The terminal near downtown Buenos Aires is very modern and like a small airport or cruise ship terminal. There is a baggage check in area, a nice area with tables, a snack bar, and a couple of shops. When we entered the terminal there was…Read More

The terminal near downtown Buenos Aires is very modern and like a small airport or cruise ship terminal. There is a baggage check in area, a nice area with tables, a snack bar, and a couple of shops.

When we entered the terminal there was a schedule of trips on the wall and an information booth. If you are going to Colonia there is the choice of a one-hour Buquebus or a three-hour ferry trip. The 3-hour one is, of course, a lot cheaper, in fact almost half the price. At the Ventas line you tell them which trip you want and show your passport. You have a choice between first class and tourist class. You then go to pay at the Caja (cashier) and are issued a ticket. There is a booth next to the Ventas where you can change Argentine pesos or US dollars to Uruguay pesos.

There is an area to check luggage but most people just had carry-on. We were given a boarding pass and then went through immigration. Immigration officials from both countries are surprisingly in the same room. We obtained our exit stamp from the Argentina side of immigration and were then pointed towards the Uruguayan immigration official in the same room who gave us an entry stamp. That way once you get off in Uruguay, you don't have to queue to enter the country.

Once we entered the departure area, we noticed people were lining up to board even though there was still 45 minutes to departure. Since there are no assigned seats you line up to get the best seats. There is an enclosed walkway to the ferry, and on board we were pleased to find the seats are like airline seats but much bigger and with plenty of leg room. They also reclined nicely. There was plenty of room to store your carry on under the seat in front of you. In the back there was an area with a few tables. There was a snack bar that sold sandwiches, soft drinks, coffee, tea, beer, wine and pastries.

Once we were underway, a small duty free shop opened. They were selling perfume, alcohol, cigarettes, and candy. The cigarettes and alcohol, especially American whiskey, seemed to be hot items.

The trip over was relaxing except for a noisy group of soccer supporters who were going to support their team but who in the process disturbed everyone else of the ferry. It was easy to move around even though the ferry was virtually full. The weather was calm so there were virtually no waves, just a gentle rocking. On the way back we had an even larger vessel which was almost like a small cruise ship. The whole exercise was pleasant and quite efficient.
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The three airports in Buenos Aires are the J. Newbery AeroPark, Ezeiza Ministro Pistarini International Airport and the Comandante Espora Aero Station, in Bahía Blanca. The most important of them, the Ezeiza International Airport, is located 34 km from the city and serves international airlines…Read More

The three airports in Buenos Aires are the J. Newbery AeroPark, Ezeiza Ministro Pistarini International Airport and the Comandante Espora Aero Station, in Bahía Blanca. The most important of them, the Ezeiza International Airport, is located 34 km from the city and serves international airlines as well as the national airlines that fly to foreign countries. The two other airports are generally utilized for domestic flights or to neighbouring countries only.

Most domestic flights, called "cabotaje" arrive and depart from Jorge Newbery AeroPark, located approximately 15 minutes from downtown Buenos Aires. It is necessary to pay an airport tax on these local flights. Jorge Newbery is located in the Palermo neighbourhood, only a few kilometres northeast of the center of the city. The airport is operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. and is named after Argentine aviator Jorge Newbery. It is the main airport for domestic flights in Buenos Aires and only carries flights from Argentine and Uruguayan companies. We landed here when we arrived in Buenos Aires on our flight from Iguassu Falls.

Ezeiza Airport has long been home to the country's main airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, which was founded in 1949. There are three terminals at the Airport: Terminal A, the International Terminal; Terminal B, the Argentina Airlines Terminal; and Terminal C, the National Terminal. A general information desk is located within the International Terminal and is staffed from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm every day. The airport has a VIP room for members only, offering Internet access and fax machines. There are also bureaux de change outlets, cash machines (ATMs), restaurants, shops, parking facilities and a good choice of car hire companies.

We had several hours between flights after arriving from Australia on one occasion here and so we had plenty of time to explore the buildings. I must say I don’t think it is a particularly impressive airport and I was delighted that we were able to use the VIP lounge with its comfortable seats and finger food rather than having to wait in the general terminal.

