Buenos Aires, Argentina

Steaks and malbec

Our reunion began at our hotel, Torrecillas SoHo, after a 12 hour flight for Marc´s parents and a 14 hour bus ride for us.  Wednesday afternoon and evening we recuperated from our respective journeys and rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner of steaks and malbec.

Our first day exploring the city started out a bit rocky.   Marc and I needed to run a few time-sensitive errands and dragged his parents along.  The first stop – US consulate.  I have never needed to visit an embassy and was a bit excited about going there; however, the novelty wore off quickly.  After our various weapons were seized at security (2 nail clippers, a pocket knife, bottle of water, 2 cameras, and a flash drive) we entered a DMV like waiting room.   The process of getting pages added to my passport took almost 2 hours (1 hour of waiting for my number to be called and another hour for the pages to be added).   After a quick picnic lunch and a long walk to Recoleta to visit a useless tourist information booth we separated from his parents.  They opted to go to a cafe (or three, we discovered later!) while we headed over to the Indian consulate (more on that later).

Erica and Ira posing on the Caminito in La Boca

Our real first day of sightseeing began on Friday and we have been on the go since.  Our mix of activities has included: a 2 day bus tour of the city; a stop in the La Boca neighborhood for one of our favorite meals at Puerto Viejo; 2 museums – MALBA and the Evita Museum; an evening out at a tango show (Taconeando); a day trip to an estancia (La Cinacina); walks through the botanical gardens, zoo, Japanese gardens and Recoleta cemetery; a visit to South America´s largest bookstore; and exploration of  numerous other parks and statues.  In addition, in between all of our walking and sightseeing we have managed to stop at practically every cafe and ice cream shop between Palermo and San Telmo!

Marc and I have fallen in love with Buenos Aires and are happy with the decision to meet up with Marc´s parents here.  It is a beautiful city with plenty of activities to keep everyone occupied.  Erica and Ira have been great sports and have managed to keep up with a fast paced itinerary.  Today, after a whirlwind week of activities we are taking a breather and only venturing out to a cafe and dinner.

Lodging: Torrecillas SoHo