We arrived safely at Buenos Aires Aeroparque domestic airport yesterday morning after an hour delay because 'the toilet was broken' on the aeroplane. It was funny watching the German tour group hop up and down about the situation (literally!). We killed ourselves laughing at one point. There had grown a huge queue for the one working toilet on the plane, and the pilot suddenly turned on the seatbelts light, and all the very anxious looking German tourists were ushered back to their seats. 30 seconds later, he turned the seatbelt sign off! You had to be there to enjoy it as much as we did ha ha! I think as newly initiated 'backpackers' it is a bit fun to see the 5* tour groups suffer sometimes!
All the same, we got to BA fine and took a 45 minute bus trip into town. The people really are lovely here, so helpful and pleasant. When we got on the bus, we didn't realise we could only pay with coins (we only had notes), so a kind girl simply paid our bus fare, and then wouldn't accept any offer we could make. And then, on the same bus, Ash chatted (in pigeon Spanish!) with an older chap and he helped us work out where our hostel was.
Our hostel really is great. It's more like an apartment! We have a huge air-conditioned room, a big patio area, large kitchen and it's in a 17th Century building in the city centre. Not bad for 8 quid a night.
Buenos Aires itself is a pretty European-feeling city, but is quite polluted, made worse in the heat. We explored a bit yesterday, and saw the main parliament building (and the balcony from which Eva Peron addressed her nation), the restored docklands, and walked down Av. Florida, the main pedestrianised shopping street, and watched a tango street show along the way.
Today we took a bus down to Recoleta, a pretty and wealthy district in BA, and visited the famous cemetery where, amongst many important Argentinian presidents, politicians, poets and scholars, Eva Peron is buried. The cemetery was huge in size and was filled with lines and lines of grand mausoleums, so much so that we both said it looked a bit like a 'city for the dead'. There were cats everywhere, which Ash said are the keepers of the dead... creepy! Eva Peron's mausoleum was tucked away, and was a small and understated building.
After our visit, we toured around the local handicraft market, had a fantastic fresh juice, and we
found Bi a nice silver 'traveller's' engagement ring, so she has something to wear! We were laughing because even though it cost 1/1000th of the cost of her 'real' engagement ring, Bi'll probably love it just as much! We then walked to the Japanese Gardens, which happened to be perhaps the least tranquil gardens we've seen.... amok with screaming kids and the sounds of the road! So, quickly leaving, we walked a few blocks north and visited the much prettier and more serene Botanical Gardens. Caught the very old metro system back (wooden carriages!), which was quite fun, and now we're just chilling for the rest of the day. I (Ash) have a touch of traveller's tummy, brought on by a bit too many exciting foods and the heat, so am on the flat coke, bread and omelette diet for the next 2 days. Even so, I'm not expecting much sympathy being on a 13 month holiday!
All the same, we got to BA fine and took a 45 minute bus trip into town. The people really are lovely here, so helpful and pleasant. When we got on the bus, we didn't realise we could only pay with coins (we only had notes), so a kind girl simply paid our bus fare, and then wouldn't accept any offer we could make. And then, on the same bus, Ash chatted (in pigeon Spanish!) with an older chap and he helped us work out where our hostel was.
Our hostel really is great. It's more like an apartment! We have a huge air-conditioned room, a big patio area, large kitchen and it's in a 17th Century building in the city centre. Not bad for 8 quid a night.
Buenos Aires itself is a pretty European-feeling city, but is quite polluted, made worse in the heat. We explored a bit yesterday, and saw the main parliament building (and the balcony from which Eva Peron addressed her nation), the restored docklands, and walked down Av. Florida, the main pedestrianised shopping street, and watched a tango street show along the way.
Today we took a bus down to Recoleta, a pretty and wealthy district in BA, and visited the famous cemetery where, amongst many important Argentinian presidents, politicians, poets and scholars, Eva Peron is buried. The cemetery was huge in size and was filled with lines and lines of grand mausoleums, so much so that we both said it looked a bit like a 'city for the dead'. There were cats everywhere, which Ash said are the keepers of the dead... creepy! Eva Peron's mausoleum was tucked away, and was a small and understated building.After our visit, we toured around the local handicraft market, had a fantastic fresh juice, and we
found Bi a nice silver 'traveller's' engagement ring, so she has something to wear! We were laughing because even though it cost 1/1000th of the cost of her 'real' engagement ring, Bi'll probably love it just as much! We then walked to the Japanese Gardens, which happened to be perhaps the least tranquil gardens we've seen.... amok with screaming kids and the sounds of the road! So, quickly leaving, we walked a few blocks north and visited the much prettier and more serene Botanical Gardens. Caught the very old metro system back (wooden carriages!), which was quite fun, and now we're just chilling for the rest of the day. I (Ash) have a touch of traveller's tummy, brought on by a bit too many exciting foods and the heat, so am on the flat coke, bread and omelette diet for the next 2 days. Even so, I'm not expecting much sympathy being on a 13 month holiday!
1 comment:
Sorry to hear about Ash's indisposition. Thank goodness it didn't start mid-flight!!!! (On the other hand it would have been good to see the German tourists savouring the moment, if you get my drift.)
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