WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed in the Emperador Hotel on Ave Libertador which was within walking distance of quite a few sights of Buenos Aires such as May Square, the Harbour area and the pedestrian shopping streets such as Florida St.

PLAZA DE MAYO

On our first day we had an official city tour which began in May Square ( Plaza de Mayo) which was named to commemorate Argentina's independence from Spain which began in May 1810 .We took the obligatory photo of the famous (Casa Rosada) Presidential Palace from where Evita stood on the balcony to talk to the people. We saw the white scarves painted around The Piramide de Mayo which is an obelisk in the middle of the square, this is where the wives and mothers of 'the disappeared' march every Thursday in memory of their relatives who disappeared up until 1983 and still haven't been found, alive or dead. There was also a group of Falklands veterans with banners protesting about their lack of recognition but it was obviously a long term protest as they were sitting and the banners looked fairly long term. Apparently most days there is some sort of protest in this square and there were huge metal fence panels all around which are put up as soon as there is any sign of trouble in the area.

LA BOCA

We also visited La Boca and saw the famous football stadium, La Bombonera but did not go to watch the game later as it cost a small fortune - I think the tickets were black market too and besides I'm not a huge football fan anyway. We went to the main area including La Cominito, near the waterfront where the main streets are with the colourful houses. It is quite touristy now but I guess that is what happens when something interesting becomes well known. This area was where the original Italian immigrants settled at they were mainly fishing families and so settled near the seafront areas so they could continue earning their living doing what they knew best. The story goes that they had such

colourful houses because they bought paint firstly and foremost for their boats and what was left over was used on the houses, hence they were often lots of different colours. The houses were built of wood and then had corrugated metal placed over the wood presumably for weather protection. They were low houses, mainly two stories and were very colourful and quaint on very narrow streets. I not sure how many of the houses are lived in as many are shops and cafes now.

It was a bit like Montmartre in that there were many artists displaying their paintings all along the streets. It was all very busy, colourful and tango music played from several of the shops and stalls. There were also large painted boards with tango dancers and the holes you could poke your head through to have your photo taken, I suspect you had to pay but we didn't bother. You could easily pass an hour or two wandering up and down the two or three streets as there were so many little shops, many stalls and quite a few cafes where you could enjoy a coffee or an alcoholic drink either inside or outside and watch all the activity in the area. It is busy and there are lots of tourists but you can still see the charm of the area and enjoy the artists work on display despite this.

CEMENTARIO DE LA RECOLETA

Our next stop was the Cementario de la Recoleta, the cemetery where the body of Eva Peron has been laid to rest after its world tour. I have never seen anything quite so ostentatious as this cemetery. There is a high wall around the cemetery so that those wealthy inhabitants can rest in ornate luxury. The mausoleums were huge marble buildings with statues and plaques; some were big enough for a family to live in. Eva Peron's family mausoleum was quite plain in comparison to some of them and was not the biggest but it is the only one that always has fresh flowers on it, according to our guide. Mr Peron is not in this mausoleum as it is Eva's family mausoleum and after her death there was some dispute between Peron and Eva's family. Eva Peron is either loved or hated by the local people but her picture is on postcards everywhere and there is a statue of her in the city but it could be anyone really - it is not obviously her.

RECOLETA

We were in the Recoletta area of the city now and on Sunday there is a big flea market but we were not greatly interested in this. This is also the area where there are lots of restaurants but we didn't eat here so I cannot say much about them really. This is the upper class area of Buenos Aires with large houses, nice shops and posh restaurants with plenty of green park areas to relax in.

IDEAL CAFETERIA

We decided we wanted to visit a cafe called the Ideal Cafeteria on Sui Pacha where we had heard the local people meet to tango so we set off with our map in our hands looking for it. It wasn't too far to walk, about 9 blocks away from our hotel but when we got there we were an hour too early as it didn't open till 3 o' clock on Sunday. We found a cafe with tables outside on Ave 9th July and enjoyed a few beers before trying again at the Ideal Cafe.

TANGO WITH THE LOCAL

We paid about £2.50 each to go in. The cafe was decorated in an art deco style with carved ceilings and columns. There was a bar at the back, tables round a central dance floor. Most tables were reserved by regular customers but were lucky and did get a table with a great view of the dance floor. We ordered beers and sandwiches and then the music began. I was a little nervous that someone would come and ask me to dance as I would not have had a clue what to do. It is extremely complicated and very nostalgic. It was amazing watching how a man asked a lady to dance. He sort of looked at her then walked over in of macho way - no words were exchanged and then the lady came to meet him and they began dancing. The hold is very close at the top heads touching but hips not and the foot movements don't always seem to follow each other. It was fascinating. We sat next to a lady from North Carolina who was by herself and in between dances told us she had been having lessons for 2 years in N. Carolina and she didn't think she was very good, she looked pretty good to us and she was in constant demand as a dance partner - she was possibly the youngest lady there!! There was one old man who looked about 90 but he was giving it a pretty good go. It was extremely interesting and the whole afternoon including the food and drinks only cost us $9 US about £4.50 depending on your exchange rate.

