Feb 24-25 Arrival in Buenos Aires

The trip down to Buenos Aires went about as smoothly as possible, short flight from New Orleans to Miami followed by a 6-hour layover before leaving around 8:30 pm for the overnight flight to Buenos Aires.  We followed an interesting course, flying south over Cuba and Panama, then hugging the west coast of South America before turning east over Santiago, Chile for the final leg.

We touched down in Buenos Aires at 7:22 am, always a propitious time for me, and we were through all the formalities and in a van headed downtown by 8:30.  The hotel is in a great location in the center of the City, in the block between the Obelisk and the Teatro Colon, but as we could see from the plane, Buenos Aires is just a VAST city.

After getting settled in, we went out for lunch, to find an ATM machine for some cash, and to look around.  The hotel is on the Av. 9 Julio, a major thoroughfare that carries about 15 lanes of traffic, and reminds you of the Champs Elysees in Paris, only wider and busier.  Directly across, we had empanadas at a sandwich shop that had some outdoor seating on a side street that had been converted to a pedestrian mall, then  wandered around looking at the neighborhood sights, and finally (after several unsuccessful attempts) finding an ATM that didn’t reject our cards.   

The Obelisk, in the center of Av. 9 Julio

Teatro Colon

The Plaza Lavalle.  The building in the center
is the Supreme Court of Argentina

Dinner was at a nice steakhouse about 8 blocks from the hotel that had been recommended, and was excellent.  Sweetbreads, a Ribeye and Pavlova for me.  We outlasted the early seating and people were still arriving for dinner at 10:30 pm when we finally left!  Walked back along the Av. Corrientes, which appears to be a theater district, but also lined with coffee shops, a lot of of candy stores, bookstores on every block, and many, many outdoor cafes.  It was really lively even at 11:00 at night, including a surprising number of family groups with small children and even babies in strollers at that hour.  All in all, a terrific first day.  No jet lag to speak of; it’s just 3 hours ahead of NOLA here.

Av. Corrientes at night