One might as well be in a European city … Buenos Aires is a beautiful city and very easy to explore.
The Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE). Not very large, but pretty crowded … Despite my prior preparations, took me a while to nail down the commute to the city.The Argentine Peso …The bus to the city … Very comfy and cheaper than the taxi. The pre-paid taxi were a RIP-OFF! Note the capitals 🙂 The ride took 45min.Museo Histórico Nacional del Cabildo y la Revolución de Mayo …. Well aware that is a handful 🙂 Basically, the History and Cultural Museum. All lit. This was during my walk from the bus stop to the hotel.Where is everyone??? It was only 9.30PM … During my walk to the hotel.The famous Dulce De Leche … Argentina = Lots of cows. Lots of cows = Lots of milk. Kind of condensed milk, used as a condiment for several local desserts and also as a spread.Bus stops are clearly marked …The $ sign is a bit misleading … ARS (Argentine Peso) is what is meant here …I like cities and towns being clean … A gentleman doing his job, early in the morning. He was working at a nifty pace and in a detailed manner …A convent … On my way to Puerto Madero area … Sun is rising slowly. It was quite nippy in the morning. I was the only idiot in a shorts, as usual 🙂An empty bus stop … It was a national holiday today and to boot, early in the morning … I guess that explains it.A dude loitering around … Would have given him company, if not for me having to sign in for the Tigre Delta Tour 😉A study in contrast … To the right, swanky new buildings. To the left, remnants of the old dock …Nice … 40-storey apartment blocks … Puerto Madero. Noticed (obviously) well-off residents jogging, walking their dogs Etc.If you notice the reflection of the 1st building … From my side it looks a normal building. The other side looks weird … Kind of like Two-Face in “The Dark Knight”Tagged and loaded … For the Tigre Delta Tour.Buenos Aires Port … Lots of goods from China, I am told.It was quite cold on the deck and remember, I was in my uniform (Shorts!) … Every 20min, ran down to heat up. They served hot coffee, which hit the right spot.Carlos, my guide (on the left) and Matt, a German tourist I met … It is interactions like this that I enjoy a lot. For whatever reason, I was the lone tour customer for Carlos today. I got lucky with a personal escorted tour. We were discussing Argentina, Economy, India, USA Etc. Carlos made a statement “Japanese and Germans have a boring life”. I went “Hmmm …”. Then we hear a voice from nearby, “Germans have a boring life?'” 🙂 It was Matt! After some sheepish grins from us, we hit it off … Later, had a round of beer as well. Matt is in South America for 2 months!!! And I thought I had a long trip … Matt, German from Stuttgart, who lives in Switzerland and works for an American company (Oracle) and has a Spanish Girlfriend, and who has lived for a while in Singapore … How is that for “Global”? Tried to capture (Phone) the Buenos Aires skyline in the distance and the waves from the boat …Tigre Delta … It has many waterways and also almost all houses had a jetty. People using Jet-Skis, Canoes, Motor-Boats …Presidential cabin … (Sarmiento) Look how they protect it 🙂 @Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the former residence of Domingo Sarmiento, the 7th President of Argentina.Another view, as we pass along the Tigre Delta …Gas Station – For the boats! 🙂At the port … Tigre Town.@Mate Museum … The local lady explained the history and usage models of Yerba Mate … Yerba Mate is hugely popular in this part of the World. Should drink it today …Monument, commemorating rowing … As I said earlier, there are many rowing clubs here.Boats, boats and more boats 🙂The nice walkways along the river …. Lots of restaurants around and people were enjoying the great weather.Naval Museum … Museo Naval de la Nación. Remnants from various wars, like FalklandsThe Hop-On Hop-Off Tourist Bus … Tigre Town.Tigre Delta and the Tigre town has a zillion Rowing Clubs. Argentina, mainly folks from this area, do well in rowing competitions.Puerto de Frutos entrance … Due to the public holiday (May 25th, May Revolution, which was a precursor to Argentina Independence), there were huge crowds …Puerto de Frutos … Food vendors, Souvenir shops … The former port has been refurbished into a local market. I did not buy anything other than some Yerba Mate items.A colorful food cart at Puerto de Frutos, Tigre Delta.Tiger City Train Station .. You can see Starbucks, here and everywhere. The town’s seal has a Tiger/Jaguar. The name actually came from the Jaguars that inhabited the area, it seems.The Metro/Subte train … Adherence to timetable was pretty okay …Inside Buenos Aires Metro … Subte. People begging for money mostly give around a card with some message and later on, they come around to collect the card and the optional alms …Retiro Station … Quite large and busy. Long distance as well as Metro trains use this station.Retiro Station … Buenos Aires. Note the Blue-White railings …Choice of sandwiches … Bought a couple for Dinner. Milanesa and Empanada, that is what I had …Another night view of Museo Histórico Nacional del Cabildo y la Revolución de Mayo … It is only 6.20PM by the way 🙂 “Night” is misleading … There were many street vendors around.Day-1 Beer … 🙂 Meats and Beer … Heaven.I needed some spice with the meats and meats are abundant here … Decided to go for Chimi Churri … Tangy and I liked it.Alfajores … Very famous here. Made with Dulce de Leche. Yummy!Yes! Sube card … With this card, Subway rides are cheaper than paying in