26.11.2013Argentinian Hospitality in Buenos Aires

This time we decided to see what luxury bus travel is all about and booked the “Cama Suite” class for the 25 hour bus ride to Buneos Aires, the Argentinian capital. It turned out to be one of our best bus experiences ever. Of course the seats were fully reclinable and we were served snacks and warm as well as cold meals during the ride. Additionally to that we were offered all different kinds of alcoholic drinks (wine, whiskey, brandy, …) and were even served champagne 🙂
In the morning we received a small refreshment package with a toothbrush, a small towel and warm wipes. The on-board-entertainment system let the time fly by and us catch up on some of the present movies. Absolutely no comparison, or even a totally different method of transportation compared to our bus ride from Uyuni to Calama! Flying business class must feel something like this… 🙂

When we arrived in Buenos Aires the next morning we were well rested and ready to explore the city. From our hostel, which was located in the neighborhood of Montserrat we headed to the nearby Avenida 9 de Julio. As summer was on the verge in BA, the beautiful purple blooming Jacaranda trees were lining the streets:

In the center of the Avenida 9 de Julio the famously phallic Obelisco, a major symbol of Buenos Aires, was erected in 1936 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city:

Walking on we passed by the touristic pedestrian zone of “Florida Avenue” which is famous for all its “non-official” money exchangers and its many shops:

Probably also a good place to advertise for one of the “oldest existing trades”, but certainly no job I’d want to trade with…

Of course we also had to try the famous BA ice creams:

Walking on we passed by the pink presidential palace, Casa Rosada, with the famous balcony where Evita (Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón and the First Lady of Argentina) held many speeches to the crowds and almost became vice-president of Argentina. Already in 1952 she died from cancer at the age of only 33 but is still an important part of international popular culture today and far from being forgotten.

On our tour through the city we kept passing the Obelisk at different distances and angles:

One of the other famous buildings is the “Palacio del Congreso”, which was designed after the United States Capitol Building. The similarities are quite obvious:

In the evening we visited the famous “La Brigada” restaurant where we tried some of the renowned Argentinian meat. Andy’s “Lomo” (beef tenderloin) was just perfect and the waiter demonstrated the meat quality by cutting it with a spoon! Tini’s “Asado” was also good, but not quite as mouthwatering as the Lomo. The Argentinian wine (Saint Felicien, Malbec 2011) matched very nicely with the meat and we enjoyed this splendid and delicious dinner:

On Sunday morning we visited the famous antiques fair in San Telmo.

Wandered around the cobblestone streets we were looking for a nice “Mate” cup and a “Bombilla” which is the original equipment to drink the mate tea. They sure had a large selection, but our future mate cup was not among these:

The streets were full of interesting, nice and funny products, like these crocheted little piggies. Tini still regrets that she didn’t buy the cute little pink one 🙁

It was a nice atmosphere strolling around the streets and passing by people having some snacks, …

or dancing tango…

or simply strolling the streets, as we were.

On one of the street corners we had to stop to listen to the thrilling band “ToniMontana” which played some great and cheerful songs:

Rehydrating with freshly squeezed orange juice:

In the afternoon we met our friends Mario and Sergio with his family (Vanessa, Nico and Flor), whom we had met on our tour in the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. It was very nice to meet them again and we really appreciated that they took the time to show us around!
Together we made an outing to the town of Tigre, which lies north of Buenos Aires on the Paraná Delta. There we took a boat through the web of channels and rivers and let a cool breeze lessen the heat of the day while we passed by rowing clubs, countless marinas and elegant mansions.

In the late afternoon we visited a little market around “Bartolome”. Here Andy finally found a nice bombilla and mate cup:

In the evening we were invited to Sergio’s famous Asado (barbecue). Already during our Salar de Uyuni tour Sergio had been raving about his Asado and promised that there is no better Asado in all of BA 🙂
Also Sergio had told us that his favourite beer is the Irish Murphy’s, but unfortunately there is no place in all of Argentina that he can get it. And he has been looking for years! So anytime a friend visits him or travels to North America or Europe, all he asks for is a few Murphy beers. By pure chance we had found Murphy’s in a supermarket in Rio de Janeiro and even though we would have to transport those 3 cans for almost 3’000 kilometers we knew this was the perfect present for Sergio 🙂
See for yourself how he enjoyed his Murphy’s:

The Master-Asado-Chef preparing the barbecue:

Quite a variety of different meats and sausages Sergio prepared:

The Asado is considered to be the national dish of Argentina and Sergio had not promised too much! It was really a mouthwatering delicious selection of meat we enjoyed with salad, bread and great wine and beer.

The next day being a holiday we decided to meet again and this time chose a nice pizzeria for lunch. Time just flew by as we chatted away about god and the world and of course our adventurous Salar de Uyuni trip. We are hoping to see all of them again some time and as one of their passions is hiking and there is Murphy beer in Zurich, we might just be meeting them in Zurich the next time!

In the evening we visited the percussion performance of the group “Bomba de Tiempo” with Katerina from Russia and Tobias from Germany. It was an amazing atmosphere with thrilling and energetic rhythms:

Of course pictures can’t really capture the beats, so have a look and listen to the video to get a better impression 🙂

This was the summary of our first visit to Buenos Aires. We really loved Buenos Aires and had a fantastic time. It was great that we managed to meat up with Mario and Sergio and enjoyed some great food and wine and the atmosphere of the city. Buenos Aires +1