Argentina
Retiro

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 43

      Buenos Aires, Argentina - day 2

      February 26, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

      Buenos Aires has 16 million people and many neighborhoods, each with its own culture and character and multiple ethnic and religious groups. Millions of immigrants came here in the 19th Century. We visited the LA BOCA area (mouth of the river) of Buenos Aires and enjoyed all its color and jibe. This area called Caminito comes from the Tango "Caminito" (by Juan de Dios Filiberto). Tango originated in this area of Argentina. Immigrants, mostly from Italy (45%) and Spain (30%), came here and built homes. Many worked on the docks in ship building and these colorful homes come from the leftovers and parts they accumulated from this construction. By the mid-1890s, there were 2,249 tenements in this area for the 94,743 tenants that lived here. In the early 20th century (with the arrival of Europeans) the Argentine population increased 10-fold and made this even worse and the growth in this area of small temporary expensive housing. There are still over 45,000 people that live in this “shanty- town”. From there we went to the main square, the downtown, where government offices are located.

      Most of the first day (2-25) in Buenos Aires we spent focused on Eva Peron (see Karen’s posting), the economy / poverty / inflation and the history of Argentina (and of course hearing about the World Cup). Today was focused on this area as well as a private Jewish-focused tour.
      Read more

    • Day 38

      Buenos Aires - Start Kreuzfahrt🛳️

      December 17, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

      In der Nacht gab es Unwetter, von denen wir auf dem Kreuzfahrtschiff im Hafen von BA nichts mitbekommen haben. Der Sturm hat Teile der Stadt verwüstet, in vielen Parks sind Bäume entwurzelt und Äste abgebrochen. Das Hafengebäude ist teilweise beschädigt, sodass wir das Schiff erst gg. 11 Uhr verlassen können. Für den ganzen Tag ist Regen und starker Wind angesagt. Unsere geplante Tour können wir nicht durchführen. Wir entscheiden uns für etwas Shopping und eine frühe Rückkehr zum Schiff. Gg. 19 Uhr legen wir ab Richtung Montevideo und bei Sonnenschein.Read more

    • Day 90

      Buenos Aires

      March 5 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      What a great stay we had in Argentina this year. We arrived in Buenos Aires on December 8 and saw more of this country over the last three months than we had even dreamed of. We saw Iguazu Falls from both the Argentine and Brazilian sides, we visited Ishuaia, the southernmost city on the planet, we walked with penguins in Puerto Madryn, marveled at the mountains in Purmamarca and the salt flats in Salinas Grandes and discovered some great wines in Cafayate and Salta.

      But best of all was our time in Buenos Aires. I've already written about the amazing concerts we saw at Teatro Colon and the great meals we had at our favorite spots, so I won't repeat those experiences here.

      We lived through an election that is, and will continue to change the face of Argentina. If the new president's financial plan succeeds, the country will no longer be the travel bargain it is today but will be a much better place for Argentinos. Time will tell.

      Speaking of Argentinos, they are some of the nicest and friendliest folks around. Of course, there are bad areas where tourists shouldn't venture, but we never once felt unsafe or threatened the entire time we were here. The only unpleasant encounters we had were with the very nasty and stealthy mosquitos that suddenly seemed to have propagated the second half of February. Brenda was so traumatized that she didn't set foot outside of the apartment for three days!

      Like any country, Argentina has its quirks. For example, the national obsession with Yerba Mate, or simply Mate here. It seems like half the people walk around with a gourd filled with mate in one hand and a thermos of hot water tucked under the other arm.

      Despite hearing it for almost 90 days, the Argentine Spanish remains problematic for us. Try as we may, when the locals start rattling off sentences at full speed, we continue to look at them with the same blank look on our faces as we did three months ago.

      And then there are the dog walkers. There are surely more of them per capita here than anywhere I've ever been. Some of them are handling as many as ten pooches at a time, and all the dogs are well-behaved.

      So that's it. Our three months in Argentina are up, and we're off on another adventure; a twenty-five day transatlantic cruise to Venice, Italy. We're both kind of sad to leave BA, but at the same time, we're looking forward to the cruise, a little time in Italia, and, more and more, to getting home.

