We ended our cruise where we started our South American Tour, Buenos Aires. The Zaandam was securely attached to the pier in BA when we woke up Sunday morning. We had one day to explore the city before returning to the ship for one last night. We were then transferred to the Sofitel chain’s Palladio Hotel, for two additional days of extended Holland America touring thanks to Kal at Four Corners Destinations Travel.
Having visited the city at the beginning of the tour, we were satisfied that most of the tourist highlights were already taken care of. Our goal was to go for a good long walk-about while enjoying the Sunday markets along Defensa Avenue. It is a twelve block walk extending from Bolivar Plaza de Mayo to the neighbourhood of San Telmo. The route is a continuous line of artisan stalls selling everything imaginable. At the end is the San Telmo Antique Market. The market has been in existence continuously for almost 50 years. It seemed to us that every local and tourist had the same idea. The crowds only added to the vibrant buzz rather than diminishing the experience.
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Changing Of The Guards - Pinkhouse
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Before we ventured down Defensa Avenue, we visited the “Pink House”, Argentina’s equivalent of the U.S. Whitehouse. We had a quick look inside the Cathedral and the tomb of San Martin, the leader of Argentina's Revolution for Independence.
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Cathedral & White Scarf Symbol of Mothers Who Lost Family to the Military Dictatorship
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San Marin - Father of Independence
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After, we happened upon the Prensa Building. We were attracted to its cool looking exterior (and I was looking for a bano after too much morning coffee). The building now houses the city’s cultural ministry but was once the home of the internationally famous La Prensa newspaper (yes I had heard of it). The family-owned newspaper existed in that location from 1869 to 1988. We enjoyed an English speaking tour of the ornate building. At one time it was considered one of the grandest buildings in the city. Our guide pointed out the various architectural embellishments depicting Masonic symbols. In the 19th century, it was necessary to belong to the Free Masons secret order to be successful in business.
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Ceiling
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Free Mason Society
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Defensa A
venue was a slow-moving river of stalls. We did manage to buy a few souvenirs but not really very much. Prices were reasonable but we lacked the luggage space. At the Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, the Antique Market was rich in everything old, some items preceded the 19th century but most of the stuff dated back to the 1920s, ’30s, '40s, and ’50s. There was also a cultural component as we watched numerous demonstrations of Tango Dancing.
We ended the day back on the ship after almost 13 kilometres of walking.
Day two was a transfer day from the ship to the Palladio Hotel. We were scheduled to stay at the BA Sofitel but some nuisance conference called the G-20 disrupted our original reservation. We kept an eye out for Justin but didn’t spot him.
In the evening we were picked up from the hotel for a sunset cruise through the Tigre Delta, to the city of Tigre, for a cultural show and dinner. The cruise itself took almost two hours as we headed west from BA on the river Plata and then into the river Parana. Where the Parana enters the Plata there are a series of islands and narrow waterways created by the sediment washed down by the river. The area has become a holiday summer haven for many of BA’s richer citizens. Eventually, we left the Parana and entered the Lujan River and docked at Tigre. Tigre is a rich suburb of BA and was a one-time summer playground for the Argentinean elite.
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Our River Cruiser
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Floating Grocery Store
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We enjoyed a tour of the Tigre Community Hall and Art Museum. The building itself is stunning. It looks like it was magically transported from Europe, reminding us of a different society, in the last century.
We received a guided tour of the Fine Art Museum and then enjoyed tapas and all the alcohol you could drink on the veranda roof overlooking the river and the city. Three couples entertained us with the best Tango dancing we had ever seen.
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Check Out That Tow Point
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Day three was a tour of the pampas outside the city to visit an original beef ranch and watch demonstrations of the gaucho (cowboy) skills on the ranch. It is a tourist ranch now but it has been kept much like its original and is a good representation of what life was like back in the day. The alcohol flowed freely for our four-hour stay but our guide warned our small group of 4 not to overindulge because we were going to be riding horses at some point and then we still have the hour and a half van ride back to the hotel. We sat down to an original ranch asado (BBQ). We eventually had to surrender as the all-you-can-eat menu included chorizo sausage, deer blood sausage, prime rib, chicken and finished with filet mignon. We started with four different types of salad and ended with dulce del leche for dessert.
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Big Beers - I Like This Country
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Our tour partners were a young couple from Brazil and they were careful to include us by attempting to speak to us in English. Once the wine and beer took its effects, much of our conversations was a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and English, and Charades. They were great fun to be with.
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Our New Brazilian Friends
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Day Five marked the end of the tour. The Palladio allowed us to stay after checkout. They held our bags and gave us free use of the fitness center and lounge areas as we waiting for our transport to Bernie’s B&B near the airport. Our flight leaves at 4:50 am Friday morning so we had to book a place to hangout until our 2 am check-in. Our journey home will take 20 hours with stops in Panama and Cancun before flying nonstop to Vancouver.
