famous daughter, Eva Peron, used to address her faithful supporters and told them not to cry for her. We saw the back of the building and then the front of it facing the main Independence Plaza.

      Here I became fascinated by a huge glass sphere in sky blue and white (the colors of the Argentinian flag) which was obviously commissioned. It is  by my favorite glass artist of all time, Dale Chiuhuly. This hangs right above the main entrance of the building which is today the residence of the President of the country. Being that it was a Sunday, the place was full of local people having happy family times together. We took many pictures and I was struck repeatedly but the bas-relief sculptural detail on the building (deeply reminiscent of the type of sculptural detail that had attracted me on all the buildings of Paris). 

Exploring Independence Plaza:

    Leaving the Casa Rosada behind us (perhaps the city’s most famous landmark—so we really got our priorities right), we walked towards the obelisk that marks the date of Independence of the country from Spain—May 25, 1810. There is also a tall flagpole and other interesting bits of sculpture. On the right side of the plaza is the famous Metropolitan Cathedral (but it was closed and we could not enter it) which also has a mausoleum to Jose de San Martin, Argentina’s most famous hero who led his people to Independence in 1816. Outside the Cathedral on a wall facing the plaza is an eternal flame that keeps his memory alive.

     We crossed the plaza and arrived at the Cabildo, an 18th century Town Hall building that has a decidedly Spanish colonial flavor. There was a long line to enter this free Museum which houses some independence memorabilia, but, by this point, we decided to take a walk back to the hotel. 

At this juncture, we arrived at the Obelisco, one of the city’s main landmarks that resembles the Washington Monument to the T. It stands in a rotary which a huge BA done in greenery at its base. It is highly picturesque and there were a lot of people taking pictures. 

Chocolate and Churros at the Renowned Cafe Tortoni:

    We followed our map to get back to our hotel and were quite delighted to run into the Cafe Tortoni which is the oldest and one of the most famous coffee shops in a city that seems full of them.  Lonely Planet states that it is a must-visit venue and having come upon it so suddenly, we decided to tick that item off our To-Do List. We had a half hour wait in a shortish line outside, but when we did get inside, we were basically in one of the old-time coffee shops for which Europe is famous. We decided to order the best-known item on the menu—the hot chocolate and churros. It was tasty but the hot chocolate was really thin and nothing like the kind we’d had for the first time ever that we’d tasted churros in Madrid. We enjoyed the ambiance of the place and then it was back on the streets again as we attempted to find our hotel. 

A Confusing End to a Lovely First Day in Buenos Aires:

     At this point, we realized that we had been waking for absolutely ages and decided to ask for directions. Two policemen on the street told us that we were very far from our destination. By then, both of us were so exhausted that we simply decided to hail a cab and get back to our hotel. On the ride we realized just how far we were from our hotel and we were very pleased we actually took a cab to get there. 

    Back in the hotel, we were ready for hot showers and relaxation. Our first day in Buenos Aires had been a huge success and we were really pleased at the amount we had covered and how much we had seen. We switched the TV on, got familiar with the English Channels available (CNN and BBC). Showers done, we got our things ready for our early morning departure for the Iguazzu Falls. We kept our bags really light as we locked up our main cases ready to leave them in the hotel overnight as would be returning to it after our excursion to the waterfalls. 

    We kept the alarm for 5.45 am and also asked the hotel for a wake-up call in order to make it in time for our 8.00 am flight. And then it was time to switch off the light and feel grateful for the precious moments that have been granted us and the amount we have been able to pack into a day.

     Until tomorrow...