Buenos Aires. The Obelisco is about 10 minutes' walk from our Airbnb.com apartment. It is wintertime, we are off to an elegant dinner at one of the better restaurants. At the bottom of the page, you will see a similar photo, but when we returned to BA from Patagonia, the weather turned to Spring.
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Buenos Aires ... we went to the opera at Teatro Colon, one of the largest and best opera houses on the planet. "Der Rosenkavalier".
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Happy on the way south from Miami! Click to see a larger image.
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Miami - BA, about 9 hours. You can click on any photo to see a larger image.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: cafes and restaurants on most street corners. Empanadas everywhere. This in San Telmo.
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Our first morning in Buenos Aires. That day, we walked a lot. In 15 days in Argentina, we walked 150 kilometers.
Subway station in the center of BA. They call it "Subte", as, I suppose, "subterranea".
Plaza San Martin, about 10 minutes' walk from our apartment. It was wintertime. Click for an even larger image.
In the center of Buenos Aires: Memorial to the 649 Argentine soldiers who died in the 1982 Falkland Islands war with Britain. Argentina still calls them "Islas Malvinas". A pity, a totally unnecessary war. Click for an even larger image.
The English Tower, center of BA. Click for a larger image.
The Naval Office, downtown Buenos Aires. Winter!
Spectacular Galerias Pacifico in the center of Buenos Aires.
Casa Rosada, Argentina's president's office.
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Cafe Tortoni, Buenos Aires' best known coffee house.
Cafe Tortoni opened in 1858.
Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, with a Sunday antique market.
Tango show in the middle of the antique market, Plaza Dorrego.
La Biela, yet another famous coffee house, in Recoletta, this one dates back only to 1950, but a BA institution. Some 20 minutes from our apartment.
It is winter outside, but is nice and warm inside "La Biela", which we visited a couple of times. With coffee and a croissant, which the "porteños", as Buenos Aires residents are called, know as a "media luna", winter does not seem so bad. Click for an even larger image.
Walking around Buenos Aires near our apartment.
Getting a shave in the street, Buenos Aires.
We visited "Caminito", a neighbourhood in La Boca, in the south of Buenos Aires. Oh, and by the way, the current Pope is Argentinian!
Several restaurants in La Boca have tango dancers to entice people to lunch or dinner. Click on any photo to see a larger image.
As I said, the Pope is Argentinian!
Gina with the Pope! Click on any photo to see a larger image.
Tin houses in "Caminito".
On one walk, toward a good Spanish restaurant, we walked past Congress.
Heading out to a family event, Ashley's "Bat Mitzvah". Zoom up on the photo: I think I am going out with Jackie Kennedy ...
Gina, Susie, Ashley, the star of the evening.
Gina, Ashley and Joshua.
Ashley's "Bat Mitzvah". This is why we went to Argentina in the winter!
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Susie, the "Rabino", Ashley and her father Jonathan.
Ashley's "Bat Mitzvah". Click on any photo to see a larger image.
Ashley learnt all about the event, so she would do a great job on her "Bat Mitzvah". Congratulations! We loved the ceremony, which was extremely nice and optimistic about a girl changing to a woman. This is why we travelled to Argentina.
In La Recoletta cemetery, we visted Evita Peron. Her body was stolen from here and first buried in Milan, later in Madrid and now finally 5 meters underground here in Buenos Aires.
Visiting Evita..
The next day we went to a sumptuous brunch at the Alvear Palace Hotel.
Cheers! What a brunch!
Alvear Palace ... brunch ...
... all you can eat ... Alvear Palace Hotel.
The "Bat Mitzvah", the fancy brunch and the opera in Buenos Aires done, we went to the south of Argentina, to San Carlos de Bariloche.
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It was cold. Here, about a block from our "Hotel Tirol", in the main square, facing the lake and the mountains. Click for a larger image.
Like in Buenos Aires, it was cold outside, but warm in the restaurants and cafes. German and Swiss food. Lots of trout and lots of deer dishes.
The wine was from "Del Fin del Mundo" and it was from the northern part of Patagonia. Bariloche is in the south of Patagonia. Click for a larger image.
It was "Postales del Fin del Mundo", "Postcards from the End of the World" and it was good. We had the same wine for several days in different places.
I went skiing at "Catedral", the main Bariloche ski resort. Splendid ski conditions. Many ski runs are above the tree line. Stunning views of the Andes towards Chile. I skied the first time in 15 years. At my age, they gave me a discount, but if come back in a few years' time, I will get a free senior ticket. I loved it. I bought a "Bariloche" 2017 decal to add to my jacket's "Garibaldi's Whistler" from Canada 1977-78 and Chamonix's "Mar de Glace" 1997-98-99.
Bariloche: spectacular. I dreamt all my life about one day skiing in Bariloche. Argentina's winter coincides with our northern summer. I finally did it!
I loved it, as you can see. Click for a larger image.
At lunch, I stopped for a pizza and a beer in a nice restaurant at the very top of Catedral, with views over the mountains. On the left, an Argentine flag.
The next day, unfortunately, was bad weather and they did not let us go up to the top restaurant with Lorraine ....
... and so we drove a little south of Bariloche to "Colonia Suiza". A lot of Swiss people settled here. I can see why, the mountains are like Switzerland. They had a handicraft market and a German and a Swiss restaurant, yet another deer dish, this one the best!
"Colonia Suiza", Bariloche. Winter.
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Before leaving Bariloche, we drove for breakfast at the "Llao Llao Hotel". Spectacular, but they only do breakfast for residents, many of whom had a good breakfast so we had an early sandwich lunch in the lobby bar.. Llao Llao is part of the Alvear Palace Hotel and they use the same dishes.
We arrived back in BA from Barloche at 6 p.m.. At 9, we had a small "Antigua Curry Club Buneos Aires" dinner at Tandoor. Delicious.
We returned to a different Buenos Aires: springtime!
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Back at the Obelisco, walking home from a tango show at Cafe Tortoni. This time, spring weather. Click on any photo to see a larger image.
Buenos Aires. How many times have we walked around the Obelisco?
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The day before we left, sudden springtime, next to Teatro Colon, a live concert of Daniel Barenboim, on stage behind us and many large screens.
In front of Teatro Colon, they had an interactive music workshop for children with various parts of different operas. We joined the kids.
How to sum up Argentina? A complicated country, recovering nicely, financially from a long period of mismanagement. Argentines complain that there is not enough money. But they sit in cafes and have a good time, shops are full of shoppers. The highlight: Empanadas!
"Lilas": in Porto Madero, old docks converted into restaurants and apartments, surrounded by high-rise offices, the site of the G-20 meeting in 2018.
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How to sum up Argentina? "Spanglish" "Hasta 50% OFF".
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"Spanglish": "Tickeadora" parking meter.
How to sum up Argentina? Empanadas!
How to sum up Argentina? One last image before going to the airport. In "Crocque Madame", a local chain, Cake "Bariloche" with three different types of chocolate.
Bye, bye, Argentina. "Hasta luego!" What a trip !
