Argentina

It’s been my dream to travel to all seven continents. By landing in Buenos Aires, I was going to explore in South America … my 5th continent!

Hello Buenos Aires! I had a great flight. It was a 10 hour overnight from Houston. I had the pleasers of sitting next to the COO of the Houston Zoo and she was a delightful travel companion. My driver picked me up and it was off to the Faena Hotel. We grabbed lunch at the hotel by the pool and I enjoyed a delicious Caesar salad. Then it was off to meet Angie, Kelly’s favorite tour guide. We went to Recoleta Cemetery and it was amazing! We learned of the history, the symbolism, and found Eva “Evita” Peron’s Mausoleum.

Eva “Evita” Peron’s family Tomb! “Evita Perón died of cancer in 1952 and was the celebrated second wife of President Juan Perón.  After her death, a monument was being built to display her body.  But, Juan Perón was overthrown by a military coup and Evita’s body evidently mysteriously disappeared for 16 years.  In 1971 the military revealed that Evita’s body had been buried in a crypt in Milan, Italy under a fictitious name.

In 1974, Juan Perón, now back in power, died and his third wife became the president of Argentina and had Evita’s body returned to Argentina where it was later put to rest in the La Recoleta Cemetery.” Source: The Roaming Boomers.

I rubbed his nose to show respect of his love!

Then we were off to explore the city. We exchanged money at a Blue-Money exchange and Kelly got a “stack” of cash for us to spend by exchanging $350 US. It was interesting to learn you cannot get money at a good rate out of the ATM’s here and that the US dollar is preferred. Then we walked over to beautiful Park Hyatt Hotel and explored at the fancy historical house on top. We made a relaxing stop for some coffee and then it was off to walk around the Embassies.

The Israeli Embassy Memorial. “On March 17, 1992, a bomb ripped through the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, located on a peaceful and seemingly out-of-the-way corner of Recoleta at the intersection of calles Suipacha and Arroyo. Twenty-nine people lost their lives in the tragedy, and -- as with the 1994 attack on the Jewish community group, the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, which killed 85 people -- the culprits are still unknown, but they are suspected to have been working with overseas groups.” Source: Frommers.

Our last destination, was to La Boco, the mouth, which is a very colorful and unique area, and beloved to be the birthplace of Tango. . “La Boca (“mouth” in Spanish) was once quite literally the mouth of Buenos Aires. It’s located on what used to be the city’s biggest port, where products, goods, and immigrants arrived by the shipload in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those immigrants set up shop in the surrounding vicinity, working the docks and building homes from the scrap material leftover from ship-building. You’ll see this in the haphazard shanty houses that still line the streets here, made from sheet metal and wooden planks; in addition, nearly all of them are painted in very bright colors.” Source: Foder’s

A photo for my Mom, she loves bird cages!

And then we made our way back to our hotel for a night of celebrating the Tango! “In the heart of spicy Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires, you’ll find Faena–a colorful, exciting, and eclectic luxury hotel …” Source: Faena Hotel. That evening back at our hotel, we met up with Kelly’s friend Matt and some of our Antarctica travel companions in the Library for a round of drinks. Dinner was at Le Mercado and I had the white salmon, which was a first for me. And the piece de resistance of the evening was the Tango Show at the hotel. I was a champ and stayed awake and alert the entire time. It was a great first day!

On our second day in the Paris of South American, we opted for shopping in the Palermo District. After a leisurely morning, we enjoyed the delicious breakfast spread at Le Mercado. Then it was off to shop. We walked the streets and popped into may adorable stores, with Patron being our favorite.

It was such a beautiful day so we walked to the Malba Museum to grab some lunch … and meet some new friends (they recommend the Argentinian wines Angelica Zapata and DV Catina), and shared fun travel notes. Then toured some Argentinian art. I bought the most adorable owl necklace by a Argentinian artist whose work we also saw at Patron. The universe was giving me a sign that I needed this mommento from my travels. Dinner was at Floreria Atlantico, a flower shop on top, and amazing restaurant below. After walking into the quaint shop, we passed through the commercial refrigerator door, and then we descended down to the amazing restaurant underground. We shared the beets and fried potatoes, and I had the local fish. Yum indeed!

The next day, we were off to Ushuaia for the start of our big Antarctica adventure! We were up early and to the airport to fly down to Ushuaia. At the airport, we met some of our travel companions and boarded our Aerolineas Argentinians flight. Operation “Go to Antarctica” is happening. We learned that we need to take two Covid tests, one before we board the boat and then one a few days later while on the boat. Kelly and I are masked up and hopeful.

We arrived to our beautiful hotel Las Hayes Ushuaia Resort. After fueling up, we went on a beautiful afternoon hike with our new best friends. The evening ended with a big group dinner at the hotel.

The next morning, we explored Ushuaia and went to La Casa Dev Lis Maricos for lunch. I ordered the mussels with garlic and the King Crab cocktail with apples … so unique! We met up with everyone at the Prison Museum for a tour and then we boarded our buses for the pier.