Version française disponible ici.
We entered in the urban area by the Ruta 8 and the dual carriageway. The trafic was important but manageable. A cycling path was going along the highway where a cyclist team was training.
We have been invited by Ricardo, met a few weeks ago on the Chilean Carratera Australe. He is living in a residence with his family, next to Tigre city, in the West part of Buenos Aires.
Our visit of the main Argentinian city started early in the morning by walking in the port of Tigre. This city of the suburb of Buenos Aires is located in the middle of the delta created by the rio (river) Uruguay and Parana de Las Palmas. Overlooking the sea, Tigre welcomes many “chic” nautical clubs where Argentinian people are meeting to practice rowing or sailing. A few metres further from this privileged place, the “Puerto de los Frutos” is a new hip place where arrive the fruits from the Delta Island and where the old warehouses have been refurbished into new shops.
We went in the area of San Isidro where we visited the cathedral of Saint Isidore le Laboureur, symbolic monument of the city with a neo-gothic style and the main tower with a 70-metre height. On the way, we passed by the “Monumental” stadium whose the name matches well due to its size. The football players of the River Plate team were training there.
To go in the historic centre of Buenos Aires, we crossed the residential borough of Palermo. In the nice buildings with a colonial style, there are many ambassades.
Arrived on the Presidente Figueroa Alcorta avenue, we passed by the French ambassade. We discovered the Cultural Centre Recoleta before to go through the Recoleta Cemetery. We reached the “Casa Rosada” by the Leandro N. Alem avenue where is located the Parliament of the country.
We continued our visit in the recently reorganised area of the old docks of Puerto Madero. We went closer to one of the basins where “La Fregata” was mooted, an old boat with three masts from the Argentinian navy.
Our visit of the city ended by visiting the famous area of La Boca. Located nearby the old naval port, it was the area of the migrants due to the history. Men and women from all the nationalities came to start a new life in this eldorado of this vast country. They lived together during many years. In spite of the tourists, the daily life is still simple and popular, marked by the blue and yellow colours of the football club Boca Junior. The historic walls made in sheet metal were progressively replaced by concrete walls. In spite of the social difficulties encountered by the country, the colours and the good mood were still felt in this area.
During the second day focused on Buenos Aires, we spent the morning on the Delta Islands. At the Tigre port, we used a beautiful wooden boat, a “Lancha Collectiva” looking like a Venitian Vaporetto. On board, there were many families who were going for a picnic on one of the several beaches. They hold baskets and ice bags full of good food for their lunch.
On the various pieces of lands, the life was organised without cars, replaced by boats. Therefore, policemen were making their usual controls by Zodiac. Our “lancha collectiva” needed also to change its trajectory when the siren of the ambulance boat rang.
We landed at the stop of the “Tres Bocas”. We snaked our way on a small path along the edges of the island offering beautiful wooden villas on stilts on one side ; pontoons and boats on the other side. We did a break to enjoy a chill drink in front of the floating petrol station of the YPF company. Many boats were coming for petrol, we enjoyed our beer watching this dynamic show.
t was late in the afternoon when we left Tigre to grab a train and go towards Buenos Aires. On the way to the historic town centre, there were roadworks which made us to stop at Bunes, a few stops away from the train station of Retiro. We crossed the Palermo area to reach the Lago del Rosedal before to go back to Tigre and meet Ricardo and his family.
Our stop in Buenos Aires will be also the opportunity to learn more about the “Gaucho” culture, the Argentinian cowboys. For this, we went by sidecars with Ricardo, to the village of San Antonio de Areco, tens of kilometres further from the capital. We visited the museum of “Gauchesco Ricardo Guiraldes” which included a large collection of objects about the daily life of men and women from the Argentinian countryside. We saw knives, stirrups, objects made from horse leather plaited. It was the opportunity for Julien to buy a Bolina, a traditional beret worn by the Gauchos which is similar to our French beret but made in a lighter material.
During the evening, when we were back in the city, we stopped in the nice area of Belen de Escobar. There was a friendly ambiance with beers served with an electro music and softened lights from the fairy lights.
We left Buenos Aires and took the direction of North-East. Once passed the city of Zaraté, we stopped in a nautical club where the rio Pasque Talavera flows into the Rio Parana Guazu. A modest campsite with many mosquitos but offers nice surroundings with wooden passerelles, a beach, a good and popular atmosphere.
The next day, we went back on the road to reach Gualeyguaychu. Since the 19th century, each Saturday during January and February, the city organises the most famous carnival of the country.
We passed the weekend in this charming fluvial city with a samba music and celebrations.
The following Monday, we crossed the Rio Uruguay to reach the country of the same name, last country of our adventure in South of America…
OUR FAVOURITE PLACES |
| Where to have a drink?
Café de la Vieja Soderia In this little village highlighting the culture of the Argentinian countryside, there is this old house made of stones at the corner of this street. There is a cosy atmosphere around an old zinc bar. The decoration is inspired by the old brands of soda and their advertising of the 70’s. On the shelves, there are the old returnable bottles which are refilled after being drunk. A perfect place for a snack in the middle of the afternoon or for a chill drink after visiting the local attractions. – Flora Cerveceria In the city of Ingeniero Maschwitz in the suburb of Buenos Aires, this area with a friendly atmosphere has just been created. Around the Mendoza street, there are many new bars and restaurants. We opted for a small terrace by the “Cerveceria Flora” ; the beer is good and the atmosphere with the colourful fairy lights is warming. |
