6
7
F
orty-four (44) members of TTARP
ventured on an exhilarating
tour of Buenos Aires, the capital of
Argentina, between 23rd September
and 29th September 2016.
We arrived in at our hotel, The
Design Suites, situated in Recoleta
on the night of the 23rd, after having
travelled for about four hours to
Panama and then seven hours from
Panama to Buenos Aires.
We had a comfortable night’s sleep
then set out early the next day,
bracing the chilly atmosphere,
for a half day tour of the city. We
were mesmerized by the extremely
wide streets with trees lining the
pavements and the mixture of the old
French buildings with their wrought
iron balconies and the new glass
towers of the modern era.
We visited the historical site of Plaza
de Mayo with its famous obelisk, as
well as the neighbourhoods of San
Telmo, Puerto Madero and Palermo,
with their elegant offices, apartments
and residences. We walked amongst
the dead in the cemetery of Recoleta,
which was like a city itself, with
paved streets and tombs built like
houses showing off visible coffins in
the front palour.
We ended the city tour with a visit
to La Boca, a pretty, colourful and
artistic part of the city, where we
had the opportunity to have a photo
taken with one of the many male and
female tango dancers who showed
off their talent on the pavement.
Day three started out disappointedly
as we did not get to visit the leather
factory as previously advised but
instead we were taken to a leather
store. Then at the H. Stern jewelry
store, we were promised wine and
cheese which never materialized.
Eventually, we went to the Abasto
Shopping Mall which was a bit high-
priced. However, all was not lost,
instead of going to a casino in the
afternoon, we opted to spend the
rest of the day at an interesting flea
market which had many craft shops
offering leather goods and other
Argentinean artifacts.
Our next day’s outing commenced
with a visit to the town of Isadora
with its old train station and neo-
gothic cathedral. Then on to a
pleasant boat ride from the town of
El Tigre, which took us through the
Delta del Rio Parana to view the old
mansions of the upper classes and the
Tango in
Argentina
present day wooden buildings built
on columns in order to avoid the
likely flooding of the delta.
One of the highlights of the tour
was the excursion to the Estancia
Santa Susana Ranch, where we
were treated to a cart ride, a horse
ride and horse and rider antics,
culminating in a delicious lunch of
mixed salads, barbecued sausage,
barbecued black sausage (much like
our black pudding), and barbecued
chicken and tender Argentinean
steak. Absolutely delicious!! After
the meal, we also enjoyed the tango
and folk music entertainment. It
was interesting to note that the same
gauchos that drove us in the carts,
also helped us on the horses, helped
at the barbecue grill, helped serve
the lunch and finally ended the day
showing us the various stunt tricks
that they could do on and with the
horses. It certainly was a fantastic
day.
On the penultimate day we shopped
till we dropped, many persons
enjoying the pedestrian shopping
areas of Florida and Santa Fe. Then
we put on our fancy clothes and
ended the tour in fine style at the bar
El Querrandi where we were served
a tasty dinner and entranced by the
tango dance, (but not by the music
which seemed to be devoid of a
tune), which recounted the history of
the tango from 1910 to the present.
We returned to Trinidad and Tobago
on the 29th September 2016 having
experienced an interesting though
small section of Buenos Aires.
Honor St. Rose Louis
(TTARP member)
Parroquia de la
Catedral de San
Isidro
Argentinian Cuisine
Crowd of Argentinians enjoying local
entertainment in a park