      Hopefully, by the time we touch ground in Vancouver on April 9, the temperature will be higher than yesterday's 3 Celsius.
      Read more

    • Day 2

      Angekommen in Buenos Aires

      January 29 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Nach einem langen Nachtflug sind wir pünktlich um 8:30 Uhr in Buenos Aires gelandet. Der Shuttlebus hat uns mit einer kurzen Stadtrundfahrt zum Schiff gebracht. Das Einschiffen hat auch nicht lange gedauert, da wir fast die einzigen waren. Da unsere Kabinen noch nicht fertig waren, haben wir erstmal unseren Hunger und Durst gestillt und das Schiff inspiziert.Read more

    • Buenos Aires, Argentina Viking Jupiter

      December 5, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Buenos Aires. Viking Jupiter Rest Day on ship

      After a bit of a late-night last night at the opera we were slow getting off the mark this morning. In fact, we barely made it in time for breakfast before they closed the restaurant. There was a complimentary skin analysis, 20-minute session, “take a moment to get to know your skin better”. Lee decided to go and while they did do an analysis on her skin; it was pretty well a sales pitch for products that would help moisturize your skin; you’d think we’d know by now! There were several included tours of Buenos Aires that we could have taken but having spent several days there, we had already done all of them.
      We took a fair amount of time to wander around the ship and get to know it better, including finding the laundry room which is quite well equipped. Lee did a couple of loads of laundry as it wasn’t very busy.

      We thought there might be an “anchors away” celebration on deck so we went up with cocktails in hand but there was no celebration. Additionally, the ship was late in leaving due to traffic in the shipping channel, so we headed down to our pre-arranged dinner at one of the premium restaurants called the Chef’s Table. The menu there was a pre-set, five course “Xiang” Dinner that was a mixture of Asian cultural foods, with 5 wine pairings and it was delicious.

      After dinner we went to the Star Theatre to see a magician, Greg Moreland, perform. He was very good and very humorous. We wandered around a bit more, had a drink in one of the common areas and listened to a classical string duet. It was a great day to just chill out on the ship after a very busy couple of weeks. We finally packed it in for the night around 11:00.
      Read more

    • Day 17

      Iguazu

      March 5, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Trotz einer chaotischen Ausschiffung und einer ebenso chaotischen Busbeteitstellung haben wir unseren Flieger am Inlandflughafen Buenos Aires erreicht und sind nach ruhigem Flug in Iguazu gelandet. Nach problemlosem Transfer haben wir jetzt im Hotel Mercure Quartier bezogen. Jetzt geht's zum Pool.Read more

    • Day 9

      Buenos Aires > San Luis 🌛🚌💨

      April 28, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

      Nos encontramos con Mechy, una amiga de Andrea y vamos a una cafetería muy buena onda ☕ Es muy gracioso cuando se junta la hora del café con la hora de las cervezas 🍻

      Yo entre toda esa situación pido un alfajor y resulta ser todo un acierto, porque es uno muy particular y para nada tradicional, según las dos chicas argentinas que hay en la mesa 😋

      Al acabar nos despedimos de Mechy, recogemos las cosas del alojamiento y nos vamos con un petardo en el culo a la Terminal de Ómnibus de Buenos Aires 🚙💨💨

      Llegamos con poquísima antelación, justo para entrar al bus que nos llevará a la provincia de San Luis durante la noche 🌛🚍
      Read more

    • Day 43

      Buenos Aires, Argentina. Day 1.

      February 25, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

      This is our third time visit to this beautiful city. We decided not to book any tours and go on our own.
      We got out of the ship around 9:00am, took a required shuttle that got us out of the port and then met another couple that became our friends (Younga and Dave) and started walking thru not very good neighbourhood to the center of the city.
      Our first destination was its center… Plaza de Mayo, lined with stately 19th century buildings including Casa Rosada, the iconic presidential palace. It has the balcony on which Madonna stood when the movie “Evita” was filmed. And also where Eva and Juan Peron were addressing people in 1940s and 1950s.

      Boris and our friends also visited a Cathedral, the main Catholic church in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the city center, overlooking Plaza de Mayo, on the corner of San Martín and Rivadavia streets, in the San Nicolás neighbourhood. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and the primatial church of Argentina. Unfortunately, I had to stay outside with a wheelchair.

