Buenos Aires, Argentina - day 1

Today’s excursion was “Highlights of Buenos Aires with Evita” w/our guide Juliana.

There will be 4 stops.

There are 3 million people in the city with 15 million in the area and 45 million in the country.

Argentina was founded in 1861 and Buenos Aires is the capital which is a very European and cosmopolitan city. The architecture is a combination of French, Spanish, and German. There are 23 provinces and each one has its own music and dance. Of course, Tango is EVERYWHERE.

The city is made up of immigrants – primarily from Europe in the past, and now mostly from other South American or Central American countries. Most people rent and landlords prefer that rent is paid in the US Dollar.

The official religion is Catholic, but there is a large Jewish community. The Jewish population was as large at 500,000 and now is at 250,000.

The exchange rate is BIZARRE. Due to inflation being at 100% in Argentina, there are 14 different and widely varied exchange rates. A good rate is 1,000 Argentine Pesos equals $3.50 US.

Half the people live below the poverty line. We saw occasional homeless people, but far less than we see in the US.

Additionally, Buenos Aires is a very flat city.

Finally, we asked for wine suggestions and were told that Ruttini one of best wines. We should be able to get it for about $5.

1st stop – we began in the south part of town which is very old and less expensive to live here. We went to the area called La Boca (the mouth) and explored Caminito Street (20 minutes - not long enough!) VERY colorful artist area, balconies galore, murals, tango dancers, restaurants). A great place to come back to eat lunch or dinner!

2nd stop - May Square in downtown. We first went to the Cathedral where we happened upon the military honoring the famous Argentinean Jose de San Martin who was born on February 25th (1778). This celebration happened to occur in the 15 minutes we happen to be there.

We also saw the famous balcony in which Eva (Duarte) Peron gave her famous speeches. Some facts about the Peron’s.
Eva Duarte born May 7, 1919
Married Juan Peron in 1945
He became President, and she became first lady in 1946
Eva Peron died July 26, 1952 (at age 33 of cancer)
Juan died in 1974

The President works in the “pink” house and lives an hour outside of town.
The director of Evita came to Buenos Aires and the balcony scene in the movie was the actual balcony Eva spoke from later played by Madonna.
The President works in the “pink” house and lives an hour outside of town.

We rode on very nice and wide road named for their independence – July 9th Boulevard (July 9, 1816). The avenue has seven lanes in each direction and is flanked on either side by parallel streets of two lanes each. Through the center of the avenue runs one of the city's Metrobus corridors. There are two wide medians between the side streets and the main road. It is currently the widest avenue in the world!

3rd stop – mausoleum at the cemetery where Eva / Evita was buried. Droves of people pay a fee to go into the cemetery to see where Eva was buried. We waited 10 minutes in line to see her family’s crypt. It’s not uncommon to wait up to an hour!

4th stop - museum in Palermo for Evita. The Palermo residential area is lovely, and many cultural buildings, museums and beautiful parks and gardens can be found in this area. Palermo is the largest neighborhood (barrio).

P.S. Argentina won the World Cup this year and signs of this are EVERYWHERE!Read more