Passengers connecting from Aerolíneas Argentinas international flights to domestic flights out of Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Airport are provided with a complimentary shuttle service to the AeroPark.

For transportation to the city there are usually bus, taxi or remise services that you can count on to take you to your hotel. Be aware, though, that the bus will only take you to the center of the city. The remise is a type of taxi in which the rates have already been previously established. In Ezeiza Airport, remise are contracted in the airport at established posts or booths. The microbus has a set departure schedule for its passengers. This service is quite inexpensive but the buses make several stops, therefore it could take up to 2 hours to get to downtown Buenos Aires from the airport.
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Buenos Aires was once known as the City of Trams. It had one of the most extensive networks in the world with over 857 km of track, but most of it was dismantled during the 1960s in favour of bus transportation. Despite this there are…Read More

Buenos Aires was once known as the City of Trams. It had one of the most extensive networks in the world with over 857 km of track, but most of it was dismantled during the 1960s in favour of bus transportation. Despite this there are some tram services in existence today and several are worth seeing.

The Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company opened Latin America's first "underground tramway" system, (Subte Line A) in 1913. The original route was partially underground and on street level until 1926, for this reason the "pantograph" cars built by La Brugeoise in Belgium had both low doors at the ends for boarding from the street and high doors in the middle for loading from platforms in the tunnel. These vintage carriages (sans end doors) are still in operation as part of the Subte system and are fascinating. One commentator described the feeling of travelling in them as rushing sideways in an old wooden wardrobe. He is not far wrong.

Using the same surface non revenue tracks of Line A in the Caballito neighbourhood, the "Asociación Amigos del Tranvía" operates every weekend and holidays a Heritage Streetcar Service, with a nice collection of fully restored tram and metro cars.

In another part of the city, the Tren de la Costa (the coastal train), a light rail running on an old railway right of way from 1891-1961, was inaugurated in 1995 and serves tourist and local commuters. It runs from the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires to Tigre along the river for approximately 15 kilometres. Then there is the PreMetro E2, which operates as a feeder at the end of Metro Line E in the western suburbs.

The 2-km experimental Puerto Madero Tramway is the system most likely to be seen by visitors to the city. This is now operating in the Puerto Madero District, with extensions to Retiro Rail Terminal Station and La Boca neighbourhood being talked about. The trams are almost silent ultra-modern cars from France which creep up on you if you are not awake. We didn’t see many people using the system but if the extensions are carried out I think this would be a real winner.

There are also talks about a "heritage tram" to be put in service in colonial San Telmo. If this and the other planned projects go ahead, Buenos Aires will once again have a number of trams in operation. A city of trams it will never be again but trams will once more make a contribution to the city’s transportation network.
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The Buenos Aires Metro (known as Subte) is a mass-transit system that serves mainly the inner city. The first station of this network was inaugurated in 1913 it and was the first of its kind in the entire Southern Hemisphere. The network expanded rapidly during…Read More

The Buenos Aires Metro (known as Subte) is a mass-transit system that serves mainly the inner city. The first station of this network was inaugurated in 1913 it and was the first of its kind in the entire Southern Hemisphere. The network expanded rapidly during the early decades of the 20th century, but the pace of expansion fell sharply after the years following the Second World War. Planning for expansion started again at the end of 1990 with the planning of four new lines.

In 1994 the service was privatised and is now managed by Metrovias S.A. with the stations remaining the property of SBASE, the government-owned corporation who once operated the system. The current network comprises six underground lines, labelled "A" to "E" and "H" and which are further identified by different colours, covering a total track length of 52 km.

We found the system quite easy to use once you become familiar with the setup. Our first experience was close to peak period but we still found an official who was happy to point us in the right direction to buy tickets and then it was relatively easy to find the correct train. One feature of the system is that there are relatively few direct connections between lines. This was not a problem to us because we were usually just taking a trip from the central city to a particular destination but it does make it a little difficult to negotiate longer trips.

