We only had two full days in Buenos Aires so it feels like we got just a sampling. It is a very large city but it definitely had a more European feel to than other South American cities we have visited so far. We were impressed with the amount of green space that Buenos Aires had. This made it enjoyable to walk around and visit a few places and restaurants some friends had recommended. The only weird part was navigating the unofficial currency exchange rate. We were warned and given instructions from friends, which helped in the end.
Our hotel wasn’t far from Av. 9 de Julio, one of the main roads in central Buenos Aires so we crossed it several times. It was like crossing the 401 in Toronto with collector lanes, express lanes and bus lanes in the center. Thankfully this version had stop lights and cross walks but sometimes there was up to 6 cross walks to get all the way across and at one crossing the girls counted 22 traffic lanes.
On the weekend there is an artisan market out in a plaza/park that we went to on recommendation from friends. We were so glad we went! It felt less touristy and for the most part, the people that make the product are the ones in the booth. We got some leather belts (and a few other things) and the lady cut them and adjusted them for each of us.
On the way to the market, we passed a plaza with this massive tree in it that Annika took the time to explore.
Later in the day (and on the other side of the market plaza) we another large tree, this saw one with a creative statue of Atlas helping to support the massive branches. The girls jumped in to help.
This tree actually had a plaque stating it was a gomero tree which is a type of gum tree and was about 200 years old. This one was labelled as number 55 and sure enough, we saw more of these on some of our walks through the city.
Two different people had recommended we go to the Cementario de Recolata, a massive cemetary. On the map it showed a huge green space, which we like, so decided to pay the tourist rate to get in. It was not what we expected! It was aisle upon aisle of family tombs/crypts, most old, some recent, all stone and marble – no green! It was interesting (in a unique way!) and it did spark a conversation that wouldn’t normally come up with kids: how would you like to be buried/remembered? We had a good discussion as a family and talked about different burial traditions and in the end we are glad we walked through it.
The girls attempted a non-smiling picture, given the surroundings. Sometimes, trying not to smile is not easy to do!
Buenos Aires has close to 300 performing arts theatres with one of the most famous one being Teatro Colon pictured above. We were contemplating doing a tour, but discovered that they were working on the lighting in the main hall and that the next English tour wasn’t for a few hours. If there had been an orchestra concert showing that night we would probably have done that but in the end we decided to only enjoy the lobby and the outside.
Instead, we walked a few blocks over to El Ateneo (Grand Splendid location), which we all loved. In a city that has more theatres than demand, rather than tear one down, someone had the brilliant idea of converting an old theatre into a bookstore. The stage was the café and some of the box seats were reading nooks.
And of course, friends pulled through again with recommendations for some amazing food! We enjoyed a variety of really good empanadas from a unique little restaurant with a lot of character. For one of our dinners, we tried the family board of milanesas which are a schnitzel-like piece of meat with various toppings, or as Marika put it, schnitzel with pizza toppings. It came with a side of their specialty fries which were also really good (a cross between nachos and poutine!). That meal was one of my favourites.
Julia found her favourite the next day at a little café we stopped at for lunch. They had about a dozen of these huge cakes and meringue topped desserts on display. It was hard to choose, but we settled on the layered one above. In between all those layers of a cracker-like cookie, was a layer of dulce de leche. It was such a massive piece that all four of us couldn’t finish it and we had to take some of it to go.
One of our last sight seeing stops was to Torre Monumental. It was originally named Torre dos Ingleses since English residents commissioned it in celebration of the centennial. However it was renamed after the Falklands war. It provided a nice view of this part of the city.
Looking from one side of the tower you could see Plaza Canada which had a totem pole in it donated by the Canadian Embassy. The girls got matching to and from pictures.