Thursday February 21. At sea - sailing north from Buenos Aires
Hi all. We’re at it again - on the seas for a cruise. This time it is from Buenos Aires north to Rio de Janerio and then to the Amazon River, Devil’s Island Penal Colony and
into the Caribbean and dock in Ft. Lauderdale in about a month. I’ve inserted a map to show you where we’re going. And this is a good time to put in the option to opt out. If you don’t want to receive these
emails off and on over the next month, please just reply to this email and I’ll take you off my list.
We got lucky Sunday morning and flew out of Ontario in between ice storms - I see you just got another one and the east coast of the states is getting hammered. Well, we flew into Houston
airport and the temperatures went from -6C in Toronto to +10 in Houston. A couple of hours waiting around there and then a l-o-n-g nine hour overnight flight from Houston to Buenos Aires. Unless you can afford business or
first class, there is no way to make it a good flight. Tight seats. Narrow aisles. Try to sleep but you can’t get comfortable. But at about 11 am we’re landing in Buenos Aires. Bright. Sunny. It’s only about
29C! And humid. Passport control is easy. Pickup the bags. Customs is easy (non-existent). And out into the terminal into the waiting arms - so to say - of the cruise rep who will shepherd about 14 of us on this flight out
to a bus and then to the ship.
We’ve been upgraded. We booked this cruise because it’s on a ship we really like and is being sold on the first of July and because we’re only paying about $75CDN a day
each! A fabulous buy. And we’ve had a cabin upgrade for free. So it’s great.
Monday we went out with a ship’s tour around the city. It was a bus tour so most of the photos were shot out of the windows. There’s nothing great in the way of photos but you’ll
get a flavour of the city and it’s parks and statuary which are everywhere. Our first stop is at the Recoleta Cemetery. Why a cemetery you ask? Because this is where Eva Peron - Evita of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
pop opera - is buried. The wife of Juan Peron, Eva was and still is beloved in Argentina, even though she died from cancer in 1952. The cemetery here has tombs and mausoleums of the rich and famous of Buenos Aires. It’s
like a tiny city of narrow streets and narrow stone houses. (Although one family resented the idea of a tiny house. They built a chapel for their final rest.) It’s a quiet, cool even in the blistering heat, place to
wander. Not at all spooky.
And then on to see the city sights: the race track, the polo grounds, the obelisk, the images of Evita on the sides of buildings, the government house, etc., etc., etc. Mostly it’s
“look to your right. That’s the opera house.” But it’s a good way to get an overview even if I can’t get many decent photos.
We stop again at Tortoni’s café for a drink and croissant and little ham and cheese sandwiches typical of the region. Tortoni’s is a tango café which goes back
100 years or more and was a centre for local artists; there are paintings, drawings, caricatures covering the walls. All gifts of artists.
Our last stop is near the Boca soccer stadium. Boca’s colours are those of the Swedish flag: blue and yellow. And their traditional opponents colours are red and white. Thus CocaCola
signs are in black and white; you don’t advertise the opponents’ colours. Boca is also the home of Caminito Street which is one of the homes of the tango a dance originating in the bars and brothels of Buenos Aires.
It’s a colourful area with large misshapen figures in what looks like papier machier hanging over the balcony railings.
Back to the ship to cool off and get a bite of lunch.
Please enjoy the photos but remember most were shot through bus windows. There are a couple of small ports and then we get to Rio de Janeiro!
Best
Bob and Elizabeth
Photo links
01 Buenos Aires
