What's New Buenos Aires???

Hola!
We arrived in Buenos Aires this morning. Our Delta flight from Atlanta was, of course, wonderful. We took the official airport taxi to our hotel. It was only about $25 (that's US dollars, not Argentine pesos). We were greeted at the cab doors upon arrival at the hotel by our hotel porter, Juan. The hotel was gracious enough to let us check in early. With bags in the room by 9:45am local time, we hit the road to begin seeing the city.

The first place I wanted to see was the "Don't Cry for me Argentina" balcony made famous in the musical "Evita." Our hotel is within walking distance to the Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosada or Government House is. We spent some time strolling around the square looking at all of the people and the Argentine flags. El 25 de mayo is the Argentine national holiday marking their independence from Spain, and this year marks the 200th anniversary. So the square was busy and most of the national buildings are under renovation for the bicentennial celebration (I don't think they'll finish by the 25th!).

As we approached the Casa Rosada, I could almost see Eva Peron up on the balcony calling to her people. But then the workers' cranes sort of got in the way and it blew the image...but you get my drift. We continued around to the back of the presidential residence only to find that the museum was closed due to renovations for the bicentennial.

So we headed off to the San Telmo region of the city. San Telmo is the oldest area of the city. We visited a market and the Dorrego Square. The Dorrego Square is the second oldest square in the city, after the Plaza de Mayo, and is the site of an open air antique market each Sunday.

Then we went to for a window shopping spree down Florida Street. Florida Street is a pedestrian shopping street. Of course, we saw McDonald's and Burger King! We stopped in a bookstore where we picked up our ever necessary city guide book as well as a few post cards to send back home. We also stopped for lunch and ordered en espanol! Then it was off to Corrientes Avenue and the Obelisk. The Obelisk, built in the 1930's, to mark the spot where the flag of Argentina flew for the first time.

Now we're back at the hotel, ready to take a nap before we head off to dinner and a tango performance!

Hasta luego!