Day 7 … a full day city tour of BA

Today we had a private, full day city tour with our guide Sandra and driver Robert (same driver from yesterday … not sure where Ian got the name Felix from!). After a lovely breakfast at our hotel and a little housekeeping … yes - the need to do some laundry … we headed out to meet Sandra. She was just walking in as we were heading out so we were off to a good start with lots of laughs about perfect timing.

Our first stop was to visit Cafe Tortoni. The Café Tortoni is a coffeehouse located at 825 Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. First opened in 1858 by a French immigrant whose surname was Touan, it was named Tortoni after the Parisian café of the same name. Even though we were not going to stop for a coffee, the coffee house welcomes visitors to come in and look around inside. It is exquisite … original marble topped tables, velvet seats, lead light lamps, beautiful glass light fixtures, frosted mirrors, waiters dressed in tuxedos, paintings adorn the walls, and incredible stained glass in the ceiling. We learnt about the coffee culture of Argentina … where people meet at cafes in the mid morning to share a coffee and chat. Business meetings are held in the cafes, students study there, older retired folk gather to chat. There is also a separate room where tango performances occur and a room dedicated to the history of the cafe.

As we drove through the city, Sandra pointed out things for us to look at around us. Here is the old Post Office, the first National Bank, the French Embassy, a former palace … the statues of “someone notable” (and no it is not that I didn’t pay attention to who the statue was of but more that we saw probably 50 statues today), this is Avenue 9 de Julio, or Ave de Mayo … we were given the absolute stellar tour and had whiplash from looking left, right and straight ahead.

Our next stop was not on our itinerary but when Sandra asked what we did for a living she asked Robert to detour to take us to El Ateneo, a massive bookshop located in an old theatre. Situated on Santa Fe Avenue, the building was designed for and opened as a theatre called Teatro Gran Splendid in May 1919. The eclectic building features ceiling frescoes and sculptures. El Ateneo Grand Splendid is considered one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. It was definitely filled with books, and yet it still had all the features of a theatre. People were sitting in the “boxes” reading a book and the stage was a cafe!

We then headed on to Casa Rosada, the “pink house” which is the official work place of the President of Argentina. It is pink in colour due to the fact that the stucco plaster used to coat the building had animal blood added to it to prevent it from absorbing pollution. Built in 1898, it is a grand building located directly across from Plaza de Mayo, a large public park where the largest Argentinian flag I have ever seen flies high. Sandra pointed out the balcony where Eva Peron would address the people! We chatted about how the Argentinian people feel about the Peron era … she explained that it was mixed. Some love and respect the work that Juan Peron did for the workers and for the poor but have very little respect for Eva. I asked about how they feel about the musical and the movie … she said Madonna is no Eva Peron!

We walked through Plaza de Mayo … a lovely large park that is the centre of the city where all of the protests happen. Thankfully nothing was happening while we were there but Sandra pointed out the images of the white scarves on the ground and told us that every Thursday women come and walk the circle (around the central pyramid) in protest for their lost children during the time of military dictatorship in the 1970s. Known as the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, what began as a protest movement in 1977 still continues today. Also at the Plaza is a monument of General Manuel Belgarno, a leader of the May Revolution. At the base of the statue are mounds of rocks of all shapes and sizes … some painted, some with a name written on them, or a date. They represent just some of those who died of Covid and have been left by the families as a memorial following a protest in August 2021 against the government’s handling of the pandemic. No matter where you go … the pandemic has left its mark.

We walked to the end of the plaza to the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy … the most non-Cathedral like looking building I have ever seen! Built in 1758 during a time when the government was not supportive of the Catholic Church, the officials decided it could be built but only if it didn’t look like a church and instead resembled a museum. So the facade has 12 large columns, a detailed bas-relief carving, a triangular roof line … and most oddly … no spire or bell. From the outside you wouldn’t even know it was a church … and then when you step inside … WOW!

It is gorgeous. Beautiful mosaic tiled floors, gorgeous stained glass windows, naves, sculptures, crosses, pulpits, an incredible pipe organ (c. 1871) and the Mausoleum of General San Martin who was the liberator of Chile, Peru and Argentina. The mausoleum is guarded by two guards who change every two hours and Sandra had timed our visit to match this procession. So we sat with about 100 school children to watch the changing of the guards and to then watch the guards as they leave to head back to Casa Rosada.

One final point to note about the Cathedral … it was the church of the late Pope Francis who was the Archbishop of BA for 15 years. He was known as Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio and was the first Latin American pope. He is well loved in Argentina.

