2020 Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Part 1 of 2

Today, I arose early for morning sail in to Buenos Aires. The city is as beautiful as ever. Cathy and I took the shuttle to the Cruise terminal and met our tour guide Paola. Our first stop of the day was Plaza de Mayor... in this old city plaza we saw old city hall, Casa Rosada (“Pink House”) where the President of Argentina works, and where Juan and Eva Perón delivered famous speeches from its balconies. We visited the Cathedral and walk around the area taking in the beautiful architecture. Next, our journey took us to La Boca. Hands-down the most colorful and photogenic district in Bruno’s Aires...it has a bohemian feel with a vibrant streetscape, a kaleidoscope of colors in every direction...all thanks to the immigrants who settled the area and painted their houses with whatever leftover paint they could find from the nearby dockyard. From the facades of the storefronts, shanty houses to the sidewalks themselves and tango dancing in the street, it’s like a rainbow at every turn. Our guide is a friend of well-known Buenos Aires artist, Marjam Grun and he invited us into his La Boca home, Casa Taller for a tour...it was amazing to see his incredible art. Our guide took us off the beaten path today into the Barracas area...on a non-descript cobblestoned street we encountered the houses decorated with colorful tile mosaics...This is the project of an artist who lives on the street, Marino Santa María. Buenos Aires is known for its incredible array of street art of which we saw all over the city. From large-scale murals to stencils and posters, street art is everywhere, but the world's longest mural, a 2,000 sq meter masterpiece, the work of Alfredo 'El Pelado' Segatori, we were fortunate to see in the neighborhood of Barracas, just next door to La Boca. Leaving the oldest areas of Buenos Aires, we went to the newest neighborhood, with its surprising history...The history of Puerto Madero is fascinating, having originally been the British-built port of Buenos Aires, they moved the port for economic reasons and the old port was left abandoned for over a century. In the 90’s a revitalization project took place in Puerto Madero...The old red brick warehouses were refurbished into restaurants and pubs and luxurious offices, apartments, 5 stars hotels, banks and shops were constructed...a very nice area. Crossing the bridge into the old city we visited the El Ateneo Bookstore...Originally a grand theatre, it’s now a grand bookstore...the frescoed ceiling, elaborate theatre boxes and even the bold red drapes are all intact, giving an opulent backdrop for the books. Paolo took us for lunch to a local restaurant in old town, Parrelli-Pena...the empanadas were excellent and the Provoleta was even better than yesterday! After lunch we went to the Recoleta Cemetery, something quite distinctive. First, we visited the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar next door to the cemetery. This is no ordinary cemetery...a place of rest for the rich, famous, and powerful of Argentina...there are impressive, ornate mausoleums packed tightly in this little corner of the city where you can wander for hours amidst a maze of the family graves. Perhaps the most “popular” site here is first lady Eva Perón’s tomb, where people still leave flowers and tributes. After paying our respects to Evita, we went to the north of the city past many embassies, Malba, the Fine Arts Museums and Plaza San Martin we returned to the ship. It was a very sunny and hot day, so I was able to relax by the pool as it has been a few weeks since I was able to sit in the sun. We had a fantastic day in Buenos Aires and a really great tour guide Paolo.