LAS NAZARENAS

In the evening a group of us walked to Las Nazarenas restaurant, just opposite the Sheraton Hotel as we had been told they had excellent Argentinean streaks. It gets pretty busy later on a night but even at 7.30 it was quite full. There were other things on the menu, different pasta dishes and fish options but there was a double page spread of the various steaks with their weights as well. I ordered a small 480g sirloin and between us we ordered a side salad and plate of fries. I only managed half my steak. It was about 6 "long by 4" wide and 2" thick and beautifully tender. My husband's was twice the size and he did manage to eat his but couldn't help me out. We declined the desserts and carried our stomachs back to the hotel round the corner. This meal including beers and wines cost about £35 for the two of us which we felt was great value for such an amazing steak and excellent service from a very friendly and helpful waiter. He was delightful and as we were a group of 9 people he was quite busy with sorting drinks and food for all of us. We did help by having one bill and splitting the cost rather than asking for separate bills.

THE UNDERGROUND

The next day we wanted to see the old wooden underground carriages on line A of the underground. We walked from our hotel up Ave 9th July till we reached Peru station. We bought our 0.90peso ticket ( about 15p) and we could go as far as we liked but we got off a couple of station later at lima station which was near May square as we wanted to visit the Tortoni cafe which we had read in a blog on the internet was worth a visit.

TORTONI CAFE

Again it has become somewhat of a tourist attraction but this does not detract from the decor of the cafe. You are greeted at the door by a very smart waiter who escorts you to a table, set with a maroon table cloth. The whole cafe is decorated with tiffany lights, paintings of all types decorated the walls and again a sort of art deco look to the whole place. We enjoyed very nice hot chocolates and coffee with small chocolate biscuits while looking around the cafe. On venturing to the toilet we discovered there were other rooms similarly decorated, one had a few men playing a board game, another room had a stage at one end with a dark red and black tango picture as a backdrop. The toilets were nice and clean with marble basin surrounds. All in all it was a very interesting cafe and made a very pleasant break and cost us about £3.00 .

SHOPPING AND FLORIDA STREET

We wandered down Florida Street looking at the shops until we met another couple from our group who told us they had been down at the waterfront area and there were lots of restaurants along there in converted warehouses. Florida Street is fine if you have a lot of money and want to buy leather coats or designer items but my husband's interest in this sort of sight seeing is limited to about 15 minutes maximum and to be honest mine is not much longer as I think there are much more interesting things to see and do than look in shops.

THE HARBOUR AND WATERFRONT

We decided this would be a good place for lunch so we headed off in that direction, once again with our map in hand. The area looked very clean but otherwise the buildings were quite true to their original look as warehouses there were a couple of cranes cleaned up and placed on the harbour front too to add to the feel of a marina. We struggled with the choice of restaurants we wanted to eat at because there were so many and they were all quite similar. Most of them were Italian and to be honest I can't remember what the name of the restaurant was but it had tables outside overlooking the marina as well as a large restaurant inside. We started off outside but as it was quite windy we moved inside with the help of the waiters carrying our drinks etc. My husband had spider crab crepe and I had lemon sole with sweet potato mash covered in a creamy caper sauce, another friend had a prawn and rocket risotto, all meals were delicious and once again I couldn't eat all mine. The staff waiting on were so friendly and helpful and very patient with our non-Spanish explaining some items on the menu for us. One person in our party had a dessert which looked very nice and was also huge and chocolaty, we had two small beers each so 8 in total and a coffee and the bill was £12.50 each person including a tip which was fantastic value for the food and service we received.

WORDS OF CAUTION

In short we had a wonderful time in Buenos Aires but we were warned to be very careful as there were a large number of pickpockets and opportunist thieves and con people. One trick was to spill ice-cream or squirt tomato sauce from a hotdog there as they were cleaning you up 'helpfully' they cleaned you up financially at the same time. Fortunately we escaped this and had an incident free time wandering around the sights both in our group and by ourselves but we walked with purpose and did not carry anything unnecessary or of value. Just be aware I think and you can still enjoy walking to see sights and the wonderful food.

© Catsholiday