Buenos Aires here we come!

After lots of planning, the date for our second trip to South America was upon us. Before long, we were flying over the stunning Andes Mountains to Buenos Aires.

Flying over the Andes Mountains

Last year, after travelling for several months through the north-western side of South America, we decided this year, to spend 4 or so months travelling the north-eastern side as well as the central and southern areas. 

We aim to visit Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Patagonia (which is southern Argentina and southern Chile), Antarctica, and Uruguay.

Map of our route

Leaving on 16 August, we had a good flight out of Wellington to Auckland. With an 8 hour stop there, we hired a car at Auckland Airport then enjoyed visiting our dear friends Penny, Di, and Joan. It was a good day and we got back to the airport in plenty of time to get on our Latam flight to Buenos Aires.

We had a very brief stop in Santiago (Chile) en-route where we stretched our legs; then we were off again.

Landing in Buenos Aires and getting through customs went smoothly. Then we caught a bus into the city and to the very charming Sissi Haz Boutique Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires (or BA as everyone calls it here).

Sissi Haz hotel, Buenos Aires

Sissi Haz is a small family run hotel, and Palermo is a fantastic area to stay in. There are lots of eating places and shops, it's an easy walk to the Sube (Metro), and is a nice area to wander around.

After a peaceful night’s sleep, we purchased a Sube card, loaded on some cash and caught the train into BA. 

Our first stop was the Terminal de Autobus (bus station) to purchase a bus ticket to Posadas for the next day. But getting to the Terminal was quite a mission as the roadworks were extensive, the traffic heavy, and the footpaths gone. 

We passed some interesting looking laneways on the way, and were glad to finally get over to the other side of the major roadworks to get our tickets.

Lane near the station in Buenos Aires

Mission accomplished, we then began our walk around BA to explore its vibe, architecture, green spaces, and monuments.

First, we wandered into the Retiro neighbourhood and found the Estación Retiro, and nearby, the Plaza General San Martin. The Plaza is a lovely grassy area containing the famous Torre Monumental. 

You can climb to the top of the monument's clock tower but we decided not to as we had lots more to see at ground level first.

Leigh at the Torre Monumental (Monument Tower), Retiro, Buenos Aires

Around the Plaza San Martin, we saw the Art Deco Kavanagh Building, the San Martin Palace, the Baroque style Estrugamou Building, and other buildings with interesting architecture.

From there, we found our way to BA’s popular Calle Florida. When we were there, this busy pedestrian street was absolutely full of shops, shoppers and street entertainers. 

The street is also lined with interesting historic buildings, and we found ourselves walking along it with our eyes on the attractive skyline instead of the shops.

Florida St shopping area, Buenos Aries

Then we wandered on, finding more interesting architecture, soon arriving at the 100-year-old opera house called Teatro Colón.

Apparently, this opera house has been ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world.

Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires

At this point in our wanderings, we had crossed the amazing Avenida 9 de Julio a couple of times, and honestly, each crossing was such a mission. 

Named for Argentina’s Independence Day (9th of July 1816), it is the world’s widest avenue being 16 lanes wide (140 metres).

This wide avenue was first planned in 1888. However, by the time the land had been purchased, hundreds of buildings demolished, thousands of citizens displaced, and the massive roadworks undertaken, it was not completed until 1980.

Avenida 9 de Julio with the obelisk at the distance

At the centre of the Avenida, there is a huge landmark consisting of a 67-metre-high obelisk (the Obelisco). It was erected in 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the city's founding.

After more walking, we found the famous Plaza de Mayo (main plaza). Officially it's called “Plaza 25 de Mayo”, in commemoration of the date of the Revolution that led to the resignation of the Spanish Viceroy and the establishment of the independent government of Argentina.

It is the city centre of BA and has seen many demonstrations and historic events over its lifetime. For example, those organized by Evita Peron or by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

The Plaza is surrounded by some of BA's most notable buildings. We thought the most interesting to be the Casa Rosada (seat of the President of Argentina), the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Buenos Aires City Hall, the Bank of the Argentine Nation's headquarters, and the Cabildo of Buenos Aires building.

The attractive white Cabildo dates back to 1610. A cabildo is a local governing body, and this building was once used as the seat of the town council during the colonial era. 

It was also used as the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Today the building is used as a museum and classified as a National Historic Monument of Argentina.

Top: Casa Rosada and the Metropolitan Cathedral
 Bottom: Marg in front of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires

After a great day, we navigated our way back to the correct Sube line and found our way back to Sissi Haz with no difficulties.

That evening, we set out to find a nice place for dinner. But while crossing the road, Marg tripped on a ground level marker-stone. She managed a very hard face-plant in the middle of the road.......with a fast-approaching car!

Leigh jumped in front of the car with madly waving arms yelling out "stop, stop"! Luckily the driver did stop, and a group of young people helped to pick Marg up and get her off the road.

She now has a pretty impressive bruise on the left side of her face, extending from eye to jaw (which has worsened since this photo).

Marg's injuries

The young people were so kind and concerned, and one of them brought ice down from her apartment to put on Marg's injury. After that, we staggered back to the hotel for running repairs before going out for a quiet meal.

Despite injuries, the next day we hopped on a tourist bus for a tour of the wider BA city area. We thought this would give us a good overview as we were staying such a short time now, but planning to return later when we could explore more.

Our first stop was Puerto Madero. It is along the waterfront and has some lovely smart skyscrapers, expensive restaurants and interesting shops. 

Puente de la Mujer, Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires

We particularly liked the Puente de la Mujer (Woman´s Bridge), which has a white wing-like sculpture that shoots up from the footpath of the bridge.

We also enjoyed the San Telmo area, the oldest residential neighbourhood in BA. Many of the old buildings and landmarks have been retained and restored and the streets are narrow and full of antique shops, markets, old churches and museums. It is a very vibrant area and we loved it.

The Russian Orthodox Church in quirky San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Moving on from quirky San Telmo, we were soon in the La Boca neighbourhood. 

It is also quirky, having multi-coloured apartments, interesting street art, and busy pubs. This area is famous for tango dancing and football.

While we didn't get the chance this time around, to see tango, we did manage to get a look at the famous colourful blue and yellow Boca Stadium.

Top: La Boca street art and the Boca Stadium
Bottom: Two of La Boca's colourful apartment buildings

There were several other places around BA that we really liked, but we'll come back at the end of our tour to explore them further. In the meantime, we were off to see more of South America.

So we grabbed a taxi to the bus terminal to catch our overnight bus to Posadas. Posadas is in northern Argentina, on the border with Paraguay. We were headed to Posadas mainly because it’s about 70% cheaper to cross the land-border from here into Paraguay, than it is to do the international flight from BA to Paraguay.

The bus was great with wonderful reclining seats (cama or bed seats), a pillow and a blanket. There was much more leg-space than on an airplane! Dinner (of sorts) was provided, plus some bubbly wine to finish. We arrived in Posadas after breakfast, then taxied to the train that would take us over the international bridge connecting Argentina with Paraguay. 

Posadas in Argentina, seen from Paraguay

There was quite a queue waiting for the train, so the taxi driver offered to take us over the border and right to our hotel in Encarnación (Paraguay). 

After some haggling, we agreed on a price and off we went - and what a good move it was. 

We stopped at the Argentinian checkpoint, our taxi driver handed over our passports; then lots of smiles, stamp, stamp and on to the Paraguayan side. More stamps, and over the bridge to our hotel – all for 500 pesos (about NZ$40). Great value and no queues.

So, after a very short stay in Argentina, we are ready to explore Paraguay. We found the Argentinians very friendly so are looking forward to returning later in our trip.

The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.