Buenos Aires, Argentina is the 170th city of 100 000 people I have visited! Argentina is the 54th country I have visited! Bit more trivia: Buenos Aries EZE airport is the 2o0th airport I have been to! I rated it 84.3% on my ranking.
Our plane touched down 23 minutes early into a grey 9 degrees celsius (48F) day. The curse of landing early and getting through means that my car was not of course waiting for me, so I got to watch the airport activity for a while with people greeting each other with hugs, kisses, tears and business like handshakes. My driver got there after 15 minutes.
The ride into Centro Buenos Aires was a lot less hair raising than expected and milder than some of my other rides into cities. The freeway limit is 130km/h (91mph) which surprised me. Cars of course took the limit as advice not requirement!
We moved onto Aires 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world with nine lanes wide and gardened medians between the two traffic directions. Looking up, I saw a massive picture of Eva Peron, gazing down on “her” people. I asked my driver about it and got five minute lecture on Peronist politics.
At the intersection of 9 de Julio and Corrientes Avenue is El Obelisco (the Obelisk) that represents Buenos Aires and the independence of Argentina.
Built in 1936, it stands 67.5 m with a blunt tip measuring just 40 cm. The four sides of the obelisk each represent the defining moments in the city’s history:
- its founding in 1536
- its second and definitive foundation in 1580
- the first raising of the Argentinian flag in 1812,
- declaration of Buenos Aires as the nation’s capital in 1880.
During the Peronist government in the 1970′s a sign which read “El silenco es salud”, (Silence is health). Was it referring to sounding car horns or expressing alternative political views? In 2005, the obelisk was dressed in a large condom for World AIDS day! Unfortunately, the public is not allowed cannot climb its 206 steps to the top.
My hotel is around the corner, near Plaza San Martín (pictured) in the Retiro neighbourhood at the north of the city. Off to explore now!
Dinner tonight was “typical”:Argentinian steak with salads and breads, red wine and a very late night! I forgot to take photos. Dessert flan with Dulce Leche. Yum!
Graffiti in Central Buenos Aries.
I was in BA last week. Great place to explore and have amazing food. I stayed at the Sheraton in fron of Plaza San Martin. From there you can walk to Calle Florida where the nice shopping area is. Here is my list of favorite restaurants:
Don Julio (in Palermo) – Argentine/meat
La Brigada (in San Telmo) – meat
La Cabrera (in Palermo) – meat
Cabaña (in Ricolleta) – meat
Casa Cruz – top chef in Argentina
Tegui – (same owner as above)
Sucre – Argentine cuisine
Oviedo – Seafood/Mediterranean
Marcelo – Italian
Piegari – Italian
Il Matterello – best Italian in BA (in La Boca (go during lunch))
Bar Uriarte – Argentine/Italian cuisine
Don’t forget to eat dulce de leche (milk caramel) and alfajores from any Havana Cafe. Also, try the flan (milk dessert) in any of the restaurants above.
What a great list of restaurants! Thank you. Sorry you are not here this week..we could have caught up for a coffee and flan! Yes, am very much looking forward to dulche de leche.
Friend, Buenos Aires is a great living and visitors place. This has natural beauty and artificial too. I love to visit Buenos Aires when I got vacation. I love to visit all over Buenos Aires with friends and family. Thanks for putting fantastic info here,,
Fernanda
Thanks for sharing I loveArgentina I am a Argentina fan