Thinking of going to South America and Antarctica on Princess ?

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Just a few more sites before we move on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We saw some great photography on Netflix this morning . It is called Our Planet Episode #2 : Frozen Worlds . The first half was Antarctica and showed whales , killer whales and penguins .

 

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Our guide also took us to some other places that we had not planned . After leaving the cemetery we walked beside it 

 

 

past the dog park

 

 

to this place for leather .

 

 

It's funny because we had seen this store on a TV program called  Samantha Brown : Passport to Latin America back in 2007 . They we running the program on their TV screen inside the store which was fine for me since I'm not  the savvy shopper that my wife is . But I did notice some alligator or crocodile bags on the top shelf that reminded me of some things that my mom use to have .

 

 

While the store smelled like leather bit it looked like money to me

 

 

I must admit that this jacket looked really good on my wife !

 

 

We did buy some things for the kids , grandsons and SIL and DIL .

 

 

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After leaving the leather store we did some walking and window shopping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This store had some beautiful carvings , some from ivory

 

 

 

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We also went to the Mercado San Telmo

 

 

 

 

We didn't buy any of the fruits or vegetables as they would not be allowed on board 

 

 

 

These Dulce de Leche stores seemed like they were everywhere

 

 

We could tell that we were nearing Boca

 

 

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The place that we had lunch at used to be a butcher shop

 

 

You can still see the meat hooks and racks

 

 

 

 

The fried Provolone was really good

 

 

 

as was the grilled filet ,

 

 

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The Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires . This is considered to be the home church of the current pope  Pope Francis who was born in Buenos Aires .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just down from the cathedral is the Plaza de Mayo

 

 

 

The Plaza de Mayo is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time known as Plaza de la Victoria and Plaza 25 de Mayo respectively. Wikipedia

 

The Pyramid de Mayo

 

 

The Pirámide de Mayo (Spanish pronunciation: [piˈɾamiðe ðe ˈmaʝo]; English: May Pyramid), located at the hub of the Plaza de Mayo, is the oldest national monument in the City of Buenos Aires. Its construction was ordered in 1811 by the Primera Junta to celebrate the first anniversary of the May Revolution. It is also used as a Spanish project by many middle schoolers and high schoolers who are taking Spanish classes. It was renovated in 1856, under the direction of Prilidiano Pueyrredón. In 1912, after having undergone many modifications, it was moved 63 metres (68.9 yards) to the east, with the idea that a much larger monument would eventually be constructed around it. Wikipedia

 

The white scarf of the Mothers of the Plazas de Mayo painted on the ground

 

 

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Spanish: Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo) is an association of Argentine mothers whose children "disappeared" during the state terrorism of the military dictatorship, between 1976 and 1983. They organized while trying to learn what had happened to their children, and began to march in 1977 at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, in public defiance of the government's state terrorism intended to silence all opposition. Wearing white head scarves to symbolize the diapers of their lost children, the mothers marched in solidarity to protest the atrocities committed by the military regime. They held the government accountable for the human rights violations they committed during their time in power. Wikipedia

 

The pink Palace

 

 

 

The Casa Rosada (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkasa roˈsaða], English: Pink House) is the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as Casa de Gobierno, ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the President lives at the Quinta de Olivos, the official residence of the President of Argentina, which is located in Olivos, Greater Buenos Aires. The characteristic color of the Casa Rosada is baby pink, and is considered one of the most emblematic buildings in Buenos Aires. The building also houses a museum, which contains objects relating to former presidents of Argentina. It has been declared a National Historic Monument of Argentina.  Wikipedia

 

The entrance to the subway station

 

 

 

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We did pass the Giant Flower stopping for a photo

 

 

Next destination La Boca

 

We passed this large apartment complex with their giant paintings on the wall , behind barbed wire

 

 

 

Boca Juniors Stadium

 

 

 

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This painter was born in Boca and inspired the bright colors here 

 

 

Near the old port is Caminito

 

 

 

 

A statue of the pope

 

 

and the pope riding an alpaca

 

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More of Boca

  

 



 

 

We don't see many monuments to firefighters in our country

 

 

But they had several

 

 

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More colorful shots from the La Boca area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A few more photos from La Boca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We made 2 more photo stops before returning to the ship

 

The Presidente Sarmiento

 

 

and the Women's Bridge

 

 

A 3-D street painting

 

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

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The last morning's sunrise from the ship

 

 

The sky had cleared so it was going to be a hot one

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

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The cruise line gave us 2 nights in a hotel and transportation . We were the second to the last group off the ship and we took our time eating and walked around ship and our room one last time .

