Before I get into our exciting adventures a word must be said about our accommodations. We rented a vacation rental for the three nights we were there. We found an apartment in a great part of the city that slept six people. It was nice to have a kitchen and the price was unbeatable. It was not without its quirks, however. It was a little hostel like (sparse) but the best part was the guy that rented it to us. I think he may be a little crazy. When we first got there, he went through some of the important points of the apartment. He explained about the kitchen, bathroom and showed us where the beds were. The first funny thing happened when he was explaining the keys. He told us that, before we leave each time, we should look out the peep hole, make sure no one is in the hallway and then quickly exit together. Apparently, he had not gotten approval from the condo association to “sublet” his apartment. After this he left and asked us to wait for the water guy to drop by bottled water. Again, it was strange because, although he was sure the delivery would be in less than a half an hour, I was completely unconvinced. I have waited for water delivery in Latin America before (as well as other services) and let’s just say they are not overburdened by timeliness. So we waited for about 45 minutes. During that wait we found the classic oddity to our apartment rental. The owner had left a list of rules. The first few were standard-ish (well, at least he had gone over them) but number five was downright hilarious. It said “the apartment is non-smoking but if you have to smoke marijuana please use the roof key and smoke on the roof.” That’s right folks he specified marijuana usage. I guess he really did not know these particular renters well. The rules went on to pretty much bash Argentines as thieves and that we should not trust them in the apartment or with keys. Funny, he said he was married to an Argentine.
Now to the fun part – our adventures. . . We arrived in BA on Wednesday pretty early and after the apartment orientation we went to the zoo. The kids loved it. This is a spectacular zoo because you can feed the animals and feel like you are right up close. (Maybe not super safe but awesomely fun). On the way back from the zoo we walked through the Botanical Gardens. It was a really neat green space that had a number of benches and all sorts of varieties of plant-life. One of its unique traits is that it was really a walk through type place. There was no entrance fee and there were plenty of people walking through or just enjoying the afternoon on a bench (I might add here that the couple on the bench next to ours may have been enjoying themselves a little too much for public consumption but, alas, it is Latin America and they do have very different ideas about public displays of affection.) I loved the vibe of the gardens. It felt like a public backyard. That night we retired early to be ready for the next day.
Bears at the zoo -some other guests had just fed them (against the rules) but it made the bears much more lively for our picture!
The next day we went on a bus tour. We decided doing a bus tour was a great way to see different parts of the city that would be nigh impossible with two (potentially whiney) children. We had lunch at a terrible restaurant in the Boca neighborhood but the ambiance was fun and we saw a little tango show. We next spent some time going to the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. I really like the cemetery personally. It feels like a city of the dead complete with road maps and buildings (mausoleums). It was definitely not a favorite spot for others in the party. The kids thought it was boring and FMP thought it was disgusting to see how over-the-top people memorialized themselves after death. However, we were able to get a photo of AJP by a famous mausoleum in the exact pose as we did last time we visited. It was great to see how much he has grown. We then stopped for ice cream at Freddo’s. It was good stuff and lucky little BLP received the cone filled with the most ice cream. We are not sure how that happened but on a warm day it presented her with a pretty messy problem! We got back on the bus and made our way to the starting point – calle Florida. This street is the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the center of the city. It is lined with shops and has street vendors in the middle. AJP got a belt there. It was originally too big but the seller cut it down for him and added new holes right there on the spot. RHP bought some scarves, BLP a bracelet and I bought a few skirts. That night we went to a Tango show. Some friends that live in BA now (more on that later) offered to set up a babysitter for us so it was an adults night out. It was great fun. The dancing was beautiful and intricate. Some of it was even clever and fun. The only part I did not like was when the dancing tried to be too sexy. Those few dance numbers looked a little like it should have been in a different venue (like a private hotel room or brothel). However, that was only a few numbers and did not detract much from the rest of the fun and exciting show. I am super happy we went.
The Boca neighborhood in Buenos Aires is famous for its brightly painted buildings.
AJP at the Paz family mausoleum on our first trip to Buenos Aires.
AJP at the Paz family mausoleum the second visit to Buenos Aires. Wow - he has grown!
The next day we had a great time looking around Buenos Aires. We saw the Casa Rosada (pink house) which is like the Argentine White House. We visited the Malvinas war memorial (Falkland Islands War Memorial). A clock tower that used to be called the British Clock Tower was across the street from the war memorial so we visited it as well. We hoped we could go to the top of the tower but it was not open. As we were walking to our next stop, the gun museum, we saw some Argentine soldiers and the kids got pictures with them. The gun museum was really for AJP. He loved it! He was excited to see all the different types of weapons the Argentines and other countries use. After all of our sightseeing, we meet up with some friends, the C family. This was the best part of the trip for me. The C family is a wonderful family that we met while we lived in Colombia. AJP and their son went to the same pre-school and became fast friends. When the boys saw each other, they immediately gave each other a big hug. The kids stayed at their house and the adults went out to dinner. AJP enjoyed tremendously playing with his friend. AJP actually says “R is still my best friend.”
AJP and BLP outside the Casa Rosada alongside some protest signs. These happen to be about the Maldives (Falklands). I love their "fight the power" pose.
AJP and his best friend. This was the best part of the trip for AJP!
The next day we left BA and arrived back in SP. We did not even have much traffic getting back from the airport. JTP’s parent's vacation was definitely off to a great start.
2 comments:
So sorry to hear you had a bad housing experience. I hope it didn't dampen the trip too much!!!
The experience was more strange than bad. It was $50 a night for six people.
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