The Buenos Aires Metro is noted for the presence of murals and other artistic works in its stations. These works and a number of the stations themselves are considered part of the cultural landscape of the city and several of them were declared National Historic Landmarks in 1997. For visitors, they certainly add another dimension to travel around the city.

Fares are cheap (around AR$ 1.10) and are in fact cheaper than the city buses. While tokens have been used in the past, at present, you purchase either single-use or multi-use cards (called SubtePass) with a magnetic strip or use contactless cards called Monedero which can be rechargeable with cash or linked to a bank account for automatic debit. Most visitors will just use the single journey tickets which can be purchased in the stations. Trains run from 5:00 until 22:45, every 3-6 minutes.
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We found that San Nicolas has its fair share of interesting buildings. We generally found them by just wandering the interesting streets but since leaving Buenos Aires I have discovered a little more about them. Here are three worth seeing.Basilica de la Merced.Nuestra Señora de…Read More

We found that San Nicolas has its fair share of interesting buildings. We generally found them by just wandering the interesting streets but since leaving Buenos Aires I have discovered a little more about them. Here are three worth seeing.

Basilica de la Merced.
Nuestra Señora de la Merced is the patron saint of Barcelona and was brought to Argentina by the Spanish colonizers of South America. The construction of the first church on this site took place at the beginning of the seventeenth century – a humble church made of mud and straw. The current church dates from 1779. It received the status of basilica minor in 1917 from Pope Benedicto XV.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Merced is a dark church, but worth a visit for its walls and ceiling covered in frescos, as well as for its baroque and rococo styled altar. The vestibule has four beautiful stained glass windows. One depicts St Martín of Tours cutting his cloak in half to share it with a beggar. St Martín of Tours is the Patron Saint of Buenos Aires and regularly depicted in its churches.

Spain's King Alfonso XIII donated a silver cross said to be a silver replicate of the actual cross which can be seen in the church. The church's religious museum, has a sizable collection of Easter Island art including a rongorongo tablet, one of only 29 left in the world.

Central Bank.
At Reconquista 266, this classic building was built in the 1870s and was home to the Supreme Court until the 1940s. With its classic Corinthian-columned facade and airy entrance hall it is a suitably impressive building for its current purpose.

The Central Bank of Argentina was created in 1935. It is a self-governed body of the National Government, regulated by its Charter and by the Financial Institutions Act. The building has a Museum inside. The Museum has a permanent exhibit showing its major items. Temporary numismatic exhibits are held on different historical, social and political issues. The Museum includes a large library open to the public which covers a wide range of general subjects as well as volumes specialising in numismatics, Argentine history and museum-related studies.

Palace of Justice
The building stands facing Plaza Lavalle. This square is one of the oldest in town. The imposing Beaux Arts building can be considered the final phase of this architectural type. All exterior and interior surfaces are rendered with original simulated stone stucco-work, a unique finishing technique, typical of Argentine architecture. The building is the biggest building in the country finished within this technique. Stone stucco-work resulted from the mix of Italian immigrant artisans and French architectural materials and features.

Many key historical events have taken place in this building. The plea of prosecutor Julio Cesar Strassera, during the trial of the military junta which made the country undergo a violent dictatorship between 1976 and 1982, is still remembered today.
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Buenos Aires has a reputation as a city with intense theatre activity. Plays are constantly being presented throughout the city's three circuits: official, commercial and independent. The official circuit which includes the General San Martín Theatre, Colón Theatre and Nacional Cervantes Theatre, is of most…Read More

Buenos Aires has a reputation as a city with intense theatre activity. Plays are constantly being presented throughout the city's three circuits: official, commercial and independent. The official circuit which includes the General San Martín Theatre, Colón Theatre and Nacional Cervantes Theatre, is of most interest to visitors. Classic plays and innovating versions of the universal theatre and lyric are constantly presented there.

When the Teatro Colón first opened in 1857, it was across from the Plaza de Mayo, in the building which would eventually become the Banco de la Nación Argentina. Thirty-one years later, the theatre closed but a new Teatro Colón, was built. This opened in 1908 at Libertad 621. It is a spectacular building which is currently being extensively renovated.

