The Sweet Smell of Rice: Beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina

So far on our trip, we have visited the Caribbean, the northern parts of Brazil and the sprawling metropolis of Brazil. All great places; they’ve had their sights and their people, some areas were better and cleaner than the others, but Buenos Aires has not only a surprise but a place we’d love to go back to!

Heaving influenced by the Spanish, Italian and British, this is a very cosmopolitan, European and clean city. Of course we felt more comfortable being able to speak and understand Spanish, so it as a bit easier to acclimate, but what an impressive city. (We’re seeing a trend here of each place we visit... another impressive and amazing place).

Our first day we met up with a friend Cris who worked with Amye on the Eurodam. He’s now on the Veendam and we had a double call in Buenos Aires and got to spend some time together ashore for lunch. Knowing the city from his travels through South America, Cris led the way to a newly redeveloped area full of restaurants set along the waterways and overlooking part of the city. It was great to see him and get our first taste of Buenos Aires.

From there we ventured out on foot walking through the streets and taking in the sights with the hustle and bustle of the busy city. Easy to walk but massive, we finally jumped into a taxi to head out to a famous part of the city called La Boca. In essence, a working class neighborhood in an industrial area by the river, it has become a massive tourist attraction for its brightly colored buildings where every piece of material and metal sheetings are painted vibrant colors. There were artists lining the streets selling their paints of the area, paints depicting the sights of Buenos Aires and sights of tango dancers.

The streets were also lined with tango dancers performing at little restaurants, on the street corners for pictures with tourists and for the artists capturing their performances. Also lining the streets in this little area were rows upon rows of souvenir shops so you know it was a popular stop for many. The sights were great to see and take photos of and a much appreciated contrast of the buildings in the city.

Day two in Buenos Aires took us both on tours. Amye had an amazing time exploring the history and historical sights of Eva Perpn, or Evita, while Tyler took a city tour including the first subway in South America and a coffee stop at the famous Cafe Tortoni. Amye’s Evita tour took her from the museum of Eva’s life to the graveyard where her body now lies. We both learned a bit about Eva’s life, influence on Argentina, and the tragic end of her life at a young age. It turns out that Argentinians are not fond of the movie Evita, and if you feel in love with the streets of Buenos Aires and the people shown in the movie...go to Hungary! Only one scene in the movie was actually filmed in Buenos Aires, Madonna singing form the balcony of Casa Rosada, the famous “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” song.

Casa Rosada - the President's place of work, where Madonna sang "Don't Cry for Me" from the balcony

Eva Peron (Evita) at her museum

Two days in Buenos Aires was not long enough, we’d both like to go back and visit more, including the outlying areas. Hummm, maybe a stint in Argentina is next on the list.