Flight without incident to finally land again in south america. Hello Argentina, first time here. Short lift to the hotel in the San Telmo district and ready for a walk through the city.
The city center looks a bit old and would need some refurbishment but human activity is there during the day gathering round the Calle Florida with tons of shops. Nothing much to visit around, except the Casa Rosada, which is the official presidential residence and government headquarters, and the Congress building.
Next day, I went out of town, for a short trip to El Tigre, a city nearby Buenos Aires, sitting at the estuary of the Rio Del Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay. It is easily reached by train from Buenos Aires, it takes about 1 hour. This place is a maze of canals, the only way to access the houses, real luxurious houses to very simple huts, edging the water. Many boats leave the harbour of El Tigre next to the train station, and leave regularly. You got the choice between short trips and longer ones (about 3 hours). On the big boats, drinks and food are served. I was lucky enough to meet colombians on this trip, who I carried on with back in the city.
At night, we chose to go to a Tango show. I kindly asked my hotel to find me a good one, and they succeeded. The place was full and nothing seemed tacky. Diner was included in the price (round 40$), with some wine. They introduced the audience to different styles of tango, with a brief history of the dance with a short video. We left the place at 2am and went for some drinks in an other area. That place was full when we arrived and still the same when we left at 6am, but for us was time to sleep.
Next day, sunday, we heard it was a good day for a walk in La Boca district and also San Telmo, so we headed there. For s start we drove to La boca, to visit El Caminito. It is not bigger than a couple of narrow streets, but it attracts all the tourists of Buenos Aires, and it is justified. However you can forget to visit it "outside business hours", after down the police would take you out to save you from trouble. During the day, this is definitly one fo the best place you could be, even if this is kind of made for tourists, the ambiance is great and you will want to stay there a little more. Every bar has its own band, couple, or tape playing tango, and with the fellow dancers coming along with it. They either have you taken in a picture while undergoing a pass, or they will take you for a short dance if you want to try the adventure. The toll is about a couple of dollars though.
If you get to leave El Caminito not too late, it's time to head to San Telmo, where there is a huge street market every sunday. Everything is sold here, and also you will notice bands playing tango, and dancers (again).
For me, was time to leave Argentina, I hope next time I will be able to see more, as I had a great time there. Uruguay is coming up.
