Cruise The World With Us

Saturday – January 25, 2025

Saturday is usually the day we do our weekly grocery shopping and run other errands in the morning. Didn’t do either of those today – instead we thought we’d stop by Buenos Aires and see what’s happening. I thought I might get a sunrise video but instead I captured our arrival in the dock area. The ship actually backed into its berth. We arrived earlier than was posted (7:00 am vs. 10:00 am). Maybe the 10:00 am time was for everyone to clear customs, etc.

We are docked in a commercial area with lots of containers stacked in groups along the pier. We can watch the cranes that move the containers because they operate close to the ship. I included a view of the dock and a short video showing moving some of the containers.

Around 1:30 pm our excursion (group 18) was called and we boarded a shuttle bus to take us to our tour coach and guide, Vaninna. She pointed out items of interest as we drove the streets of Buenos Aires. One which the three of us liked was a sculpture resembling a flower – but made from aluminum and stainless steel. That is the featured photo today. Originally it opened and closed depending on the time of day. Vaninna said the mechanism is broken so it no longer closes and opens.

We also saw some other art one of which was a male torso missing head and arms – strange. The Planetarium looks like the screen around the top of a microphone. I included a photo of a gas station with prices per liter listed in Argentine pesos. There are about 1,000 pesos in $1 US.

We came to a memorial to Eva Peron – wife of Juan Peron and beloved by the people of Argentina for her efforts to help the common people. Eva died at age 33. At her funeral the flower shops in Buenos Aires had to import flowers from other countries because they ran out due to all the purchases by the people of Argentina.

Buenos Aires wanted to be like a European city. You can see it in the architecture which resembles buildings you’d find in France and Spain. One thing Buenos Aires does not resemble is the strange wiring we saw on utility poles in Salvador, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I included a photo so you can see the improvement. Many of the original stately buildings have been retained as embassies. I included a photo of the Brazilian embassy so you can see for yourself.

Many of the original government buildings are no longer used as headquarters but are still kept as off-site workplaces for the departments they represent – agriculture, cattle, defense, etc. We passed many of these buildings as we traveled on one of the widest streets in the world – 9th of July Avenue. This street has 16 lanes – 7 on each side and 2 in the middle for buses. There is an obelisk in the center of that street that was commissioned to honor the quadricentennial (400 years) of the first foundation of Buenos Aires.

We took Corrientes Avenue (it angles off of 9th of July Avenue) to the Plaza de Mayo. Plaza de Mayo celebrates Argentina’s Independence Day of May 25, 1810. Located around the plaza are the Metropolitan Cathedral, Presidential Palace, memorials and churches. This plaza was the sight of gatherings each Thursday by mothers of missing boys during the military junta between 1976 and 1982. The women would gather there to ask where their children had gone (they were taken by the military and never seen again). The women would wear nappies (diapers) as they gathered. In the paving of Plaza de Mayo you can see symbolic nappies – Kelsey and Jan are standing by one in a photo.

Recently added to the memorials in Plaza de Mayo is a tribute to victims of the 2020 pandemic. People could not be with loved ones as they died so they inscribed names of these on rocks and placed them on steps around the base of a monument to General Manuel Belgrano.

The Presidential Palace is no longer the residence of the Argentine President – he lives in a suburb about 20 minutes from the palace. The President does work at the Presidential Palace – much as the U.S. President works from the White House. We strolled around the plaza and looked at the buildings and monuments. As we approached our group’s meeting place we bumped into the Pope inside a shopping area. We thought the Swiss Guards did his shopping for him but it appears he is just an ordinary guy.

Leaving Plaza de Mayo we traveled to the site of Buenos Aires’ soccer team – the Boca Juniors. Their colors are royal blue and gold. At one time they had the same colors as another team so when playing a match with that team it was decided that the looser would take the colors of the flag of the next ship to enter the harbor. The Juniors lost the match. The next ship was from Sweden so the Boca Juniors adopted the blue and gold of the Swedish flag (also very similar to the Blue Angels).

Following the soccer stadium we drove to Caminito. This area was initially inhabited by dock workers who did not earn much. Their houses were painted using excess paint obtained from the ships at the docks. So a single house might have many different colors since the residents could not afford to pay for enough to coat the entire house at one time. I have included several photos from the Caminito area to show its nature. You’ll note one photo includes a cartoon of a young girl in a red dress. Her name is Mafalda. She is supposed to be around 6 years old and has been in the culture for over 70 years.

Our return to the ship took us through a park by a river where there were many food trucks offering Argentine fare. We also saw an area near the docks with brick buildings that had been built to enlarge the dock area – rejected by the inhabitants and mothballed – recently converted to high-end restaurants and shops.

We arrived at the ship in time for dinner in the dining room (while in Rio we missed dinner). However, the dining room was quite empty. Our tour (group 18) left the ship around 1:45 pm. The highest number for a tour like ours was 31. I’m guessing there were many groups that did not make their return until after first seating for diner had closed at 6:15. I included a few photos of cauliflower soup, chicken parmesan and lemon cake with coulis.

The entertainment for the evening was a professional tango group named Tango Desire. There were 10 dancers, 1 female singer and 5 musicians (piano, bass, concertina, violin, cello). I’m sure Jan and I could have performed the dance moves they demonstrated (at least in our dreams). They gave an excellent performance. I have included clips from the dances – can’t do more than about a minute because the web host doesn’t like me to upload files larger than that.

We returned to our room and found that another container ship had arrived and the cranes were hopping again to unload them. We decided not to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live (partially because we couldn’t see it anyway – no streaming).

Lot of video and photos today. You can find them here.