Chile/Argentina - Buenos Aires Revisited

It was a short flight from El Chalten to Buenos Aires and since we thought we only have one morning in the city we had not planned anything.  But then we learned at the last minute that Air Canada had cancelled our flight home and we have an extra day in this city that I had visited for several days in 2017.  My travel companion had not really seen the city so we took a Hop-on Hop-off tour of the city.  Although we only really hopped off at La Boca we did get a quick tour of a good part of the city.  

I wasn't going to write a post on this because I thought I had covered a lot of ground in my first visit and had some leisurely intimate experiences at ground level, including a dance at a tango club.  But this time around, the bus tour gave me a bird's eye view that I didn't get when I walked the city in 2017, so there were not a lot of duplication other than in La Boca.  I was also able to dig up a lot of background on the images I took, thanks to Google  AI.  Technically this should be Buenos Aires 3.  I highly recommend that you check out the other two earlier posts:       https://travelswithrarecat.blogspot.com/search?q=buenos+aires

One thing I noted on the bus tour was the large number of corner buildings in the city.  Many of these are historical buildings.  I practically have a collection of them but only showing a few here - you can see the wide variety of architectural styles.  While I captured images of tango dancers in La Boca the last time I visited, this time we missed that as we visited in late afternoon and most of the tourists were gone - but I got a local kid playing basketball...😀  We were tired and eager to go home after 3 weeks on the road, but the extra day was still a treat in such a vibrant, colourful city.  

Monument of Julio Roca, former president

1926 building Edificio Sud America - Neo-Louis XVI style, austere lines and minimal decoration

Edificio Banco Comafi, formerly Palacio Italia America.  Venetian Neo-gothic by renowned architect Francesco Gianotti

An iconic art deco building - Edificio La Equitativa del Plata 1930s architectural landmark

Art nouveau landmark from 1916 also designed by Francesco Gianotti

SOMISA building - first building in the world constructed entirely of folded steel plate 1966-77

Obelisco de Buenos Aires

Ministry of Public Works with massive iron
mural of Eva Peron

Another historical building neo-classical and art deco blend by French Architect Eduardo Le Monnier 1928

Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral with a distinctive neoclassical face columns that resemble a Greek temple rather than a traditional church, no spire, no dome - rather unusual

Casa Rosada - office of the President

Don Quixote sculpture - a gift from Spain for
Buenos Aires' 400th Anniversary

 We saw these all over the city - they look
like comfy benches but in fact are very hard
metal or concrete

Blue jacaranda tree with violet flowers

National Congress in a Neo-classical building

The stunning swing bridge Puente de la Mujer (Woman's Bridge) by architect Santiago Calatrava

     This is in the Puerto Madero district, with other contemporary buildings like the ones below

The historic ansporter bridge inaugurated in 1914 in the La Boca neighbourhood

La Bombonera stadium - homeground for the Boca Juniors football team

The corner buildings coninued in La Boca - below, the famous Caminitto Street area

Murals abound

This mural is on a public works pump station buildin with esgraffito (scratched relief).  The title etched on it "the neighbourhood I love" by artist Jose Palmiotti, Lalo Sussi.  This mural was referred to in the La Boca Museum

Typical La Boca buildings in vibrant colours

Three key figures depicted here - Eva Peron, in various poses with Charles Gardel, King of Tango  and Diego Maradona, legendary football player

First stop for tourists in La Boca - they all want to pose at the door!

A historical ting on the wall just on the street - Martin's Work day (at the docks)

Neighbourhood art

Lucky to catch this young player practicsing

This dazzling pasth takes you to a mix of shops and tenements

Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup victory memorialized 
in this mural of Lionel Messi kissing the trophy

I

Caricature of Juan Carlos Altavista, famous Argentinian actor 

Immigrants at the docks - local history depicted by artist collective in La Boca

From the wilds of La Boca, we returned to downtown Buenos Aires and couldn't resist going into the Galerias Pacifico, just round the corner from our hotel.  The glitzy interior was a nice change after the urban grit of La Boca.

