We arrive in Buenos Aires

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Our overnight flight from Dallas to Buenos Aires went smoothly with good food, relatively comfortable seats, and a nice movie selection (Jane watched one but I read a little and slept.) As a bonus, Jane was seated next to an eye doctor who enhanced our knowledge of glaucoma and cataracts. The flight path took us along the Pacific Coast of South America before making a 45 degree left turn east toward Buenos Aires. We landed on time but our flight’s gate was not available, so at the end of a ten-hour flight, we had to sit on the plane another half an hour for a gate to become available before disembarking. We were finally released but, lo and behold, another flight’s passengers had just reached passport control so that we had to stand in line for 45 minutes before officially entering Argentina.

Our Flight Path from DFW to EZE (Buenos Aires)

After emerging into the arrivals area, we quickly found our Viking representative who led us outside to a van and soon we were whisking toward downtown Buenos Aires with descriptive narrative by our hostess. There was quite a lot of traffic heading the opposite direction from us escaping the city for the holidays. After about 40 minutes, we arrived at the Sofitel Recoleta, located in an upscale area, and then dashed to our room where we hurriedly freshened up and changed into more appropriate clothes for the warm weather. No rest for the weary. Next, we embarked on another van with four fellow Viking tourists and Patricia, our hostess for the pre-cruise excursion.

Entrance to Sofitel Recoleta Hotel

We drove through downtown Buenos Aires with Patricia educating us about history and achitecture of the wonderful buildings we passed. We were let out at Plaza de Mayo, where Avenida 9 de Julio (named in honor of the country’s Independence Day) and two diagonal streets (in the city’s otherwise block design) intersect. There, we viewed La Casa Rosada (the Pink House), the residence of Argentina’s president who we learned was not home because a special indicator flag was not being displayed. Patrica led us around the plaza describing the background of the surrounding buildings, especially the Metropolitan Cathedral.

La Casa Rosada

The May Pyramid, the oldest monument in Buenos Aires

The Metropolitan Cathedral

We then drove from Plaza de Mayo through more of town and disembarked at the Gran Cafe Tortoni. At this historical cafe, founded in 1858, we enjoyed coffee and pastries. Afterwards, we had time to wander around and observe the beautiful wooden interior design, photos and other displayed memorabilia representing various famous visitors and the important role this establishment played (s) in Argentina’s arts, literature and music.

Entrance to Cafe Tortoni

Cafe Interior

Hanging with the Guys

Jane and Times Gone By

Cafe Christmas Tree

Museum near the Cafe that would have been Interesting to Visit

After refreshments, we headed to Patricia’s neck of the woods, La Boca. La Boca means mouth in Spanish and refers to the mouth of Rio de la Plata, the river of silver, so named because it leads to Uruguayan mountains that were believed to be laden with silver. Appropriately, our first encounter in La Boca was the blue and yellow futbol (soccer) stadium. Patricia conveyed to us the thrill of being a spectator during a match, the crowd shouting, chanting, singing, and rocking the bleachers with stomping.

Boca Futbol Stadium

Go Juniors!

Next, we visited Caminito (little walkway), a historical alley with traditional vividly-painted houses that is named after a famous tango song that it had inspired. Now it is a popular destination in the La Boca neighborhood. We enjoyed walking through this vibrant area full of shoppes, restaurants, live music, and other attractions. From there, we continued to Port La Boca to view Rio de la Plata then returned to the van and drove through more of the city en route back to the hotel.

Entrance of Caminito

Tango Posing

A Side-alley Mural

Mafalda, a popular Comic Strip Character

Port La Boca

Staying Cool

Monumental Tower

Floralis generica was damaged during a recent Storm

Back in our room, Jane and I took advantage of the hour of free time we were afforded to both shower (and I shaved) for the first time since leaving home. Then, we joined Patricia and our fellow excursioners in another van ride to the Hotel Faena for dinner and to witness a tango cabaret. The hotel was quite luxurious. We were seated at an elevated table in a dining room with a stage in front, a bar (that turned into another stage during the show), and an area for musicians on the other side.

The food was excellent. For an appetizer, I had mushrooms in phyllo with a delicious sauce. The was followed by a salmon entree and flan dessert. While eating, Patricia engaged in an animated heart-filled discussion of her country’s political situation while the wait staff topped off our wine glasses (and continued to do so throughout the show).

The tango cabaret was exquisite. I must admit that I didn’t have a lot of interest before the show. I don’t dance. Patricia said the tango only required learning eight steps. Well, I trip up and fall just thinking about doing the two-step. The cabaret started incorporating various dances that traced the development of the tango from its ballet-ish origin to modern times. The dancers (and occasionally singers) were excellent. Couples glided around the main stage, jumped up on the bar counter, and paraded through the crowd. Their often flirtatious and seductive moves were mesmerizing. For one song, a shirtless buff male saxophone player was courting a prospective female.

Being a hack musician, I was very much aware of the excellent talent of the five piece band: piano, violin, double bass (plucked & bowed) and two bandoneons (type of accordions). All were top-notch and our table was situated so that I could watch them play although that was at the expense of watching the dancers. Anyway, the whole experience was captivating and ended abruptly after a grand finale dance.

After the show, we reluctantly departed and were vanned back to the hotel primed for a sound night of serious sleeping.