Why is Imran visiting Buenos Aires?
I was originally intending on going to Santiago in Chile and wanted it to be my first stop in South America, but once again due to some visa complications I ended changing my tickets and RTW itinerary and ended up going to Buenos Aires instead. Given the choice between Santiago and Buenos Aires, I would have chosen to go to Buenos Aires but since I was getting a cheaper ticket initially to go from Auckland to Santiago and then Rio, I had originally booked that routing and ended changing it and going to Buenos Aires instead.
This was my sixth stop in my first Round The World Trip in 39 days.
What I did?
Things to do in Buenos Aires in a day
Streets, Museums & the Buenos Aires Bus Tour
I was in Buenos Aires for a very short period of time, 2 nights and 1 day. I had no clue what to expect while in Buenos Aires and neither did I know what to do. Since it was a last minute trip change I didn't do any research on Buenos Aires. I basically just winged the trip and took things as they came along. I walked around the streets of Buenos Aires asking people what is good to do close by and just went with the flow. The first night after a long flight (13 hours) from Auckland I was pretty hungry and as soon as I checked into the Hotel I took a shower and left in the hunt for food. I met some random guy who told me of some good steak restaurants close to the Puerto Madero harbor which was a 30 minute walk from where I was. I decided to go to Puerto Madero and check out the restaurants there. To my surprise there was a lot of choices of restaurants to choose from and I was having a tough time deciding where I will be eating. I walked around Puerto Madero checking out the scenery. There were a lot of people roller blading and just chilling all around the harbor. The Puerto Madero harbor is a good place to visit for fine dining and upscale Steak Houses.
I am not a mall loving guy but on my flight to Buenos Aires I was told by the lady sitting next to me to definitely check out the Galleria Pacifico mall. I wasn't going to go out of my way to go check out a mall but since the mall was right next to my hotel I thought I would just check it out and also escape from the brutal Buenos Aires heat, it was 40 degrees Celsius when I was in Buenos Aires. The only thing hotter than the weather were the girls, as I think Argentinian women are really beautiful ;-)
Right outside the Galleria Pacifico mall which has all kinds of high end retailers and brands you will find street vendors selling cheaper stuff catering to the budget and bargain hunters. There is couple blocks outside the mall where you will find vendors. Since I was in Buenos Aires on a Sunday I am not certain if the vendors only sit during the weekends or everyday of the week.
I decided to walk towards Plaza de Mayo from the Galleria Pacifico mall. The Plaza is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires and has a lot of historically significant buildings in proximity to the Plaza.
Casa Rosada or The Pink House is the executive mansion of Argentina. The entry to the Casa Rosada is free and it is a National Historic Monument of Argentina. It is also a museum and art gallery which contains stuff owned by the presidents of Argentina.
After chilling in the flea market I decided to make use of the Buenos Aires metro. The fare is 2-3 Argentinian Pesos one way. I got on the metro not knowing where to get down and got down wherever I felt the most people were getting off. I ended up getting down at the station for the zoo. I didn't have enough time to go check out the zoo so I just clicked pictures of whatever was visible from the outside.
After bumming around in the flea market and around the zoo, I caught a train back to Plaza de Mayo and decided to take a 3 hour Buenos Aires sight seeing tour. The tour gives you a good overview of the city and takes you to all the touristy spots in Buenos Aires. The full tour is 2 - 3 hours long depending on traffic. You also have the option of hoping on and off at certain predetermined points.
The football stadium is located in the trendy La Boca neighborhood which has a very European feeling to it. La Boca is home to the Boca Juniors football club. La Boca is a very artistic neighborhood with many of the colors of the houses coming from left over ship paint. Since the neighborhood is located close to the docks , the ships used to be left with unused paint which was then used to paint and decorate the houses. As you can see most of the houses have very loud and bright colors like a ship.
For some reason the Simpsons are very famous in Argentina the show was on tv in Spanish whenever i switched on the tv. There was also a lot of Simpsons memorabilia on sale in the flea markets.
Miscellaneous Stuff
What I ate?