Inside the theatre are many different rooms, including the Bust Room, the White Room, and the Golden Hall. The Main Theatre, or "La Sala" is shaped like a horse-shoe and many claim that it is one of the most perfect acoustic spaces in the world. Above it all is an illuminated dome, painted by famous Argentine painter Raul Soldi, which depicts various facets of the theatrical life. As a venue, the Teatro Colón is almost a show unto itself.

Normally, the theatre has a yearly program consisting of ballet, opera, and the theatre’s own philharmonic orchestra. However, the theatre was closed for renovation when we were there. Tel: 4382-5414.

The General San Martín Theatre at Av Corrientes 1550 is one of the most important theatres in the city. It was inaugurated in 1960, the sesquicentennial of the Revolución de Mayo. A million people pass through it every year. This enormous amount of space is divided into numerous rooms and performances spaces, each with a unique history and atmosphere. There are a wide range of performances held in this theatre, from ballet to plays. Right now, the theatre is also home to many of the performances normally held in the closed Teatro Colón. Tel: 4371-0111.

National Cervantes Theatre (Tel: 4815 8812). At Libertad 815, this attractive theatre was built in 1921 with much Spanish influence. The intricate exterior is in a richly adorned Spanish style common in the early 16th-century. Inside, the 1700-seat auditorium features Spanish materials, many of which are from a reconstruction after a 1961 fire. There is a small museum here and the National Theatre Study Institute is also based here.
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One of the pleasures of Buenos Aires is its open-air markets, many of which combine shopping with entertainment. The bargains that you may find are often accompanied by the wonderful, romantic sounds and sights of tango dancers or musicians putting on a show. There are…Read More

One of the pleasures of Buenos Aires is its open-air markets, many of which combine shopping with entertainment. The bargains that you may find are often accompanied by the wonderful, romantic sounds and sights of tango dancers or musicians putting on a show. There are several popular markets throughout the city. Probably the easiest one to visit is off Avenida de Mayo just west of Plaza de Mayo. This is a very low-key affair with most goods displayed on the ground and you can just wander without being hassled. The following are some of the more celebrated markets which you would enjoy visiting.

The San Telmo Antiques Fair, which takes place every Sunday from 10am to 5pm at Plaza Dorrego, is a vibrant, colourful experience that will delight even the most jaded traveller. There is a smaller version on Saturdays. As street vendors sell their wares, singers and dancers move amid the crowd to tango music. Among the stands, you will find antique silver objects, porcelain, crystal, and other antiques. Many musicians, street performers known as "Artistas Callejeros" and antiques vendors come from all parts of Buenos Aires to bring and share their talents. It's especially famous for tango performances that can go on into the late evening, even if most of the vendors themselves close up at 5pm. I highly recommend this fair as a not-to-be-missed sight while in Buenos Aires.

Recoleta Fair, which takes place Saturday and Sunday in front of Recoleta Cemetery from 10am until sunset, offers every imaginable souvenir and type of craft, in addition to food. This has become one of the city's largest fairs, completely taking over all the walkways and then some in the area, and even the Iglesia Pilar, Recoleta Cemetery's church, gets involved by selling religious souvenirs. Live bands sometimes play on whatever part of the hill is left vacant by vendors.

The Cabildo Patio Fair is held on Thursday and Friday from 11am to 6pm in the small garden patio behind the Cabildo in the Plaza de Mayo. You'll find lots of locally made crafts here, especially pottery, stained glass, and jewellery.

Friday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm, the Madres hold the Feria de Madres de Plaza de Mayo fair in front of their headquarters overlooking Plaza Congreso. The fair has antiques, crafts, food, and a few interesting book vendors. Sometimes there is also live music. This is among the most casual and least touristy of all of the fairs, so it offers an interesting chance to chat with locals while supporting a good cause.

The La Boca Fair is open every day (but bigger on the weekend) from 10am to 6pm or sundown on the Caminito, the pedestrianized and art-filled thoroughfare in the heart of this neighbourhood. It's the most touristy of all the fairs, and most of the items seem overpriced. Still, if you need souvenirs in a hurry, you'll quickly get it all done here. Perhaps the tango singers and other street performers will keep your mind off the inflated prices.

