Buenos Aires, Argentina

Thursday, February 9, 2012 – late arrival to Buenos Aires

Well, we missed our slot in the convoy to arrive to the city on schedule. The River Platte is a muddy, brown, shallow, ugly river that carries hundreds of ships to BA for loading and unloading. During the night, we ended up anchoring 5+ hours as we departed late, missed our slot INBOUND slot and had to wait for the next group. All the tours were messed up; all the flights for Europeans to go home were missed and there was general chaos. We arrived about 2:30PM and took a taxi to the La Boca (artists haven), San Telmo, around the government square to see the PINK HOUSE (their White House) and the Virgin Bridge. It is a nice city but the traffic is another story – just as you would expect in a cosmopolitan city.

In the early 20th century, Argentina absorbed millions of immigrants, mostly from Italy and Spain. Today, many Koreans and Chinese have settled here also.
The exclusive Ensemble Experience was tonight! Esquina Carlos Gardel tango palace – www.esquinacarlosgardel.com.ar

We were 26 picked up at 7:45PM for a wonderful dinner and tango show. There were three choices for each course (the large rib eye won for most of us as it is THE THING to eat in Buenos Aires) with wonderful dances. Various tango styles with various dresses and suits – at one point I did not think the “dress” could get any shorter or smaller and guess what, it sure did. It was fascinating and graceful and wild and sexy. They had the classic tango danced by a couple in their ‘70s and a sexy tango danced in a red hot barely-there dress

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

Friday, February 10, 2012 – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lovely day again and we set off on the free shuttle bus to the main pedestrian street – Florida Avenue – shops and shops and restaurants and an architect’s dream of facades. We hired a cab to take us to the Recoleta cemetery, where Evita Duarte Peron is buried, along with every other wealthy Argentine. They say it is good to be wealthy in Buenos Aires, but it is better to be buried in the Recoleta for your wealth to be seen for centuries. They had a nice wheelchair for use and we walked all over the small city - -streets and names and plaques and fabulous mausoleums. It is the most exclusive neighborhood in the city and the surrounding area is full of boutiques and restaurants. Taxi back to the ship after we passed the Congresso, the largest building in the city. FREE INTERNET as we were able to get on to the private site and made some calls and worked. Barely made it back in time as there was a problem with a bank account.

The gaucho is a figure in the history of both Argentina and Uruguay. These cowboys of the Pampas (the most fertile regions in the country) lived on the grassy plains from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries. They were mixed Native American and Spanish descent and were known to be courageous and skillful riders. Their livelihood was earned on cattle ranges or by illegal horse and cattle trading at the Brazilian frontier. Their weapons were used to capture wild horses and cattle, the lasso and the bola, a cord and weight type of sling thrown to entangle the legs of quarry. In folklore, music, art and literature, the gaucho still conjures images of the wild, unbridled enthusiasm and romance of a time gone by.

Entertainer was Paul Adams, UK comedian – very good.