This blog has been quiet for the last couple of weeks while my sister Karen and my 16 year-old twin nieces visited Buenos Aires. Here’s a photo of Kaitlyn and Kacie in Parque Lezama:
Even though they were here for 17 days we still didn’t have a chance to do a lot of the things I had planned. It reminded me of the superficial nature of tourism, that as a tourist you only scratch the surface of a city. Here’s a little summary of their visit:
Day 1: Arrive early morning in Buenos Aires on LAN flight from Miami. Spend day wandering around San Telmo, visiting several churches and Plaza de Mayo.
Day 2: Take the free city tour by bus around Buenos Aires. The tour wasn’t very good but it ended in Belgrano so we had we a good lunch in Barrio Chino. Actually, the bus trip back to San Telmo on the 29 was a much better tour of the city.
Day 3: A day of fog and walking…wandered around Puerto Madero, saw a good exhibition of Molina Campos works at UCA, walked around the microcentro. Since it was Thursday we headed to Plaza de Mayo to see the Madres. Then pizza for lunch followed by a stroll down Av de Mayo to Congreso. After that it was a hike over to Abasto where I left the girls on their own to do some shopping while I attended a book reading group. Afterwards we took the subte back to San Telmo. This was a long day.
Day 4: Recoleta cemetery, then over to Bellas Artes, then over to see the Flower, then the 17 bus home.
Day 5: I collapse with the flu! The girls spend the day in San Telmo.
Day 6: I stay in bed while everyone else heads out on Sunday to the Feria de Mataderos.
Day 7: I remain ill, so the girls explore La Boca then take a taxi over to do some shopping on Florida street and explore Plaza San Martín.
Day 8: This was a Tuesday and I have forgotten what happened this day, probably more shopping and exploring by the girls on their own. My flu is slowly getting better.
Day 9: The girls go to the zoo with Ceci’s mom. (I’m still under the weather). They really liked the zoo.
Day 10: I stay home resting while the girls go shopping in Once with Ceci. In the evening they go to a folclore concert with Ceci’s parents.
Day 11: The girls take the ferry to Colonia for a day trip. I stay home resting for the weekend.
Day 12: I’ve recovered from the flu and we board the bus to Iguazu Falls.
Day 13: Arrive in Iguazu, spend the afternoon exploring the Argentine side of the park.
Day 14: A full day in the Argentine side of the park at Iguazu Falls.
Day 15: Take a bus over to the Brazil side of the park, view the wonderful panorama of the falls from the Brazil side, then head back across the border, then board the bus for the overnight trip back to Buenos Aires.
Day 16: Arrive back in Buenos Aires, a rainy day so we just stay home resting. Late in the afternoon, while I’m sleeping, the girls head out and visit the national history museum next to Parque Lezama.
Day 17: The final day. It’s sunny, thankfully. We hop on the 39 and I take them to El Ateneo on Santa Fe, then we walk around Recoleta, wandering down Av Alvear seeing the fancy buildings, then cross over 9 de Julio. Visit the Isaac Fernandez Blanco museum, wander around Plaza San Martín, stroll down Florida street, cross Plaza de Mayo, then walk down Defensa back home. Have a late lunch at a restaurant next to Parque Lezama then it’s time to take the taxi to Ezeiza. Traffic to EZE is horrible but we make it on time and they fly off to the U.S.
It was a fun trip. It was the first time that my sister or the twins had ever been outside of the U.S. They seemed to have really enjoyed it. I wish I didn’t get sick but they managed fine on their own. Fortunately, I recovered enough to go to Iguazu with them. Their visit reminded me just how much there is to do in Buenos Aires.
June 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I’m sorry to hear that you got sick. I’ve heard Igazu falls are fantastic. I am planning on backpacking through South America (Argentina, Uruguay and Chile) maybe for next summer and I was wondering more or less if you knew how much money should a budget traveller like me take?
June 24th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
“Their visit reminded me just how much there is to do in Buenos Aires.”
Isn’t it always like this?? When you live in a city you sometimes start to take things for granted and not do the things on offer. When my mum visited me in BA last year, i cracked out the guide books and was confronted by dozens of things to do that i really should have already done or things that i had forgotten i’d done and wanted to do again! I love having visitors to wherever i’m living as it’s a great excuse to play tourist…and being a tourist in your own city can be really fun and liberating. You see everything in a different way.
At least with being ill you managed to avoid that shopping trip to hell…sorry Once…!
June 25th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I have visited BsAs on a number of research trips. I like your blog because you include activities and places that I have yet to do and see. Many thanks for sharing your experiences.
Question: do you need a Brazilian visa in order to see the Brazil side of Iguazu? I don’t want to pay the $100, but I’m itching to get up there and see it all. Also, how was the bus up there?
June 25th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Gricelle – I’ve never been good at figuring out the budget travel costs, though it’s pretty low. One rule of thumb: the slower you travel, the less expensive. Transport is the biggest cost so the longer you stay in one area, then the cheaper the overall trip. You’ll see fewer places but I’ve become more and more a fan of slow travel, staying longer in one place and absorbing it more rather than hopping around every few days. BTW, Iguazu Falls are fantastic!
Matt – you’re right! Being a tourist in your own city is great every now and then.
Jen – Thanks for your nice words about my blog. You don’t need a Brazilian visa to see the Brazil side of the falls. Hotels in Iguazu will try to sell you an expensive tour to bypass the visa requirement but you can do it on your own by taking a local bus.
Just go to the bus station in Puerto Iguazu and there will be a couple of local buses departing every half-hour or so to Brazil. These buses are clearly marked with International or Brasil on the front of the bus. The cost is 2 or 3 pesos, depending upon the bus line.
The bus will stop at the border and everyone must get off to be stamped out of Argentina at the Argentine immigration. But the bus never stops at the Brazil immigration post, strange but true. After the bus crosses the border, which is really a bride over the river, then the bus heads into Foz do Iguaçu. From the bus station in Foz, look for the bus in the station marked Parque Nacional and take that bus to the falls. Alternatively, the bus from Puerto Iguazu may just drop off passengers going to the falls just after the bus passes the border into Brazil. In this case, you just walk about 200 meters to a bus stop down the road and wait for the local bus heading into Parque Nacional or take a taxi that may be waiting near the bus stop.
It’s really quite easy to take the local bus into Brazil and much cheaper than taking a tour arranged by a hotel. Also, it’s a bit more of an adventure.
On the way back from Brazil the bus will again stop at the Argentine immigration so that you get a new 90 day stamp for Argentina but doesn’t stop at Brazil immigration.
It all sounds complicated but it’s not.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
I agree with you, the slower one travels the better it is. It’s so complicated trying to fit everything into one day.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
This was the best trip I have ever been on. Thank you for all you did. I learned so much. I think I learned more in Buenos Aires than i do during spanish class. Now I want to go to the bottom of Argentina and Antartica. Maybe we can do that next time.
December 15th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Hi Kacie, glad you really enjoyed the trip! Next time we’ll go down to Patagonia.