Sunday, December 5th
Arrival 08:00
Docked, Starboard side to
Sunny skies, Good visibility
28ºC/82.4ºF. Wind: North-Westerly 7 knots
Buenos Aries, Argentina’s huge, vibrant, capital is several cities in one, and one of the cultural and commercial capitals of South America. Current day Buenos Aries has the reputation of being the “Paris of the South”. It is a city of contrasts. The downtown represents a city with class, its streets are among the most beautiful and elegant on the continent.
Most of the quaint, brightly-hued corrugated tenement houses are around the Vuelta de Rocha port basin. However, it is not considered safe to stray from the four blocks around the Caminito pedestrian street that serves as an open-air art gallery and market for tourists. The street dancers were aggressive and wanted $10 for a photo with me in a tango pose.
Ricoleta Cementary in the business district is home to the graves of notable Argentinians such as former president and Eva Peron.
We took a self-guided tour of the downtown area on the first day, disembarked from MS Amsterdam early Sunday December 6th and took an all day bus tour of the city with lunch at a Tango House. This quite possibly was the highlight of the trip for us. The food and dancing were spectacular and went on for hours. The passion and excitement of the tango was all encompassing.
