Buenos Aires

I am going to have to do the Argentina blog post in three different sections since there are so many pictures. First up, Buenos Aires. We flew in over night and arrived in BA at about 10:00 a.m. The flight was 10 and 1/2 hours. The time difference is only three hours ahead, so its not the jet lag that gets you, but the lack of sleep. We headed to the hotel to check in and then our tour guide, 75 year old Patricia, took us around the city.

They call BA the Paris of South America because there are so many old buildings. It does look a lot like Paris in some parts.

 

We stayed in a boutique hotel, Hub Porteno, in the Recoleta district. The hotel was fabulous! It's a newer hotel, and it only has 11 rooms. Each room is different.

 

A much needed cafe con leche upon our arrival to the hotel. I didn't sleep at all on the plane ride down there. Ugh. And, you all know how much I NEED sleep to function. A latte has never tasted so good, especially since it was served so nicely in a bronze cup and saucer on a silver tray!

 

 

Our room. Kind of loved the two beds instead of a king...

 

The cookie of Argentina. A welcome snack from our tour guide.

Awesome tree!

 

We first went to a really famous cemetery. At first I was like uhhh, why are we going to a cemetery?! BUT, it was SO beautiful and historical. Well worth it.

 

We then had a late lunch (everyone eats lunch late in Argentina, like 2:30 p.m. late) at a cute restaurant on the river. I had to try the beer of Argentina, a Quilmes. It is really good! It is a bit odd though that in Argentina they serve you beer like they would serve you wine. If three people order a beer, they bring three bottles and put them in a wine bucket to keep cold. They serve the three people in a glass poured out of the same bottle and then open the next bottle once someone needs more. Funny.

 

Limoncello shot after dinner. At this lunch we did an over under on how many bottles of wine we would drink during the trip. The guesses ranged from 22 to 32. I think we ended up with about 22 bottles. I win!

So, in Argentina you eat MEAT. I mean, a lot of meat. They eat steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner basically. They boys were in heaven!

 

The pink house. Where the president of Argentina offices.

 

We then went to the coolest little neighborhood called La Boca. It was the most colorful place I have ever been. There were a ton of sidewalk cafes and locals tangoing on the street!

 

The main avenue in BA. It is actually the widest street on earth.

That night I literally could not keep my eyes open so I skipped out on dinner and went to bed. Another thing that was hard to get used to was that dinner didn't start and restaurants didn't open until 8:00 p.m. We always had an 8:00 or 8:30 reservation and there was almost no one else eating then!

 

The rest of the fam went to La Cabrerra, a steak place (shocker!). They had Kobe beef, a steak skewer that looked more like filets on a stick, and stuffed chicken. They don't really believe in side dishes all that much down there...

 

The next morning Blake and I went for jog. One of my favorite things to do in a foreign country is go for a run. It really lets you see the sights and feel like a local. It was HOT! It still blows my mind that their February is basically our August. The Recoleta neighborhood had a bunch of parks which made for a great run.

 

The flower. 

 

 

We then went to an antique market they only have on Sundays. There was live music, and it was a really cool atmosphere. Below is a church near the market.

 

We then went on a tour of Teatro Colon. It is one of the 5 best theatres for acoustics in the world. It was absolutely stunning.

Lunch was at an authentic Italian restaurant. A bunch of Italians ended up setting in BA centuries ago, so there is quite the Italian influence.

This night we went to a Tango show at Tango Porteno. They served dinner before the show. It was really cool. It was like dancing with the stars on steroids!

 

My family has a thing for really small elevators. It started when we took a family trip to Italy years ago. There was a super small elevator in our hotel in Italy. We had had a little too much wine and took a funny picture. Now, we have to do it every time we are in a small elevator (and have a little too much to drink!).

 

I REALLY loved Buenos Aires. It was such a great city!