cash. Very convenient to use. Traveled through the subway like a possessed man 🙂 Point A to B to C to D to ….The Subway Train … Subte. As you can see, pretty clean. The trains look a bit old …Inside Cathedral Metropolitana … At Plaza de Mayo.Presential Cadillac … At Casa Rosada Museum.Casa Rosada Museum … Juan Domingo Peron and Eva Peron. Eva, Peron, we all have heard of … She was very charismatic and influential.The Subte stations were all well covered with trash cans .. The stations were well maintained, though I did some trash here and there. People!!The great San Martin … The Argentine General who fought for Independence from Spain. Very imposing and well maintained. The San Martin Plaza is very nice to stroll around.Nice street light …Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento … Catholic Church. It is situated on a relatively quiet street.Inside Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento … I spent so much time taking photos that one gentleman finally kicked me out as it was getting past their mid-afternoon closing time. The interiors were so amazing ….Inside Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento … I spent so much time taking photos that one gentleman finally kicked me out as it was getting past their mid-afternoon closing time. The interiors were so amazing …. Amazing stained-glass-work @Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento … Each window was unique and colorful.Galerias Pacifico Mall … The entrance. It was quite crowded in there.Galerias Pacifico … A grand mall with all fancy brands and interesting architecture.The Subte stations had nice mosaic-work … Each station has unique mosaic-work …Sardine can feeling in the Subte Underground Subway … During peak time. Once I got the Sube card, I have been zooming to various stations, one after the other. The network is pretty good and the trains are frequent enough.Inside each Subte station, on top of the AC, there is also huge fans like this … In the back you can see the time for the next train displayed …The black and yellow taxi … If it says “Libre” (Free), it is available. There are so many cabs around, getting a ride is no problem. All are metered … It is best to avoid unmarked “taxis”.Congreso de la Nacion …. Congress Building, Buenos Aires.Empanadas …. Various fillings were available. I tried Beef and Chicken.I am sure after gorging on the food at Le Americana, I will soon look like this … But what the heck, it is not every day one gets to eat such stuff.The goodies … At Le Americana. The restaurant was bustling with customers and the meat dishes were YUM!Argentina has a decent movie industry. “Secret in their eyes” is a favorite of mine. In Malayalam, this movie was remade as “Pathu Kalpanakal” … This movie is a new Thriller.Obelisco de Buenos Aires … On July 9th Avenue. It is an Argentine monument meant to commemorate 400 years of Buenos Aires.Tango Porteno … The most popular place to watch a Tango show …Teatro Colon … Considered one of the best theaters in the World. When I reached there by 4PM, the conducted tours for the rest of the day were sold out. Need to try again tomorrow …Like in several cities, one can rent bicycles. I did see quite a few being used …. Like in USA and most of the Western World, I did not notice too much honking on the roads. There were very few motorcycles and bicycles on the roads …Beer for the day … I noticed it was more expensive than the other brands. Was nice …Alfajores … This one with chocolate and loaded with calories 🙂 As we all know, fat is yum … Plan to try as many different ones as I can.Elevated pedestrian footpaths or this?A homeless family on the street … A sad sight, becoming more common nowadays. A reminder to be grateful for what one has … 🙁Waiting in line to book the conducted tour at Teatro Colon … I was 3rd in line 🙂During my walk to La Boca neighborhood. La Boca is bad-ass. I guess everyone was sleeping after late night partying (This is around 9AM) and also it was a Sunday.I have not seen a city with more pet dogs around. Every other person on the street had a pet dog. It is amazing … But I must say the dog owners are NOT doing a good job cleaning up after their dogs … Despite facilities like this.The stadium from outside. I took the conducted tour, in Spanish! Didn’t understand a word … Was busy taking it all in and with photos.Jersey wall … Boca Juniors Museum. Blue & Yellow dominated that entire area.Boca Juniors stadium … La Boca, Buenos Aires. Their fans are very passionate and it was visible around the stadium. Other than the official Boca Juniors Museum and Gift Shop, there were countless stores, fans in Boca T-Shirts Etc.The famous Caminito street in La Boca …The colors of Caminito … It was tough to get a photo without the crowds getting in the way. @La Boca, Buenos Aires.This cute dog was a superstar for the tourists … I donated a few pesos to the owner (who had several other dogs as well, for photoshoots). I am not a huge pet person, but I found this dog real cute …Speaking of color … A colorful building on Caminito …Future Messis … Soccer game at La Boca. The street art and graffiti at La Boca is amazing. The entire neighborhood is so colorful …Artists selling their wares, @Caminito, La Boca, Buenos Aires.Caminito street, a very famous tourist area, has many artists selling their work. I bought quite a few of these paintings.The great man … Diego Maradona. When I was in school, I was a huge fan of the guy and what he did in the 1986 World Cup. What a talent he was … @La Boca, Buenos Aires.Petrol/Diesel prices … Not too different from India.