Back to the car and Sandra offered to take us on a tour of San Telmo Mercado until we told her that we had already wandered through there yesterday and had in fact eaten there (twice). She was delighted when we told her we ate empanadas and she immediately named the restaurant we had eaten at! Instead we headed straight to our next location (just a couple of blocks from the market itself). We had about 50 minutes to “kill” time until our tour slot so we told Sandra to go and have a break and we would wander around for a while and meet her back at the tour location. She was hesitant but once we convinced her we would be fine … she gratefully took a break and grabbed some lunch for herself. She had told us earlier that during the “high” season she takes every job she can and so can work for weeks at a time with no break and had already worked several days in a row without stopping.

So we headed off for a wander … again in the area our hotel is in San Telmo … so we were familiar with the area. We found street art, cobbled roads, bougenvillia, cute statues from a 1970s children’s TV show, a statue of Mafalda who is a cultural icon in BA as she represents the child view of the world, politics and humanity. She began as a comic strip in 1964 and continued until 1973 but her status as a symbol of forward thinking remains today.

Back to meet up with Sandra we were booked in for a tour of El Zanjon. This historic, cultural museum is located in San Telmo and is a significant archeological site. Underneath what was an abandoned house in 1985 a magnificent home and more importantly a series of underground tunnels connected to neighbour houses formed a labyrinth deep below the houses. The tunnels were built in 1536 as a means of moving water from neighbouring rivers away from the houses, they were only discovered when the new owner began restoration work to open a restaurant. Those plans were quickly abandoned and a magnificent historical site has been developed. The tunnels were amazing and not something we had expected or anticipated.

Back to the car … off to the next stop … La Boca. This area in BA has the famous Boca Juniors football club stadium as well as the original neighbourhood houses. It is a vibrant area … with the houses painted in a rainbow of colours. The original tenement houses where residents shared a communal kitchen and shared toilet and bathing facilities and had their own small room for sleeping and leisure, were painted in whatever paint the residents could get that was left over from the docks at the river. Hence houses were all different colours. It is a more working-class part of town and yet it is a vibrant area and the locals are proud to show off their houses and welcome us into their neighbourhood. Restaurants with tango dancers or singers spruik to have you enter, wall friezes are carved into the stucco walls and street artists ply their trade (and scare the wits out of Ian).

Our original itinerary had us visiting the neighbourhood of Recoleta but the tour organiser had told Sandra it wasn’t included … this however did not stop Sandra. She asked if we were willing to skip out of a longer wander through the tourist shops (think cheap souvenirs) of La Boca and instead she would ask Robert to take us to Recoleta. We were delighted and so we jumped in the car and we drove through a very poor area … squatters, dilapidated buildings, more rubbish than we have seen (BA is spotless), an area where Sandra told us that as a guide they are forbidden to stop … towars Recoleta. We passed a beautiful nature reserve, the ports and then arrived at Recoleta.

This is where the massive 5 acre cemetery that has the mausoleums of over 21 presidents and also the grave of Eva Peron. We didn’t go into the cemetery but could see it through the gates (you have to pay to enter). It is like a mini city with paved roads, maps and street signs. We saw the most amazing fig tree complete with hanging branches supported by a statue of Atlas made out of old car parts. We had also seen the statue for Eva Peron which is surrounded by a fence because it is always being vandalised. Recoleta is posh and fancy … a massive contrast to the poorer area we had driven through not 20 minutes earlier.

And so … on to our final stop (are you still with me) … the Teatro Colon, the Opera House. This grand building built in 1908, hosts opera, ballet, orchestras and concerts by notable artists such as Andre Bocelli. We joined an English speaking tour that took us into the building - the foyer, the Gold Hall, the Hall of Masters and eventually the theatre itself. It is considered one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world and I kinda think I agree. Marble, stained glass, gold leaf, grand staircases, velvet chaise lounges, multiple tiers, private boxes, a massive stage … it was incredible. We had a fantastic tour guide (Vanessa) and we were fortunate to be able to sit and watch some of the rehearsal for the upcoming performance of Salome.

Before we went into our tour we had a brief look around the area and were amazed at the building next door and then even more amazed when we found out it was actually a school. Sandra tried to get us to be able to have a look inside but it was a no … which we totally understood.

And then it was time to head back to the hotel. A quick drive back, a farewell to Robert who we will not see again, a see you in 2 days to Sandra when she returns to take us to the airport and then inside to our hotel. Ian headed off to work and I began writing the blog before we headed out to dinner.

Dinner was pizza and pasta (very large Italian population and influence here) at a local bar. Dinner was delicious, the location perfect and company even better (Aw … shucks, from Ian). Now back at the hotel to post the blog, chill and prepare for tomorrow.