As far as border crossings have been on this trip, it seems like the forces of the universe saved the best for last; the crossing from Uruguay to Argentina on December 19 took about five minutes before we were riding into Argentina to finish our journey. Details are on our Border Crossings page for all interested earthlings and extraterrestrials.
Our stop for the night was in Gualeguaychú where a friend of Phil’s dad generously hosted us and we enjoyed good food, good wine, and great company for the evening.
On the following day, we set off for Buenos Aires and as if to balance out the equation for the easy border crossing, we arrived in our final city with a substantial amount of rainfall and soaking boots. Not to worry, we were stopping for two months so we would have plenty of time to dry off. Why were we stopping in Buenos Aires for two months instead of going to Ushuaia or returning home? Well, we decided to forgo travelling further south with a motorcycle as loaded as ours since the journey is known for strong winds and bad roads. As for not returning home… have you seen Vancouver’s winter?
So we celebrated the holidays with warm weather for a change and we did have a good home-cooked turkey dinner. Too bad our friends were in different parts of the continent.
The Bird
The Feast
New Year’s Eve is not celebrated in Buenos Aires on the same scale as back home as most of the streets were empty, but there was a fireworks display in Puerto Madero so that is where we went. The place was crowded (explains why the rest of the city was empty) and the fireworks were nothing to write about, but we did enjoy being out.
New Year’s Eve in Puerto Madero
Even though Phil and I are textbook introverts and rarely find ourselves lonely, we do enjoy meeting up with other earthlings every now and again so when a fellow Canadian adventure rider, Ron, was in town, we came out of hibernation. In fact, Ron and Phil had been communicating since near the beginning of the trip and our paths didn’t cross until Ron was passing through Buenos Aires while we were holed up there. As evident from the strategically-angled selfie (I have a tendency to disappear into the darkness when taking pictures with white people), it was a great time with some good Argentinian wine.
Ron, me, and Phil
Selfie by Ron
As insatiable book lovers, it was only natural that the first place we visited in Buenos Aires was the El Ateneo Grand Splendid. Often touted as the “world’s most beautiful bookstore,” the building dates back to 1919 when it opened as a theatre. It was renovated and converted to a bookstore in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, despite its large collection of books, there weren’t many in English. For those looking for English books in Buenos Aires, there is a store in the Alto Palermo shopping center for you.
El Ateneo Grand Splendid
We also visited the Cementerio de la Recoleta, Argentina’s renowned necropolis that dates back to the 1700s and boasts numerous elaborately-decorated mausoleums and statues, and also happens to be the burial site of Eva Perón. The cemetery is certainly as beautiful as it is said to be and there are photo ops at every turn of the labyrinth.
Caminito, located in the La Boca neighbourhood, was the most touristy spot we visited, but the place is so for a reason. The area is beautiful with its cobblestone streets and colourful buildings, and it also inspired the music for the famous tango of the same name, composed in 1926 by Juan de Dios Filiberto. Visitors do need to beware and avoid venturing too far off the beaten track as the neighbourhood is considered a shanty town and tourists have been known to be robbed at gunpoint away from the center.
We spent an afternoon visiting Plaza de Mayo as there are a number of monuments in the area, like Casa Rosada (executive mansion and office of the President), Pirámide de Mayo (oldest national monument in Buenos Aires), and Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (the main catholic church) among others. There were also numerous stores and restaurants in the area for when we had enough of seeing monuments.
Of all the neighbourhoods In Buenos Aires, San Telmo is the oldest one. It is a well-preserved area with cobblestone streets and numerous colonial buildings dating as far back as the 17th century. The Plaza Dorrego is a popular spot that attracts many tourists every Sunday with its flea market and tango dancers. Unfortunately, we happened to be there on a Wednesday and the place was much quieter than expected.
San Telmo
While San Telmo is the oldest, Palermo is the largest neighbourhood of Buenos Aires and the area where we came across the most foreigners during our time in the city. It is another lovely area of cobblestone streets and colonial buildings, and with countless stores and restaurants that made for a great afternoon of exploring on a lazy Sunday.
Palermo Viejo
We didn’t expect to fall in love with Buenos Aires as much as we did, but here we are. The city is a charming mix of old and new with some characteristics that feel like Europe, while others are quintessentially Latin American. Despite the hyperinflation that hit the country recently, restaurants and cafes are packed right into the wee hours of the morning, people still go to malls and movies, and it seems to be a very livable place.
Being In Buenos Aires for over two months made it feel like home for us. We took a tango class and visited more places than mentioned in this post, but we didn’t film or take pictures because we were preoccupied with living and enjoying them. We had a lot of delicious food, amazing wine, and great times that we savored as much as we could.
Packing our belongings and getting on the plane to conclude this trip at the end of February was nothing short of heart-wrenching, but our story will not end here because one thing we know for sure is that we will keep on riding around the world.
A big THANK YOU to all of you who have been following us and for the support and encouragement throughout this trip. We hope that our blog has been helpful and given you some ideas for your next trip 😉
