Buenos Aires - Nightlife, Tango, and Our Intro to South America!

After handling the cash situation (or lack thereof), we were finally able to enjoy the city. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, I was not over-excited about seeing the city and viewed it more as a stop before Iguazu Falls, but we were gradually surprised by the city. It is definitely a different type of city than Cape Town so it took some time to realize this.

Buenos Aires from the plane when we flew in.

On the Lonely Planet guide to Buenos Aires, the top attraction was listed as the Recoleta Cemetery. Really? A cemetery? We checked this out on our second day after walking downtown (with no money) on our first day. I didn't know this, but this cemetery is the resting place of many famous Argentinians, including Eva Peron (Evita) and many presidents and generals. Although, I was skeptical in the beginning, the first view of the entrance quickly changed my mind. Everyone there is buried above ground, in crypts. Each one is directly beside another and some resemble small chapels with entire families resting inside. Another bonus was that it is free to visit!

The famous Recoleta Cemetery where many famous, influential, and wealthy people are buried in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is known for its night life. We decides to combine this with another well-known fact about Buenos Aires. It is the origin of the tango. We had planned to see a tango show so we booked one through our hostel that included dinner and a small wine tasting. We arrived and were treated to a wine tasting, 3-course meal, and the show. We have taken some dance lessens and we know some of the tango, but this was on an entirely different level. I thought I might be able to pick out some steps but that never happened. Everything was WAY too fast. There was more singing than expected, including a good version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." We were dropped off late at our hostel in a rainstorm with it still stuck in our heads. We weren´t able to take pictures during the show, so we have little to show for it, but it was worth it.

Casa Rosada, where the President of Argentina works and where Eva Peron addressed the people and famously said ¨Don´t cry for me Argentina.¨

A portrait of Eva Peron in the Casa Rosada.

We spent the next day visiting Palermo, an interesting neighborhood towards the north. We sat down for a show in the planetarium, which, although it was narrated in Spanish, was really fun since we haven't been to one since we were kids. This area had lots of parks and pathways to walk and we saw some pretty talented rollerbladers.

The planetarium! This takes me back to my childhood.

By the time we got to the bus station on that Sunday, we were ready to move on to the second set of massive waterfalls on our trip, Iguazu Falls. The bus we took was almost like traveling in your own bed. The seats were huge and they laid back much more than normal, which we hear is quite common in South America.

(Written February 10th)