BT – A tale of two cities I – Buenos Aires

Everything went smoothly for our arrival and tours in Buenos Aires. [We had told a company, Chimu Adventures, some of the key things we wanted to do on the South America part of the trip, and they organised these bits, plus extra day trips, with airport and hotel pickups that we didn’t have to think about, and everything worked really well. It saved a lot of hassle.] We had a day-and-a-half in Buenos Aires which was long enough for a taster of things (but enough to remind me that I am not really a city person).

Our day-time tour took us into the city, where we visited the curiously Greek-looking Catholic cathedral.

We also visited the colourful Caminito area, where the houses are brightly coloured and the tango is celebrated. Some of the buildings were bedecked with almost life-size figures of famous Argentinians, including Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio).

In one of the parks, not far from our hotel, there was a very large flower sculpture, Floralis Generica, which is over 20m tall, and which opens at sunrise and closes at sunset.

One of the slightly bizarre highlights of our visit was the famous La Recoleta Cemetery (S 34°35.3′ W 58°23.6′), which is like a small city with streets and alleys, with over 4000 mausoleums of the rich and famous (I doubt the poor could afford to be buried here). It was fun to wander the lanes, although most of the names meant nothing to me I’m afraid (we did find Eva Perón’s tomb). One of the quirkier sights was an open crypt into which we could peer, to see some six or seven levels of coffins stacked in tiers.

One of the other highlights of our visit, for which I have no photographs, was a really good tango show with excellent musicians and dancers. The aggressive sensuality of the tango is not entirely to my tastes, but it was very theatrical and athletic.

Our visit to Buenos Aires was really just an “in transit” opportunity, capitalising on the fact that we would be passing through as we made our way up to Peru, and that’s probably why, in retrospect, it feels like a very minor fleeting experience. Parts of Peru, however, are a different matter entirely.