Plaza Serrano Fair is at the small plaza at the intersection of Calle Serrano and Honduras, which forms the heart of Palermo Hollywood. Bohemian arts and crafts are sold here while locals sing and play guitars. Officially, the fair is held Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm, but impromptu vendors will also set up at night when the restaurants are crowded.
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Eva Peron remains a controversial figure in Argentine history. Attractive, and highly vivacious, both her friends and her enemies agreed that she was a woman of great personal charm. Her supporters have elevated her to popular sainthood, and the sympathetic portrayal of her in the…Read More

Eva Peron remains a controversial figure in Argentine history. Attractive, and highly vivacious, both her friends and her enemies agreed that she was a woman of great personal charm. Her supporters have elevated her to popular sainthood, and the sympathetic portrayal of her in the 1997 film ‘Evita’, starring singer Madonna, reintroduced Eva to the rest of the Western world. I must confess that this was my only knowledge of her before arriving in Argentina. I subsequently found that the oligarchy and a large part of the officer corps of the military, however, greatly detest her. There is still considerable difference of opinion regarding her ultimate place in Argentine history. Perhaps this explains why there are few memorials to her in the city.

In 1934, at the age of 15, she left home and went to Buenos Aires, where she pursued a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. Eva met Colonel Juan Peron in 1944 and the two were married the following year. In 1946, Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina. Over the course of the next six years, Eva Perón became powerful within the Pro-Peronist trade unions. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Peron Foundation, championed women’s suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party.

In June 1951 it was announced that Eva would be the vice-presidential candidate on the re-election ticket with Peron in the upcoming national election but opposition within the military and her own failing health caused her to decline the nomination. Already suffering from cancer, Eva died in 1952, at the age of 32.

From 1955 until 1971, the military dictatorship of Argentina issued a ban on Peronism. It became illegal not only to possess pictures of Juan and Eva Perón even in one's home, but to even speak their names. After sixteen years, the military finally revealed the location of Evita's body. It had been buried in a crypt in Italy. In 1971, the body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where Juan Perón maintained the corpse in his home.

In 1973, Juan Perón came out of exile and returned to Argentina, where he became president for the third time. Perón died in office in 1974. His third wife Isabel Peron, who had been elected vice-president, succeeded him, thus becoming the first female president in the Western Hemisphere. It was Isabel who had Evita's body returned to Argentina and (briefly) displayed beside Juan Perón's. The body was later buried in the Duarte family tomb in the Recoleta Cemetery and this has become a pilgrimage site for many visitors to the city.

The only other memorials to her that I know of are the small statue by sculptor Ricardo Gianetti unveiled in 1999 in Plaza Evita below the Biblioteca Nacional (built on the site of the Peron’s home and the place where Evita died) and the Museo Evita at Lafinur 2988, near the Botanical Garden in Palermo.

Eva Perón has become the subject of numerous articles, books, stage plays, and musicals, ranging from the biography ‘The Woman with the Whip’ to a 1981 TV movie called "Evita Perón" with Faye Dunaway in the title role.
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No-one can visit Buenos Aires without seeing one of the city’s most characteristic sights: the paseaperros or professional dog walkers. Most residents live in apartments but this doesn’t stop them from wanting a dog as a pet. During the week when people are working, the…Read More

No-one can visit Buenos Aires without seeing one of the city’s most characteristic sights: the paseaperros or professional dog walkers. Most residents live in apartments but this doesn’t stop them from wanting a dog as a pet. During the week when people are working, the dogs get lonely and need exercise so an enterprising group of people have arisen to solve the problem.

We saw them walking along the streets every weekday or sitting in the parks and gardens while the dogs enjoy some social time together. Sometimes they are walking a few prize pedigrees belonging to one family but often they are controlling up to 10 dogs from different owners. How they don’t get all tangled up or lose one of the pack I will never know.

