This was the final leg of our journey.  We said goodbye to El Calafate, it’s remoteness, daily power outages, and to the natural beauty of Patagonia, the Andes, and the glaciers, and arrived in Buenos Aires mid-afternoon on Saturday.  

A bit of a mixup with our AirBnB host, and we had to find cash (up until now, we’d been using Chilean Pesos) and grab a cab to our apartment.   Remember, it was early February and 80+ degrees – roll down the windows in the cab to get the full effect.  Ahhh, nice!

The apartment was a cute place – 2 bedroom, a slightly funky kitchen layout, easily 12′ ceilings, and most importantly, it had a roof deck – definitely check that out later…  

A now familiar pattern – drop our gear, wash off some of the travel grime, and out the door to explore.  We headed toward the Recoleta Cemetery, famous for some inhabitants, including Evita, but it was already closed for the day.   Buenos Aires having deep European origins, we did the european thing and found a outdoor cafe for an afternoon appetizer.

Sunday, the weather held, and we’d planned for the San Telmo street fair.  Depending on what you read, it was located near Plaza Dorrego in the San Telmo barrio (duh!).  So we decided to explore the Buenos Aires subway system.  Eventually figuring our way around, we arrived at Avenue De Mayo, and figured out that the San Telmo market wasn’t just in the plaza Dorrego, this had to be a mile of street vendors lining both sides of Avenue Defensa.

Down and back, it seems we spent nearly 5 hours wandering the streets, though before returning to our apartment, we made our way over to Cafe Tortoni – a must-see recommendation from Andrea, our friend who grew up in Buenos Aires.

The following day, it probably all caught up to us.  We’d planned to head out of Buenos Aires to the Tigre district, though instead decided to stay local for a more-relaxed day of additional exploring.   Another recommendation had been to tour the Teatro Colon (the Opera house), one of the truly great venues in the world.  So, again onto the subway and off to the opera house – we were able to catch an english tour and were treated to some amazing architecture and a building that belied the European-influenced opulence of yesteryear.

Leaving the Teatro, we headed to the cemetery and got lost for a bit in search of Evita’s resting place.  Eventually finding her, we paid respects and made our way back to the apartment for an afternoon siesta.  Dinner that evening was at one of the top restaurants – as it happens, close to our little slice of Buenos Aires – Don Julios Parilla.   Still on US time and eating habits (seems that the locals don’t really even think about eating much before 9pm!), we arrived at 7 – barely opening time – and were able to snag an outside table without reservations.

The night was young, and certainly warm, so on returning to the apartment, we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed up to the roof deck for a glass under the moonlight.  ahh, definitely a nice memory!

Our flight home didn’t leave until late on Tuesday, so on our final day in Buenos Aires, we decided on the National Museum of Art.  Perhaps not quite on par with the Louve or the Musee de Orsay, we did catch a glimpse of a few Degas and a few other great works.

Thankfully, our return trip home was uneventful, though with honorable mention to the 100+ tween girls, all dressed with the same t-shirts headed for their (probably first) trip to Disney.   Just imagine a plane load!  Soon enough though, we were asleep and headed back to Miami, then Boston, and much colder weather!

A very memorable journey overall, one I’m certainly blessed to have shared with Jeanne (and with you also!)…

read more: Our trip, by the numbers.