      We continue walking toward Teatro Colon which we visited in 2020. It’s one of the best theatres of South America. We could not visit it, they were maintaining lights or something like that. Then just around the corner we spotted a very grand synagogue. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and the place was closed.

      We continued walking toward Recoleta cemetery where Eva Peron is resting. This cemetary is the first public cemetary in the city was built in 1822 by French engineer Prosperous Catelin. Throughout its five hectares, the majestic pantheons and mausoleums belonging to many of the most important figures in Argentina. We all been in this cemetery before, but our friends missed Eva Peron grave. This time we found it. We spent some time wondering through the allies of the cemetery.

      We did a lot of walking by now, so we found a taxi and went back to the ship. We only walked 7 miles this day.

      We had to get ready for a special event in the evening.

      At 4:30pm we got on the provided transportation to the event and tango show. We had very good three course dinner with wine and a fabulous tango show. An amazing evening.
      Tomorrow is another day in Buenos Aires.
      Read more

    • Buenos Aires, Argentina

      December 4, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Japanese Garden. Transfer to Pier to board Viking Jupiter. Opera, Tales of Hoffman

      We woke up at 6:00 had a relaxed breakfast and finished packing in preparation to boarding the Viking Jupiter later in the afternoon.

      We stored our luggage at the hotel and took a taxi to the Japanese gardens of Buenos Aires, located in the neighborhood of Palermo. It was built by the members of Japanese immigrants, and its inauguration was held on May 15, 1967, when the current Emperor of Japan, Akihito, visited the city with his wife, while he was still a prince. The garden was meant as a token of appreciation by the Japanese community to the country that gave them refuge. The garden is run by the Argentine-Japanese Cultural Foundation, with the aim of providing entertainment and culture expansion.

      The elements of this beautiful garden have strong symbolic meanings. All elements seek harmony and balance, essential building blocks in the Japanese culture. One of the first things we saw was the Japanese Wishing Tree. People make special origami notes and leave “wishing” messages in various ways, for hope for the future of the earth
      The bridges represent routes that embody the formation of ideals. One of them has a curved form to represent that it is a difficult journey. It is named Puente de Dios, which means Way to Paradise. The Bright and Beautiful Garden is one of the most peaceful and relaxing areas. It has a wide variety of plants and native trees like the Palo Borracho and Tipani. The Tipani is a beautiful rosewood tree and it was in full bloom with brilliant yellow flowers. The plants and vegetation include an extensive variety of Japanese plants like the Sakura or Cherry, Azalea and Acer Palmatum. Another main attraction is a lake with large carp and their golden colors draw a lot of attention. In the middle of the garden you can see figures of a man and a woman, dressed in samurai style, traditional of Japan.
      We then took a taxi to the Teatro Colon for our guided tour. When we were about 4 blocks away the cab driver said there was a demonstration and that he wouldn’t go any closer so we should get out and walk. I paid the driver, and all seemed fine and then he went a bit crazy. He told me that I had given him a fake 200 pesos. This was the same bill I had received as change from the driver who took us to the Gardens. I apologized and gave him two $100.00-peso bills and we departed. The walk was more like 6 blocks, but we were able to make it to the theatre in time for our tour

      Our guide’s name at the theatre was Collette and she was very good at giving us lots of history and taking us around the theatre and showing us the areas where they had left the walls as they were before the renovation. Both the plaster and the wood were almost black from the smoking of patrons. To strip everything back they had to use putty knives and scrape off layer by layer.
      We started our tour of the opera house and learned that the basement is way bigger than the main floor footprint and actually goes underneath some of the side roads. All of the materials were brought to Argentina from Europe and various countries and were represented in different ways, so they call the architecture eclectic. We went into a couple of the theatre boxes and wondered where we would be sitting when we came back to for the Opera that night. We learned about the widow’s boxes that were totally behind black curtains so they couldn’t be seen nor could they see, but they could hear the music. The Colón Opera Theatre operated for its first venues from 1857 until 1888, after which the building was closed for the construction of a new house. Finally, the new improved house opened on May 25th, 1908 with a performance of Aïda. In the beginning, the theatre recruited opera companies from other countries, but as of 1925 it had its own permanent companies (orchestra, ballet and choir) and its own production workshops, which have allowed the theatre to organise its own performances since the 1930s, funded by the city budget.

