We went to the Plaza de Mayo in the center of the city which is a square that contains the Casa Rosada or the pink house which is the office of the Argentina president. Evita Peron appeared at the balcony above the square at Casa Rosada before crowds of supporters to give her famous speech. Also in the square is the Cabildo which was the former meeting place of the colonial town council but now it is a national museum.
We drove on the famous Avenida 9 de Julio which commemorates the date of the Argentina's independence from Spain. This avenue is considered to be the world's wides boulevard with 14 lanes! There is a 230 foot tall while Obelisco located in the center of the street!
Next stop, Recoleta Cemetery! WOW! This place was amazing! Founded in 1822, the oldest grave in the cemetery is from 1823. The cemetery is divided into streets, with mausoleums lining the roads. Families buy by the square meter. In the cemetery there are 4,800 mausoleums and each one is uniquely designed. Some spots unfortunately have not been cared for and therefore are left unattended and almost fallen apart. Although some are intricately designed with statues of the deceased that tell stories about how the person died. The cemetery was very interesting and it is very easy to spend an entire day walking around.
In the Palmero district of BA, there are many beautiful parks. We went to Rosedal, or the Rose Park, which was filled with tons of different colored roses and other flowers. There was a bridge that connects the different parks as well as seating areas throughout!
There is a mechanical monument of a flower in the middle of the city. It represents the flowers of the world and during the day the petals of the flower open and at night they close.
We stopped at Cafe Tortoni to see the first cafe in BA and the first to have open air seating outdoors! It was a beaufiful cafe with tons of seating and beautifully carved woodwork.
For lunch we went to the La Boca. This was a very colorful area. The buildings were painted in bright colors of red, blues and greens. The streets were filled vendors and outdoor cafes and restaurants. There were people performing tango dances in the street and on the stages in front of the cafes. Side streets were lined with street artists selling their work - all types of paintings, drawings, watercolors and sketches. We bought some Dulce de Leche sauce from the Havanna store. We had lunch at this very colorful restaurant. We had meat empanadas and this skillet of grilled provolone cheese. Basically it was melted cheese with herbs in a case iron skillet that was grilled! It was so good! As we ate, there were tango dancers and gauchos performing on the stage in front of us! Afterwards, we went to a few outdoor street markets and stores. Alot of the stores sold leather products along with the matte cups used for tea.
We spent time walking around the different squares of the city, going in and out of cathedrals such as the one that contained the tomb of Jose de San Martan. We also saw the Teatro Colan, which is one of the world's most famous opera houses. There are also many museums as well as Calle Florida, which is the main shopping street that is only for pedestrians.
I really enjoyed Buenos Aires, from the gaucho to the tango to seeing the many different parts of the city! There is so much to see!
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