Buenos Aires

December 16 - 18

The couple of days after Machu Picchu went by in a blur.  We spent the night in Aguas Calientes (avoiding the restaurant thugs at all possible cost) and then headed back to Cusco for a night before flying out to Buenos Aires on Saturday morning.

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 8 pm on Saturday and were tired and hungry.  Thinking we would just go have a quick steak and some wine (we are in Argentina after all) we headed out.  Four hours later we left the restaurant with full bellies and with the restaurant minus a couple bottles of wine.  Steak and Malbec in Argentina really are what everyone says they are.  Phenomenal.  The steak melts in your mouth and the wine goes down far too easily.

Yesterday we roamed through the Sunday antique market in Plaza Dorrego that spills over into booth after booth of souvenirs, leather products and toys for miles in every direction.  Little old ladies walk around selling homemade empanadas while their male counterparts lug heavy ice chests through the cobblestone streets selling chicha and gaseosas (sodas). 

After an amazing steak lunch in the plaza we wandered through the crowded streets to Parque Lezama eating gelato and taking photos.  We caught a taxi from there to take us past the stadium where Boca Juniors play and then on to the Cementario de la Recoleta where Eva Perón is buried.

Recoleta Cemetery

The Cemetery was by far the coolest thing we saw yesterday.  We arrived just before closing.  It was like walking through a city.  There are streets with beautiful lamps, and each street is lined with ornate mausoleums.  The whole place is a strange blend of old and new.  On one corner you'll have a crumbling mausoleum that you can barely read the name of it's inhabitant and right next to it will be a shiny, new mausoleum with a new bouquet of vibrantly colored flowers.  There are doors with broken glass that allow the stale air to escape while rusted locks and chains wrapped around the wrought iron gates barely hold them closed.  Right next to that are new doors made purely of glass to allow visitors to see the beautifully intricate stained glass windows behind them.  Evita's tomb was fairly easy to find since really all you have to do is follow the crowds into the tiny alley that houses the Duarte resting place.  After the cemetery we sat on the patio of a restaurant in the plaza and had a cool drink while watching street performers dance the tango. 

When in Buenos Aires, you can't miss going to a tango show.  The performers are incredible and many of them are dinner shows which means that once again you will be eating mouth watering steak while quaffing delicious Argentinian Malbec.  We went to La Ventana in San Telmo and had a fantastic time.  The music is exciting and the dancing is passionate with intricate footwork that keeps you enthralled despite the late hour.