Many of these men and women apparently have some veterinary training and they are paid not only to walk the dogs but to brush and groom them and to look out for signs of ill-health. Most dogs are walked twice a day. While you will see most of these dog walkers in the up-market areas of Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo, they also service other areas.

According to one dog-walker, "It's well-looked on to have someone walk your dog. It gives you social status, just like having a house in the country or golf club membership." A successful dog walker in Argentina can make three times the average Argentine's salary-- doing something he loves. The professionals charge between 100 and 180 pesos a month for each animal. It is possible to earn more than a teacher!

The industry has had so much success that it is now regulated by the authorities of the city. It is an obligation to have a licence for more than 3 dogs, there is a limit of 8 dogs at a time and each walker pays a fee of 200 pesos every six months for the utilization of public space. Dog walkers must carry their official accreditation with them at all times. They are supposed to pick up "dog defects" with a brush and small bag (perhaps this particular rule hasn't caught on just yet) and they must not tie animals to trees, monuments, streetlights or traffic lights, posts, or any type of street furniture.

The dogs are usually taken to the railed-off areas in the local parks that are set aside for the city's mutts. It's a bit like the way nannies gather together in London's parks to see the minders gathered together gossiping in one corner of the enclosures whilst their charges play - or ignore each other elsewhere.

Paseaperros are now undeniably a part of the Argentine experience. The daily barrage of dog-walking on such a large scale is certainly unlike anything I've ever seen.
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One of the things that I most enjoyed in Buenos Aires was walking the streets observing the people and the buildings. I have some general interest in architecture so I was delighted to find that most areas of the city were a gold mine of…Read More

One of the things that I most enjoyed in Buenos Aires was walking the streets observing the people and the buildings. I have some general interest in architecture so I was delighted to find that most areas of the city were a gold mine of discoveries. In Retiro, I recommend these buildings for your interest.

The Palacio San Martín (Arenales 761, Tel: 4819 8092) is a grand mansion just to the west of Plaza San Martín. Unfortunately I was unable to go inside but even from the street it is impressive. This was the home of the powerful Anchorenas family whose prestige dated to colonial times in Argentina. In 1936, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the building. From the street, you'll be impressed by its enormous French gates, with their intricate grillwork. Inside you can see the large circular courtyard. The building is open periodically for free tours but not while I was in Buenos Aires.

The construction of the Church of Nuestra Senora del Socorro (Lady of Help) went through several stages before becoming what it is today. By the late seventeenth century this area was one of summer estates and modest homes of fishermen. In one of these houses was a small Christ statue, before whom the villagers gathered to thank and ask for favours. So many graces were received that it began to be called the Lord of Miracles. In 1803, the statue was transferred to a chapel built by fishermen on the site of the current church.
Later a church was built with one nave, thick walls and low ceiling. It opened in 1855, but in 1875 the vestry collapsed. Two additional naves were added as well as the transept and the dome. The towers were completed later and in 1896, the temple was dedicated. Today it remains a well used building and is the headquarters for a charitable trust.

The Palacio Retiro is perhaps the most beautiful of the Beaux Arts mansions in Buenos Aires. It looks plucked from the Loire Valley. It was the home of the Paz family and was started in 1902 and took almost 12 years to build. Unfortunately, the patriarch who commissioned it died without seeing it finished. The family owned the La Prensa newspaper. The Palacio Retiro is now home to the Círculo Militar, an elite organization for retired military officers that bought the building in 1938. The Museo de las Armas, (Av. Santa Fe 702 Tel: 4311 1071) which sheds some light on the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands conflict from an Argentine perspective, is also in the building.

One of Buenos Aires’ architectural icons is the stately Estrugamou Building at Esmeralda and Juncal. This classical French structure built in 1929 is very sought after by foreign investors. Architects Sauze and Huguier designed the building with four wings, each of which has one apartment per floor. The building faces three different streets and each side has a different facade. The Estrugamou offers top-rate architectural quality, constructed with materials brought over directly from France. I was told that the sale price, on average, starts at $3,000 US dollars per m2. Several apartments have recently sold for well over one million US dollars.
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