Buenos Aires

Arrived about 9am from IAD.  We took a remis (taxi) by Manuel Tienda Leon for $130ARS to our hostel Telmotango Hostel Suites.  When we got there they said our room would be ready shortly and they gave us coffee and pastries while we waited.  They gave us a choice of 2 rooms one was further back in the house with 2 twin beds and a set of bunk beds the other was in the front of the building with a french doors leading out onto a balcony.  It had a double bed and a loft with 2 twin beds.  Both rooms had ensuites we took the room at the front of the building even though it was noisy as it had so much more space.  After we put our stuff away we went out to walk around the city.  We went over to Florida street (pedestrian mall area) and walked down it from about 11am till 2pm.  We stopped at  the Florida Cafe and had a nice lunch and then walked over to the Puerto Madero area.    We stopped at the information booth there and found a very helpful lady who advised us what to see in that area and was able to point them out on a map for us.  From the info booth we walked by Buque Museo ARA Corbeta Uruguay which was a ship that was used to rescue a Swedish expediiton to Antarctica in 1901.  We walked over to the Buque Museo Fragata Sarmiento (ship museum sarmiento frigate).  It cost $2ARS to board the ship.  It was  built in 1898 and it made 39 trips across the world seas.  It was well worth checking out.  We then crossed the Puente De La Mujer (bridge of the woman) and walked over to the Fountain of the Nereids.  By this time it was getting colder and we headed back to our hostel.  We relaxed for a couple of hours and then headed out to get dinner (Argentinians don't start serving dinner until 8pm or later)  We walked down to Medio y Medio and had Uraguayan Chivitos (thin meat sandwiches steak/pork/or chicken). 

Day 2.

We are not fast movers in the morning so it was about 11am before we headed out to Cemeterio de la Recoleta.  We took the local bus which was cheap and resonably easy to navigate.  Although it was a little slow as it got stuck in traffic and quite crowded for 11am.  We wandered all over the cemetary checking out some of the interesting tombs.  Some of them are elaborately decorated with stained glass windows and carvings.  You can tell that some of them the families have died out as they are not being cared for anymore.  But others have family members in taking care of them and leaving fresh flowers.  We saw where Eva Peron was buried in her family plot which was quite plain compared with some.  After several hours wandering around La Recoleta we stopped at Basilica Nuestra Senora Del Pilar (church of our lady of pilar.)  We stopped at a pizza parlor for lunch before walking over to Plaza San Martin to see the monument to General San Martin and the monument to Malvinas war fallen heros (falkland's war).  We walked passed the Torre Monumental (british monumental tower) to Cafe Retiro for coffee in the Estacion Retiro.  We rode the Subtle including line A which still uses the original wooden subway cars back to our hostel.  Jon and I headed back down to Medio y Medio for dinner and Sheila stayed in and slept as she was exhausted.

Day 3

We headed out to check out the Obelisco this morning.  After checking that out we headed up Aveinde de Corrientes to check out some of the theaters that were suppose to be things to see we found a couple of them and missed some of them as they are not something that really stands out from the rest of the buildings around them.  We then walked around this area for a while and then walked over to Juana M's for lunch.  We had an excellent tenderloin steak for lunch.  The portion size was so big that we could have shared and still left the resturant stuffed.  We walked over to Reitro Train Station and rode the subtle to Plaza de Mayo.  We checked out the Casa Rosada and the Plaza de los Dos Congresos and some of the other building in the area including Iglesia de San Ignacio which is supposed to be the oldest church in the city.  We rode the suble back to the hostel and got our stuff together to head back to the airport for our flight back to the state.  The hostel set up a remis for us for $90ARS for the three of us.