Per usual, Murphy's Law ruled and there were some bumps along the road. For example, it’s said that you cannot find a bad piece of steak in Argentina, somehow we did. The "stovetop" (which most would call it was a Bunsen burner, but stovetop has a nicer ring to it) in our apartment ran out of gas on Friday, 2 days before check-out, and apparently you can't add gas over the weekend so no tea or coffee for us. Also, our flight from Iguazu to BA was delayed for 2 hours so we got to know the 2 gate Iguazu airport pretty well. One perk was that we received a complementary meal on LAN airlines for the inconvenience- we all got the milanesa: don’t bother looking at the menu because it’s your only option.
So yes, there were a few bumps, but overall it was a really nice trip. They got to see all the good things Buenos Aires has to offer and by the time they left Argentina they had their share of really good quality Argentine beef. They were able to enjoy a free tango concert at Mílon and saw the tango dancers of the San Telmo Market. Unfortunately, we did sit through a really bad city bus tour. The guide was sweet and gave it a very solid effort, but she gave the tour in both Spanish and English so by the time she'd get around to explaining the point of interest in English, she was out of breath and the it was usually 200 meters behind us. However, a highlight of the tour was that it took us to La Boca, which is always worth a visit. To redeem myself from putting them on that awful time-killer, I took my parents on the two Free BA Tours, both the Aristocratic Tour and the City Tour were great. The guides were knowledgeable and funny. We also visited Tigre outside of BsAs and there we went to the Museo Arte. The museum is housed is the most beautiful building I have seen in Argentina and it is only AR$5 to enter!
The highlight of the trip was Puerto Iguazu which is located in the Northeast of Argentina near the borders of Paraguay and Brazil. We went during rainy season, not on purpose of course, and while there was rain, we lucked out because we had two sunny days in the National Park. I should also mention that the weather was beyond hot- we were all dripping with sweat, it was 112% humidity and close to 100 degrees. Thank goodness our hotel had a pool- we all took advantage of that amenity. The waterfalls were spectacular- they put the Niagara Falls to shame. We took a boat trip underneath the falls, which was a lot of fun and a great way to cool off (you get soaked). We also saw some great wildlife, such as butterflies, birds, coatís and lizards. You literally walk through a jungle to get to the waterfalls and as you walk you see all these different types of creatures flitting and scampering in front of you. Mom was the official butterfly whisperer, every time I turned around there was one sitting on her hand. While we (meaning Mom and I) didn't get to see the grand túcan, Dad caught a glimpse of one on our way to the airport and was even able to use his expansive Spanish vocabulary to describe it-- he asked our driver "¿grande?" and was given an affirmative "¡Si!"
When we got back to Buenos Aires, we obviously arrived a little later than expected due to our layover, so we really only had time for dinner. And while I pushed for the early 8:30PM dinner timeslot, it was Pat who insisted on 9:30PM. I think I turned them into true porteños. Hopefully Pat will write her guest blog spot soon and share some of her photos, but in the meantime below are some shots from Iguazu.
So yes, there were a few bumps, but overall it was a really nice trip. They got to see all the good things Buenos Aires has to offer and by the time they left Argentina they had their share of really good quality Argentine beef. They were able to enjoy a free tango concert at Mílon and saw the tango dancers of the San Telmo Market. Unfortunately, we did sit through a really bad city bus tour. The guide was sweet and gave it a very solid effort, but she gave the tour in both Spanish and English so by the time she'd get around to explaining the point of interest in English, she was out of breath and the it was usually 200 meters behind us. However, a highlight of the tour was that it took us to La Boca, which is always worth a visit. To redeem myself from putting them on that awful time-killer, I took my parents on the two Free BA Tours, both the Aristocratic Tour and the City Tour were great. The guides were knowledgeable and funny. We also visited Tigre outside of BsAs and there we went to the Museo Arte. The museum is housed is the most beautiful building I have seen in Argentina and it is only AR$5 to enter!
The highlight of the trip was Puerto Iguazu which is located in the Northeast of Argentina near the borders of Paraguay and Brazil. We went during rainy season, not on purpose of course, and while there was rain, we lucked out because we had two sunny days in the National Park. I should also mention that the weather was beyond hot- we were all dripping with sweat, it was 112% humidity and close to 100 degrees. Thank goodness our hotel had a pool- we all took advantage of that amenity. The waterfalls were spectacular- they put the Niagara Falls to shame. We took a boat trip underneath the falls, which was a lot of fun and a great way to cool off (you get soaked). We also saw some great wildlife, such as butterflies, birds, coatís and lizards. You literally walk through a jungle to get to the waterfalls and as you walk you see all these different types of creatures flitting and scampering in front of you. Mom was the official butterfly whisperer, every time I turned around there was one sitting on her hand. While we (meaning Mom and I) didn't get to see the grand túcan, Dad caught a glimpse of one on our way to the airport and was even able to use his expansive Spanish vocabulary to describe it-- he asked our driver "¿grande?" and was given an affirmative "¡Si!"
When we got back to Buenos Aires, we obviously arrived a little later than expected due to our layover, so we really only had time for dinner. And while I pushed for the early 8:30PM dinner timeslot, it was Pat who insisted on 9:30PM. I think I turned them into true porteños. Hopefully Pat will write her guest blog spot soon and share some of her photos, but in the meantime below are some shots from Iguazu.
At the Tres Fronteras.
The Falls.
The butterfly whisperer with her friends.
Dad getting soaked in front of the falls. 
Your trip to the falls was so amazing! Love the photo of your Dad under the Falls! BA is a great city!
ReplyDeleteLove the photos! I'm sure you all had a great time!
ReplyDelete