Month: October 2023

Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

This morning we caught a 7:45 flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America. Leaving at 7:45 meant we had to set the alarm for 5:15. It was a three and a half hour flight so by the time we got to Ushuaia we were pretty worn out.

The view as we landed in Ushuaia

We had lunch at a restaurant called Bodegon Fueguino.

Sitting down to lunch

We pretty much took it easy for the rest of the day. We did laundry and Duke got a haircut. With tip it cost him $4.52.

Duke relaxing after a haircut and dinner

We played Rummikub in the lounge at the top of our hotel.

The view from the top floor of our hotel.

For dinner we had an excellent meal at Maria Lola Restó.

Duke’s steak
My Merluza
Our shared desert.

Tomorrow we start our cruise around the southern tip of South America.

Buenos Aires day 2

We’ve pretty much taken it easy today. We rode the Hop on Hop off bus this afternoon and saw a bit more of the city.

Getting ready to ride the bus.
La Bombinera Football Stadium
The Obelisk

Tonight we went to a wonderful show at the Bebop Jazz club. The music was Mozart and Gershwin. It started with classical piano music and morphed into wonderful Mozart and Gershwin improvisation. the musicians were having fun and so did we.

The pianist and Bassist
The bow

Buenos Aires

We had a busy and fun day today in Buenos Aires. We started out looking for a coffee shop for breakfast. We found a great one. Several times we have had small croissants with a light sugar glaze. They call them medialunas. They are soooo good!

Coffee, juice and medialunas

Next we did a one hour tour of the Buenos Aires Opera House. It is a beautiful building and according to our guide has the best in the world acoustics for opera.

Our opera house tour
Inside the opera house

Next we had tea and snacks at a nearby cafe that we remembered from our last time in Buenos Aires.

Tea and snacks

After a short break back at the hotel we walked about a mile to Recoleta Cemetery where we did a walking tour. Our guide was excellent and the cemetery and mausoleums were fascinating.

Waiting for our tour. That’s the cemetery gate in the background.
Recoleta Cemetery
Our tour guide
Some of the mausoleums were neglected.
Others were resplendent

We had a great steak dinner at a nearby restaurant. Argentinas really do steak deliciously!

At dinner
Dinner

Salta to Buenos Aires

The San Lorenzo suburb of Salta where we stayed last night is very upscale. We went out for a walk this morning and walked by some beautiful big houses.

We drove to the airport about 11 and turned in our rental truck. It was quite windy and the air was full of dust.

At the airport in Salta Returning our truck
Getting on the plane

Our flight to Buenos Aires took two hours. We took a taxi to our hotel on Avenue 9 de Julio.

Our hotel room

The first thing we did was change some dollars to pesos. On Florida Street where the money changers work you couldn’t walk 20 feet without somebody saying “cambio?” to you. The first guy Duke and Brian talked to tried to give them a bad rate but the next guy changed the money with no problem. Last time they changed money a couple of days ago they got 830 pesos for a dollar. This time they got 970.

Changing dollars to pesos

In the evening my we went to a dinner History of Tango show.

My steak
Duke’s desert
Tango of the 50s
Modern Tango

Cafayate to Salta

Today we drove about 125 miles from Cafayate back to Salta where we started a week ago. We made lots of stops along the scenic road.

First we filled up with gas
Our road
Some of the mountains along the way
More views
Rock Window
Vista along the way

Tonight we are staying on the outskirts of Salta because tomorrow we fly to Buenos Aires

Our Hotel Rincón del Cerro
We played pool for a bit before dinner.

For dinner we had dinner outside at a nearby Italian Restaurant.