Things to eat in Buenos Aires in a day
Argentina is known for the good quality steak it has to offer. Buenos Aires has a lot of upscale steakhouses which don't charge an arm and a leg to eat steak. Most restaurants look pretty expensive and they are by Argentinian standards but when compared to the states they aren't. The quality of the steaks is also far better than any steak I have had in the US. The same quality of steak will probably cost twice as much at any restaurant in the US than in Buenos Aires. After I walked around in the Puerto Madero area I came across a steak house which was pretty crowded and looked like it was more famous than the others in the area. Puerto Madero has a lot of restaurants to suit all budgets. Since I was very hungry after my 13 hour flight from Auckland, I thought I deserved a little extra and decided to splurge and spoil myself with an expensive steak dinner. I ordered the Rib Steak as my dinner and cow tongue empanada, cow tongue in coconut sauce and cow tongue in olive oil as appetizer. I had never had cow tongue before and was curious to see how it tastes, to my surprise it was very tasty and tasted exactly like beef duh. The cow tongue in the coconut sauce was amazing I wish I had ordered more of it.
TT: Don't eat a lot of bread before your steak dinner regardless of how tasty the bread is (these breads were super fresh & tasty and the sauces were also off the hook) or no matter how hungry you are, your appetite will decrease filling up on carbs.
Now for the steak what can I say about the quality of the meat and the tastiness. The steak was amazing and super filling and was just what I needed. When in Argentina be sure you go to a nice expensive steak restaurant to try Argentinian steak. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
While walking in the brutal heat of Buenos Aires in the flea market, I stumbled upon an orange juice vendor. Chilled orange juice was exactly what I needed to beat the heat and re hydrate. I had one all natural no additive orange juice with ice which was not only energizing but was also helpful in keeping me from fatiguing because of the heat. There is a lot of vendors who sell this stuff on every other block, be sure to grab one once you get thirsty. The all natural orange juices are pretty cheap as well costing about 7 - 8 Argentinian Pesos.
After drinking my orange juice I got a little hungry and wasn't in the mood for a big lunch, since I had a pretty big steak dinner. I wanted something bite sized and which I could carry around while walking and munching on it. As soon as I walked a little I came across 2 girls carrying a basket with empanadas. For some reason I felt like brushing up on my Spanish speaking skills so I gave my order in Spanish and asked for "Un Pollo Empanada con Queso Por Favor". The empanadas were obviously home made but tasty nonetheless.
After eating my empanada and walking some more I again got hungry after seeing the pizza guy selling pizza by the slice off a carton. I was curious to try the pizza and ordered a slice of cheese. The pizza slice was one of the healthiest I have had as there wasn't a lot of oil on the pizza. The slice was crunchy, which was surprising as I was thinking it would have been chewier since it had not been just baked, but I guess I was wrong.
Conclusion:
Buenos Aires is a gorgeous place with spectacular architecture, art, beautiful people and pretty girls (Argentinian women are super pretty). It has a very European feeling to it due to its earlier Spanish and Italian settlers. It is the second biggest city in South America and the biggest in Argentina. The city where the Tango was perfected. I wish I had more time to spend in the city perhaps also had the chance to catch a Tango show or learn some polo. If you want a European feeling vacation without going to Europe and being in South America, Buenos Aires is the place to be in.
I was originally intending on going to Santiago in Chile and wanted it to be my first stop in South America, but once again due to some visa complications I ended changing my tickets and RTW itinerary and ended up going to Buenos Aires instead. Given the choice between Santiago and Buenos Aires, I would have chosen to go to Buenos Aires but since I was getting a cheaper ticket initially to go from Auckland to Santiago and then Rio, I had originally booked that routing and ended changing it and going to Buenos Aires instead.
This was my sixth stop in my first Round The World Trip in 39 days.
