TOURING THE CITY

After a good night's rest and a cool morning, we hit the ground running and tried to see all the main areas and famous landmarks in this Largest City and Capital of Argentina. Buenos Aires is also the second largest metropolitan area in South America with about 15 Million people. No wonder the airport was crowded! Our bad experience at the airport is just a memory and today we saw the beautiful side of a great city. There are lots of parks, LOTS of coffee shops, museums,distinct and interesting neighborhoods, many, many book stores, and Argentinians love to talk about social issues and POLITICS while sitting in their cafes. We had a guide par excellence, Sandra, who marched us thru history in a few hours, and told us the good,the bad, and the ugly of this fascinating city. We visited La Boca district, where the Tango started in the bordellos of the immigrant population and for years was too vulgar to be popular. While La Boca was quaint and colorful beyond words in the bright sunshine, it basically shuts down when the sun goes down and is too dangerous to visit. Even the restaurants are closed. But, today we walked all over it. We had a wonderful lunch, where they brought "wine and juice" mixed, and wonderful bread immediately after one is seated. Always...a big fresh bread basket is brought. We strolled thru beautiful serene parks, and one of the biggest cemeteries in BA, where we found the tomb of Eva Peron, who is still so revered in this country.
It is siesta time and shops are closed and we are resting up for a late dinner and a show at the legendary "Esquina Carlos Gardel", one of the city's most famous tango houses.