Buenos Aires is one of the cultural and commercial capitals
of South America. It dates back from 1526 when Spanish explorer Pedro de
Mendoza camped on a bluff above the Rio de la Plata, possibly at the site of
present day Parque Lazama. In 1776 Buenos Aires became the capital of the new
Viceroyalty of the River Plata, which included the famous sliver district of
Potosi, a recognition that the adolescent city had outgrown Spain’s parental
authority. Current day Buenos Aires has a reputation as being the Paris of the
South, which leads travelers to expect European styles and in fact many of the
capital’s turn of the century buildings would not be out of place across the
Atlantic. Yet what distinguishes this 21st century metropolis from
other cities is its proximity to the country and, in turn, country living.
This is the last port, except St. Maarten that we have
visited, so the rest will be new.
The first day we were up very early as some friends of ours
were getting off and we wanted to help them print out their boarding passes.
Because of this I got some really nice sunrise pictures.
We are docked at a working port again and needed to take a
shuttle to the port gate.
On this first day we had a tour outside of Buenos Aires to
see a gaucho ranch. On the way out of town we did pass the planetarium and some
Jackoranda (not sure of spelling) trees.
We also went by the bus and train stations.
After a 1 ½ hour bus ride we arrived at the estancia, a
country residence and old ranch. The ranch house is now a museum.
The first thing we saw was the gauchos as they put their stock
of horses through their paces. The lead mare wears a bell and all the other
horses will follow. The gaucho (cowboy) has a lead on the mare.
They then put the horses away and did a game of which I do
not know the name. They hang a very tiny ring by a strap and the gauchos use a
very small stick to try and retrieve the ring from the strap. If they do, they
bring it to a woman in the crowd and then she kisses him. I did not get one,
but have a picture so you can understand the size of the ring.
We then took a buggy ride and others took a horseback ride.
We were able to see some owls while out there.
The next thing was lunch which as an Asado, an Argentinian
BBQ. It was quite a feast as we had bread, salads, meat and more meat and flan
with Dulce de Leche. That is a sauce that you can buy in the jar that resembles
caramel but tastes a little different.
Lastly we had a folkloric dance. They had a singer, samba dancers
and a gaucho that danced with the bolos.
Day 2 – 2/10/17
Today was not very exciting. Since we had been here before
we just took a shuttle into the shopping area and did a little bit of looking
around. This is a look at the architecture and a better picture of the train
station.
We then went into the Galerias Pacifico. This is a high end
shopping mall, but it is in an old restored building.
This central dome is a place of cultural heritage
significance in the city. In 1946 five muralists ad painters decorated the
4,800 square foot area of the Galerias Pacifico’s Central Dome with their
works. Artists Berni, Castagnino, Colmeiro, Spilimbergo and Urruchua agreed to
decorate the dome representing the primary values and common socio-cultural practice
in different cultures, such as the family and contact with Nature.
We then came back to the ship.
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