I now have a new great appreciation for tour guides....Sister, brother in law, and niece came for their first trip to Buenos Aires for 6 days only. I had a great time researching all the things I wanted to show them, made lots of lists, time tables and calendars. I thought I had it all figured out, except some things turned out to be closed, or I hadn't figured in transport times, or how tired our feet or brains got, or contingency plans for the one day it rained....Here are some of the highlights of last week:
The double decker tour bus leaves from Florida and Avenida Roque Saenz Pena every hour. You can get off and back on at stops all over the city. I thought this might be boring for me because I had walked all the areas it covered, but being high up and not having to watch your step gave a whole new perspective, as did the audio guide, in the language of your choice. Be sure and check out how well your head set works before the tour starts as some had bad connections.
The Recoletta Cemetery-again, I had spent lots of time here before, but it is so varied and vast that I was again wowed.. an encapsulated mish mash of architecture, sculpture and history... It's like peeking into people's living rooms at times....each plot tells a different story...
Some are fancy, some filled with decorations and paraphernalia, others long neglected...
We took a bus ride out to Temaiken, a bio reserve that was far more amazing than I thought it would be...Tuesdays its half price (25 pesos). Each area was more spectacular than the last...(I thought this guy's knees were pretty cool)
But the best thing of last week was a night at The Pale Blue Door. London set designer Tony Hornecker
and his crew came into town a month ago and set up an amazing unique space in an abandoned San Telmo old mansion, gave us a great meal and outrageous entertainment....they served some of the food via buckets on a rope and pulley system....
and the featured entertainer had multiple costume changes, danced like crazy and got the whole restaurant doing greek dancing by the end....The group just left Buenos Aires and will set up new dinners in Toyko, Berlin, New York, and maybe your town...check it out via Tony Hornecker or The Pale Blue Door web searches.
Art shot for this week is of a three D painting I was captivated with in one of the galleries on Esmerelda street...
And your food shot for the week was taken in a Chinese restaurant near the British Ambassador's residence at a luncheon of rowdy expats....
2 comments:
Thanks for all of the info! We get to do the same thing when friends arrive on the 19th! Glad to know about 1/2 price day at Temaiken! We did it before with expats and loved it! Don't think that bird has moved! We have the same picture! And we'll also do the bus tour..The staged dinner looked amazing! I'm sure your family will be talking about their vacation for years to come! Gretchen
That is so true, everybody thinks that being a tour guide is the easiest thing in the world and that they get paid for showing naive tourists around a city telling them things they can find on the internet. But it{s much more than that. It is having in mind the places that open, when and at what time. Is sensing what the mojority wants to do. Is keeping them interested and telling them stories that would really draw their attention. It is no mean task! The Recoleta Cemetery is the must-see place and the city tour can be avoided. Last year I spent a month in Argentina, I stayed in a buenos aires apartment and had a tour with mt friends. We made friends with other tourists from London who were really cool and we had the best time. I hope you and your cousin will have a good experience!
Cheers
Summer
Post a Comment