Argentina - Buenos Aires

Like the name says, good air. At least we arrived to a clear blue sky - which was a relief after the grey days in Belgium.

We left Brussels on Monday 3rd of this month and first flew to Frankfurt (Germany). There we took another flight to BA. We arrived early in the morning, around 7 a.m. It took about two hours to get our suitcase (you're in South America) so half an hour later we got to our hotel - the Anselmo in San Telmo. We immediately got our room (probably helped I mailed them a few days before), freshened up and went out to explore the city. San Telmo is the eldest neighborhood in BA. It used to be the place where the rich lived, but after an epidemy of yellow fever they moved to the north. Now San Telmo is inhabited by artisans and antique dealers.

                                                                  Plaza Dorrego

Buenos Aires in itself is already more than enough to see when you come to Argentina. Of course the whole country is very interesting, but we'll keep the south for another time. The town is as big as the whole our country and has various parts - San Telmo, Recoleta, Puerto Madero, Retiro, ... We took a private walking tour with guide Oliver from Buenos Tours. Oliver showed us the many aspects of the town and it was a very interesting day.

     Family tomb of the Duarte's - among which the famous Evita, wife of Juan Perron

While being in BA, we also had a general strike. We managed to keep away from the protesters,who became rather violent according to what we understood from the news in Spanish.

Another trip took us to the pampa's and the lovely village of San Antonio de Areca, where we were shown around by the friendly Guillermo. We also went to a ranch - an estancia - where we could ride gaucho horses and have a barbecue (asado). Another great day!

And next we discoverd the delta of the Rio Plata. North of BA you'll find Tigre, from where you can take a boat to sail the many canals of the wide delta. I've never been in New Orleans, but I imagine this is more or less like the bayou's there. Everything happens on the water - school, shops, farming, hospital, firefighters.

Lastly, you can never be in Argentina and not dance the tango. So we took a tango lesson (very basic, but you get the idea) and afterwards went to some milonga's (dance parties). Normally there should have been a milonga at our square (Plaza Dorrego) but it was raining rather hard that Sunday night.

Needless to say, we had a great trip!