 

 

 

A Costa ship was also in port

 

 

A couple of impressive bank buildings

 

 

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

 

 

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They called for our group at 9:30 so we took our carry on luggage of the ship and down to the bus . After arriving at the terminal we were told that our luggage was on the bus after  we cleared immigration . It was a short ride to the Sheraton Hotel . We were met by a representative told us to bring our luggage into this room .

 

 

We we told that we may not be able to check in until 2 PM ! We were told that it is a big , busy hotel and we needed to wait for other people to check out . We were also given the paper work for the Hotel and told that we could leave our luggage there if we wanted to .

 

 

My DW spotted the twin beds and we were not too happy with that room . We decided to find out how busy they were and if upgrades were available . I stood luggage watch while my wife went to the desk . She returned shortly with our keys cards and away we went .

 

 

 

 

It had a great view of the port

 

 

and we could see the Zaandam in the distance , perfect for sail away !

 

 

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This was the view of the port 

 

 

We also had a great view of the Torre Banco Macro through our window

 

 

Across the street was this beautiful tower that had a name change in 1982

 

 

 

 

From Wikipedia

 

Torre Monumental and before 1982 Torre de los Ingleses (Tower of the English) is a clock tower located in the barrio (district) of Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is situated in the Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina (formerly Plaza Británica) next to the Calle San Martín and Avenida del Libertador. It was a gift from the local British community to the city in commemoration of the centennial of the May Revolution of 1810.

After the Falklands War in 1982, the tower was renamed Torre Monumental, though some still call it Torre de los Ingleses.

 

There is also this beautiful train station

 

 

There is also the Monument to the fallen in Malvinas

 

 

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This giant egg sculpture was near the park . It's called Nosotros Afuera , which means We, the outsiders

 

 

It was lunch time and we were headed to an Irish Pub a few blocks away

 

 

We had our hearts set on some fish and chips and a pint which we had missed in the Falklands

 

 

 

But they were not on the menu and the server was unfamiliar with them  . So I had a Chicken Cordon Blue

 

 

And DW had a St. Killian's

 

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In this photo you can see our hotel , the English Tower and the port in the distance

 

 

We had a key to the Executive Lounge with had breakfast and snacks throughout the day . The had free wine in the evenings .

 

 

It has a great view of the park and downtown

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were told that the train tracks separate the downtown area from the poor area

 

 

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The building was all lit up and we remembered that on a previous trip to BA we had a large power failure . It was pretty hot until the AC kicked on at 2 AM .

 

 

We wanted to take some photos of the tower and the hotel from across the street

 

 

A young man approached us and said " English not so good , not good to be in park with camera at night " . We thanked him in Spanish and heeded his warning . These were taken from the property - up close .

 

 

 

A new day dawning

 

 

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While eating breakfast in the lounge we saw MSC ship pulling into port.

 

 

It backed in near the Zaandam who had spent the night

 

 

 

 

In the front of the hotel were a number of flags .  Conspicuously absent were the British and American flags

 

 

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We were planning to go to the mall for some shopping and then have lunch but we saw some fast moving clouds that made us wait for a little .

 

 

 

 

Here's the mall that we went to Galerias Pacifico

 

 

 

 

They have some interesting paintings on the ceilings and a great Christmas tree

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

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From our eye in the sky perch we could see the green life jackets on the Promenade deck preparing the next cruise for the safety drill

 

 

The Costa Favolosa was out the port before the Zaandam

 

 

 

Away she goes

 

 

on her next adventure in Antarctica 

 

 

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