February 1, 2015
Our ship has come in! Last port of call for the Celebrity Infinity on this run. A great cruise with some good entertainment, including tango dancers and gauchos who came aboard for our last night and put on quite the show. Tango of course, being the dance of Argentina. We spent one day and night on the ship here before disembarking on Sunday.
Our first day, we opted again for the Hop On Hop Off bus. Some glitches with headphones and sound but we got where we wanted to go and saw all there was to see, with a few side trips (hop offs to tour fútbol stadiums etc.). A big city with so much history and much to see. Back onboard, we took in the tango show then packed our bags for our 4 night hotel stay. Back on land!
Buenos Aires the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after Greater São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the continent's southeastern coast. The Greater Buenos Aires has a population of around fifteen and a half million.
Sunday morning our guide Diego met us on time as planned at the ship, loaded our bags into his van and dropped us to the NH Crillón Hotel. He was very helpful and had maps and suggestions on what we could do for the remainder of the day and left us on our own to wreak havoc on Buenos Aires.
Argentina is in quite a state economically and their currency (Peso) is rapidly decreasing in value, so much so that it is being dealt on the Black Market. Some have made it their 'profession' to sell 'Blue Dollars' on the street and you cannot walk for 5 seconds, literally, before someone doesn't yell "Cambio, cambio, cambio, dollars" at you. It became quite a joke. If you agree to their exchange rate (for US dollars), you go with them to an undisclosed location to complete the transaction, could be a back alley or corner of a restaurant, called caves. The bank rate is roughly 8 Pesos to 1 US Dollar. On the street you can do as well as 13 or 14 to 1. Our tour guide gave us 12 to 1 and we were happy not to deal with the street dudes.
We explored a bit and ended up at a Sunday market, a very long cobblestone street, closed to vehicles on Sundays for vendors to sell their wares, mostly handicrafts. The highlight of the market was a place we stumbled upon. As usual, head toward the music and there will be something fun to do or see, in this case, a few musicians, some BBQs set up selling steak or chorizo on buns, traditional Argentinian fare, and best of all, tango dancers. It was a space normally used as a parking lot, pretty primitive, some shade cover but very rustic.The beer was just a bonus. We grabbed a bun, a beer, sat in the sweltering heat and took in the local entertainment. Every now and again they would put down a bucket should you wish to make a donation, which we did.
It was awesome - our kinda fun.
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