Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Today we leave beautiful Beunos Aries and Argentina to fly home to Canada. Gary and Jan left last Friday.  It has been a fantastic trip and we thoroughly enjoyed every day of it. We visited so many new places and saw so many new things and have been richly rewarded by each experience. 

We met some really nice people on our journey, ate some incredible food and enjoyed much good wine. We have been truly blessed to be able to do this trip. Adios to all, until our next adventure.

Brian & Charlotte
Gary & Jan

San Telmo - The Old Town

On Sunday after mass in the cathedral, we walked along Avenue 9th de Julio, the massively wide avenue (22 lanes) to the old town section of Buenos Aries, known as San Telmo.  This whole area explodes into a massive street market on Sundays, starting at the old Mercado building.  The streets are filled with thousands of vendors selling everything from food, crafts, antiques, entertainment, etc. We spent a couple of hours absorbing the cultural experience, then had lunch in a local restaurant.   The streets were packed with people, as this was clearly a popular place for people to visit on weekends.

The San Telmo Mercado is located in the old town and goes back over 100 years 

There was lots of fresh food available

And of course the local coffee shop was there

The 'mercado" was a typical market environment with lots of stalls

The streets around the mercado were also full of locals selling their goods

There were several "street performers" who were entertaining the people

The streets were full of people spending their Sunday walking around

They love their Tango in Argentina. This "dance troup" put on quite a display 

of the various Tango steps.  It's a very sexy, passionate dance.

Even old "gramps" got into the act

Many local artists had their works of art on display

Including these unique tea pots where you brew 

the tea and drink it from a special straw

There was also lots of local cultural colour on the streets, 

like these antique Peugeot limos

And of course lots of BBQ meat being served

Fragata Presidente Sarmiento

During our walk to the new town area we discovered the retired Frigate, the Presidente Sarmiento. This old battle ship was built in the late 1800's and is very well preserved as a naval museum. We toured the ship and got a feel for what life was like on it a century ago.

It even had some torpedoes

This is where a seaman slept on his hamock

The mess hall was where the seamen ate their meals.

Officers each had their own private cabin

The bridge was a series of wheels

The ship had a set of guns to fire shells with

She must have been an impressive ship in her day

New Town & The Ecological Reserve Park

On Saturday, March 5th, we did a lot of walking over to the new town area across the river. This is an area of new development to revitalize the old port lands (sounds similar to what Toronto has been talking about doing to their old port lands).  There are many high rise condos, waterside restaurants (we had a great lunch at one of them) and huge natural park lands, with lots of walking paths.

This is a statue of Roberto De Vicenzo, a famous Argentine golfer who won 

230 tournaments in his career.  However, he is most remembered for losing the 

1968 Masters after signing an incorrect score card.

The boardwalk had several statues of famous athletes

The Ecological Reserve Park had lots of natural habitat

The whole area was a massive park setting 

where people went to get away from the city