      In 2000, the theatre's decline became clear and plans were made for massive renovations. After the start of the restoration in 2005, the theatre had to be closed from October 2006 to May 24, 2010. Finally, the Teatro Colón boasted a building restored to all its original glory, complete with air-conditioning which cost dearly in order to maintain its perfect acoustics. Our guide pointed out how they were able to put all the air conditioning under the floors rather than the ceilings.

      We were so happy to have seen the inside before we went to the production. We took a taxi home and I paid the driver the 200 Pesos that we owed him, and it happened again. The driver said that the 200 pesos bill was counterfeit. I then gave him a 500-peso bill and he gave me back change. We went into the hotel and then the driver came running into the lobby of the hotel and went crazy, yelling at us. The director of customer care for the hotel was there and asked what the problem was. The driver told her that I hadn’t paid him. I said I gave him 500.00 pesos, but when I checked out my money, I realized that when he had given me change for the 500.00, he had not taken out the 200.00 that was owed to him. What a mess. Don tore up the fake 200.00 pesos and I gave him a good 200.00 and finally everyone settled down. We walked down to the bank and took out some more pesos and when we returned Hector was there to take us to the ship.

      When we arrived at the terminal there were hundreds of people lined up and we thought that we would be in line for hours. A Viking representative came up to us and for the next 15 minutes we felt like we were royalty. Our luggage was whisked away, and we were then led from one area to another through the masses of people inside the terminal until we finally reached the customs where again we were whisked through. The whole process took 15 minutes at the most. We were told that the masses were waiting to board the Costa Line ship, also in port. Were we ever glad we weren’t with them!

      We were shown to our room and we headed up to the 7th deck for a quick lunch. We did a quick tour of the ship and found out what we needed to do to go back into town for the Opera that night. at that point our luggage had not been delivered and we were worried that it might not show up in time for us to get properly dressed and more importantly, to get the tickets out of my bag! Well everything worked out, I had time to press some clothes and we headed out again to take the shuttle bus back to the terminal and then grab a taxi back to the theatre. We arrived in lots of time and walked to Café Colon, a block away, for a glass of wine and light supper.

      Back to the theatre, we found our box which was better than we could ever have hoped for. We were the first to arrive at the box and so we picked the best of the 6 seats that were in our box. Another couple arrived, he was from Los Angeles and she was from Chile. Finally, a 3rd couple arrived, and they were from England. Their seats really were not good at all, we felt badly but we were not about to give ours up.

      The Opera was the Tales of Hoffman a fantasy written by Jules Barbier and music written by Jacques Offenbach. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in October 1880, four months before the premiere.
      It is a story about Hoffman and his three fantasy loves. The first a mechanical doll, the second the daughter of a good friend and the third a madame of reputation. He feels these are the 3 sides of his girlfriend Stella. Quite a journey of make believe. There was one piece of music that runs through the story which was pleasing but the rest was not great. Don wanted to leave after 2 acts but stayed on my account and I was happy he did. We left the theatre around 12:00pm expecting to catch a cab right outside but any that were there were all taken. We walked about 4 blocks in a chilling breeze and finally found one, but he had no idea where we wanted to go. We ditched him and then finally, we found another who was able to understand us and returned us to Terminal 4. We took the shuttle back to the ship and then walked around the very quiet floors getting a feel for the location of things and finally returned to our room 5072 to finish unpacking. We were looking forward to having a sleep in.
      Read more

    • Day 4

      All Aboard

      March 12, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Second shuttle onto the ship, very odd walking around with no people on board. Enjoying the drinks package. Had lunch in the main dining room. Savages on the next table, an elderly couple from Lancashire eating fish and chips with their fingers! Do they not have cutlery in Oldham? Aerialists in the theatre later, last time I saw them it was like the Kama Sutra on a high wire!Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Retiro, レティーロ, Retiras, Ретиро, Ретіро, 雷蒂罗

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android