Someone has been partying yesterday night … 🙂Near a traffic signal at La Boca …An intricate tree … Near Teatre Colon.Now, why a photo of urinal??? This is the urinal near the ticket counter at Teatre Colon. Which idiot designed this layout? This photo does not do justice to how close the two urinals are. Please note that these are the ONLY two urinals. I was using the 1st one, when as my luck would have it, a guy with a huge bottom squeezed into to use the farther one. The guy was hitting and pushing me with his ample bum and I had to do my business with such a narrow angle, I should have got some Olympics medal for, ahem, my aim … 🙂The amazing ceiling … Teatre Colon.Buenos Aires is more chilly that what I anticipated … So off from my uniform (Bermudas) and into trousers …The guide explaining the facts and history of the Golden Hall … Teatre Colon.Teatre Colon … The pride of Buenos Aires. Took a long 18 years to built. First two architects died on the job!The guide for the English tour at Teatre Colon explaining away … She said that Pavarotti was so impressed with the acoustics of this famous theatre that he said “There is only one defect, the acoustics is too perfect” after performing here …Coca Cola is smart … In Argentina, for Russia 2018 World Cup based Ad, of course Argentina bottle is top! 🙂 Locals tell me that Argentina’s chances are dim …Each Buenos Aires Subway Station has unique tile murals … Like this one.I have heard of people living in the subway lines of New York and London … Wonder if there is anything like it in Buenos Aires.Messi selling chips??? Boss, are you sure calorie-loaded chips are what youngsters should load themselves with?Sunday crowds in full force … Looks like Recoleta is the “It” place …Another set of musicians … Donated some money to take pictures. These guys were also playing some upbeat music, so close to the cemetery … 😉Recoleta Cemetery … Huge cemetery where the society folks were/are buried … Rich and famous have fancy tombs. It covers a large area and will take some hours to explore, if one is detail-oriented …Eva Peron (“Evita”) tomb at Recoleta Cemetery … Initially, I had some trouble locating the tomb. But then, the security guy suggested to just “follow the crowds” … 🙂This group was playing some nice upbeat fusion music near Recoleta Cemetery … Would have liked to stay longer, but was in a hurry … Got a slight fever and cold and wanted to return fast to the hotel to rest up for the Tango show.Rush hour in Buenos Aires Subway … Gave me a feel of Tokyo trains … 🙂Hmmm … Bajaj vehicles sold here … Noticed it on the way to the Tango show. By the time the show started, it was 9PM and the show got over at midnight! Waaay past my bedtime.Two of the Tango dancers were inviting guests to do Tango poses with them and the guests got a chance to purchase the pictures if they liked it … Well, my pose was so hilarious and unflattering, I politely declined the photo purchase offer and even the staff could see why 🙂Tango show … It was a dinner and Tango show. They were giving dance lessons as well. Since I have (not 2) four left feet, I did not volunteer for that adventure and give comic relief to the audience … The main course. Angus steak …Tango show … It was a dinner and Tango show. They were giving dance lessons as well. Since I have (not 2) four left feet, I did not volunteer for that adventure and give comic relief to the audience … Desserts. The toffee ice cream was nice …During the Tango show at Tango Puerteno … Photos were difficult, with the low lighting. There was a big Japanese tour group who went to town with the free Wine/Beer and got high and were doing the most cheering 🙂During the Tango show at Tango Puerteno … Photos were difficult, with the low lighting. There was a big Japanese tour group who went to town with the free Wine/Beer and got high and were doing the most cheering 🙂During the Tango show at Tango Puerteno … Photos were difficult, with the low lighting. There was a big Japanese tour group who went to town with the free Wine/Beer and got high and were doing the most cheering 🙂End of the Tango show at Tango Puerteno … The 1.25hr show was great … The dancers were obviously very skilled.