This wraps up our 3 week Patagonian Roadtrip.  It was exhausting but the variety of experiences we encountered was thoroughly worth it!  Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Antarctica - Getting there

After having gone to both the Norwegian and Canadian Arctic, I couldn't help but set my sights on the other end of the earth - Antarctica.   Meanwhile, I have been on and off zodiacs too many times in the past two years I want to keep the trip short.  So I just opted for a 4 day jaunt in Antarctica (they call it the "classic") - but it takes four days to get there and four days to come home!  

Buenos Aires was my first stop.  I was in Buenos Aires in 2017 on my trip to Patagonia and saw quite a bit of the city then (please see my blog posts on that trip here).  This time it is just an overnight stop to allow us to catch the plane to Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina to embark on the expedition.

It happened to be New Year's Day so there was a festive atmosphere on the Puerto Madero, near the waterfront where we stayed.  Santiago Calatrava's Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) is the centrepiece here and rightly so.  The stunning pedestrian bridge is a community gathering place and was festively lit in red.  It was like a parade with music and dance - a tango performance nonetheless.  The waterfront promenade, lined with restaurant patios and eateries, is a great place for people watching - families, couples, singles out for the New Year strolling down the avenue enjoying the festive ambiance.  It is easy to forget that Buenos Aires has been described as a dangerous city at night.

Calatrava's Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge)

Puerto Madero waterfront in the business district - catching the last rays of hte setting sun

The bridge lit up on New Year's Day

It was like a parade on the bridge

Tango on the bridge

The waterfront promenade

Local fashion

Patagonian Toothfish (Merluza negra)

We flew to Ushuaia the following morning and had some time to revisit the town.  The memorable dinner of Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean sea bass) in 2017 led to my obsession with finding the restaurant Kaupé again.  I couldn't get through to reserve a table so I made the walk up the steep hill to try my luck. Of course they were fully booked but the very pleasant lady owner referred me to something in town Tia Elvira which turned out to be a gem!  While it doesn't have the ambiance or the fine cuisine style of Kaupé, the Patagonian Toothfish tasted just as good here.  For some reason, the fish is not on the menu of every seafood restaurant as you would expect.  We came back for a second helping at lunch the following day after our visit to Tierra del Fuego.

Sweep of mountains that flanked Ushuaia - stunning view when the plane landed

Ushuaia and its iconic mountains - the one on the right is called "Five Brothers"

A new monument to pioneers 

Lots of interesting murals

The prison motif seems to be everywhere, including in front of Corrections Argentina

A churro truck

Scored another lifer - a Dolphin gull (note very red beak and legs)

A Caracara happened to stroll by

An abandoned old ship is now a waterfront fixture

Tierra del Fuego National Park, famous for its dramatic scenery and landforms, is huge, so we only skimmed the surface on our half day visit, a good part of it in light rain.  

 Our first stop at the bay in Tierra del Fuego

Windswept trees

The dramatic coastline with Chile across the waters

Looking across at the Chilean side of the Tierra del Fuego

Chinese lantern tree

Upland goose couple

LaPataia Bay

In the afternoon, we embarked the MS Expedition to begin our voyage to Antarctica.  As you can see below, it's not a big ship (the red one)  which made crossing the Drake Passage even more of an adventure.  I had considered flying the Drake at one point but decided it's considered such a rite of passage I have to brave it.  Glad I did too.  It didn't turn out to be the nightmare it could be.  We had 3.5 metre waves at the worst, apparently a 1 or 2 out of a possible 10.  I had to take it easy for a good half day but managed to get through the passage without getting sick.  

Leaving Ushuaia

Interesting landforms in the Beagle Channel - apparently moraines left behind by retreating glacier ages ago.

Last view of the land "at the end of the world" before we head into the open South Ocean.