Buenos Aires, Argentina

Friday February 16

We have spent several days in BA before and have done most of the “must dos” here including a walking tour of the city, Tango & Dinner show, spent a day at an Estancia with entertainment, a walking tour & boat ride down the Tigre Delta and a 3 day 2 night visit to Iguazu Falls (Argentina and Brazil sides) So, we didn’t have much of a plan here other than to wander. (Revisit some of our favorite areas and eat at our favorite place for steak.) We had hoped to visit the gelato place we couldn’t get enough of last time, but unfortunately it is now closed for business. We went to Volt which was our 2nd choice last time.

I knew the reviews of the HOHO (hop on hop off bus) were not very good, but since we had been here before we thought it would get us around between the neighborhoods for the 3 or 4 things we wanted to revisit. We have used the HOHO buses in many parts of the world and most are a very good way to see the city.

Here's how it actually worked here ...... We waited in the cruise terminal as they had not opened their office there yet. After almost an hour of waiting, they came and opened up, but did not take credit cards. We used the cash we had and the exchange booth offered a better rate than they did. Now, we waited another half hour or so for a shuttle to come to drive us from the port to the closest stop. Once at the closest stop, we waited another half an hour for the bus to come. So, by now it's nearly 10:00 (we got off at 8:00) and we still haven't gone anywhere.

We rode the bus around until we came to Plaza de Mayo where Casa Rosada is. (where Evita gave her famous speech) and got off there. Unfortunately, they are only open for tours on the weekends or holidays and today is Friday. We were scheduled to have a second day here and it would have been a Saturday. So, no inside tour of the "pink house" that is now a working office building. We did tour the museum which was small, but interesting. To top it off there was a ton of construction of the square in front of Casa Rosada and it made it impossible to get a decent photo of the outside from any angle. They had a small bit of construction there in 2015, so we had hoped it was finished by now, however it was actually worse. Made it hard to walk around the whole area. We visited the Metropolitan Cathedral again before setting off to find some empanadas for lunch. Then, back to Casa Rosada to visit the museum. We stopped for some gelato and then went in search of the HOHO stop.

empanadas for lunch

 Casa Rosada

 museum of Casa Rosada

 finally on the HOHO

We waited 30 minutes and one came and let 2 people on and we couldn't board as it was full. They said 10 more minutes. 25 minutes later one finally came. We rode it around until we came to La Boca and got off there to have a couple of cold drinks and to watch the tango dancers and check out the colorful buildings. It's one of my favorite places in BA. We found a place and ordered their "recommended" drink of Sangria. They were out of sangria and they were out of our second choice as well, so Greg ordered a local beer and I got a Diet Coke.

 bicycle sculpture

 La Boca 

We ran into some people from the ship and we talked about what we each had done. We waited for the next HOHO bus and it took about 30 minutes. We got off at Recoleta neighborhood and had hoped to take a quick walk around the cemetery, but we got there just as they were locking the gates. (around 7:00) We have toured it before, so not a big deal. So, we found Clark's where we had such a great meal last time.

 As we were waiting for our food we talked about how awful the HOHO was in this city. If you were a first time visitor you would not have been able to see much. We had a fabulous guide last time and we saw so much in the 2 days we toured with him. Taxi's are quite cheap here so even without a guide going from place to place in a cab would have been faster and way cheaper than the HOHO here.

Our meal came, and the fries had no garlic on them (they were garlic fries that were so good last time with chopped garlic on then). They were good, just plain. The steak looked good, but was a bit over cooked and very tough and not much flavor. Can't believe how good it was 3 years ago and how not good it was this time. They only give you a butter knife to cut it with and it needed a buzz saw. Ah well... Since our gelato place no longer was in business we went to Volt which we had walked to before on our last trip. It was good.

We then found a cab and went back to the ship. We missed the evening entertainment which was an Argentinian Folkloric show.

It was an enjoyable day in Buenos Aires despite all the hours spent waiting for the HOHO buses to come.

 the next morning before leaving port

 Cormorant with a fish

This was the end/start of a segment of this cruise so we lost around 400 people and new ones reboarded. We were supposed to have one more day here, but due to congestion in the port we were not allowed another day. (we did find out about a week before the cruise) The port is located right in the container port and not much room for cruise ships. The ship spent the night and left at 7:00 the next morning.

Since leaving Port Everglades we have traveled 6187 Nautical Miles to Buenos Aires. Tomorrow a much needed sea day.

Tomorrow, a much needed Sea Day!

Buenos Aires, Argentina https://photos.app.goo.gl/YrNr6CXwhLAGyxqC3