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| On my way to Buenos Aires - Flying over Antarctica. |
Things to do in Buenos Aires in a day
Streets, Museums & the Buenos Aires Bus Tour
I was in Buenos Aires for a very short period of time, 2 nights and 1 day. I had no clue what to expect while in Buenos Aires and neither did I know what to do. Since it was a last minute trip change I didn't do any research on Buenos Aires. I basically just winged the trip and took things as they came along. I walked around the streets of Buenos Aires asking people what is good to do close by and just went with the flow. The first night after a long flight (13 hours) from Auckland I was pretty hungry and as soon as I checked into the Hotel I took a shower and left in the hunt for food. I met some random guy who told me of some good steak restaurants close to the Puerto Madero harbor which was a 30 minute walk from where I was. I decided to go to Puerto Madero and check out the restaurants there. To my surprise there was a lot of choices of restaurants to choose from and I was having a tough time deciding where I will be eating. I walked around Puerto Madero checking out the scenery. There were a lot of people roller blading and just chilling all around the harbor. The Puerto Madero harbor is a good place to visit for fine dining and upscale Steak Houses.
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| Puerto Madero Harbor yo. |
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| Bridge in Puerto Madero. |
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| Galleria Pacifico Mall. |
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| Obviously all malls need to have Starbucks it seems like a prerequisite to building a mall. |
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| Yeah Thumbs Up for the Christmas tree. |
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| Vendors outside Galleria Pacifico Mall. |
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| Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. |
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| May Pyramid & Casa Rosada. |
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| Bank of the Argentine Nation. |
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| Casa Rosada. |
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| With the guard. |
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| With Che Guevera we both had similar hats on. |
After checking out some of the buildings in Plaza de Mayo (pronounced Maa-Yo not mayo as in mayonnaise) I decided to walk around the plaza and came across a huge flea market close to the Plaza which stretches for many blocks. Since I didn't have anything better to do I just walked around the Buenos Aires flea market. There were a lot of things being sold and the market was jam packed. The market I believe is only set up on Sundays and is a good place for bargain hunters as most of the stuff on sale was pretty cheap and affordable.
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| Stoned Incense Burners. |
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| Trying to save a dude from falling in the trash. |
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| Flamingos. |
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| Zoo Buenos Aires entrance. |
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| Me on the Buenos Aires Metro. |
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| Secretaria de Comunicaciones. |
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| Diagnol Sur. |
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| Capital Building Buenos Aires. |
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| La Bombonera. |
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| Maradonas Home Football Stadium. |
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| La Boca houses. |
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| La Boca. |
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| Homer Jay Simpson. |
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| Floating Casino in Buenos Aires. |
Miscellaneous Stuff
What I ate?
Things to eat in Buenos Aires in a day
Argentina is known for the good quality steak it has to offer. Buenos Aires has a lot of upscale steakhouses which don't charge an arm and a leg to eat steak. Most restaurants look pretty expensive and they are by Argentinian standards but when compared to the states they aren't. The quality of the steaks is also far better than any steak I have had in the US. The same quality of steak will probably cost twice as much at any restaurant in the US than in Buenos Aires. After I walked around in the Puerto Madero area I came across a steak house which was pretty crowded and looked like it was more famous than the others in the area. Puerto Madero has a lot of restaurants to suit all budgets. Since I was very hungry after my 13 hour flight from Auckland, I thought I deserved a little extra and decided to splurge and spoil myself with an expensive steak dinner. I ordered the Rib Steak as my dinner and cow tongue empanada, cow tongue in coconut sauce and cow tongue in olive oil as appetizer. I had never had cow tongue before and was curious to see how it tastes, to my surprise it was very tasty and tasted exactly like beef duh. The cow tongue in the coconut sauce was amazing I wish I had ordered more of it.
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| Cow Tongue Empanada and Cow Tongue with different sauces mmm. |
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| Bread Basket. |
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| With the restaurant manager. |
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| Potato crisps. |
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| Rib Steak Dinner - Medium Well. |
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| Orange Juice. |
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| I struck a deal for a discount, If I squeezed my own Orange Juice. |
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| Pollo Empanada Shopping. |
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| Atgentinian BBQ. |
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| Pizza off a carton guy. |
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| Un Queso Pizza Por Favor. |
Buenos Aires is a gorgeous place with spectacular architecture, art, beautiful people and pretty girls (Argentinian women are super pretty). It has a very European feeling to it due to its earlier Spanish and Italian settlers. It is the second biggest city in South America and the biggest in Argentina. The city where the Tango was perfected. I wish I had more time to spend in the city perhaps also had the chance to catch a Tango show or learn some polo. If you want a European feeling vacation without going to Europe and being in South America, Buenos Aires is the place to be in.
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