Christmas in Buenos Aires

Santa
Last night, we ate in at the hotel  Nothing to write home about but a nice evening.  We are staying at the Park Hyatt and after attempting to try and make reservations to go out weeks ago, it appeared that staying at the hotel was the call.  A beautiful buffet of appetizers and desserts with the main course as your selection.  We sat outside.  There is the old section and the new section of the hotel and in between a beautiful garden with eating at both locations.  Really nice, warm air and of course, Santa had a visit. 

Jade
This morning, we got up really late and began the day.  It was the perfect day to walk around the city and see certain sites as the town is pretty much closed up, including the museums. 

We walked down the street from our hotel over to La Biela, a cafe that is located near the Recoleta Cemetery.  La Biela has been open since 1850 and in the 1950's became a big cafe with the racing circuit people.  It is a big outdoor cafe ( there is an indoor area too ) where you can sit and people watch.  Across the street is a small park with the largest rubber tree I have ever seen. 

Holding up jade
The trees are so huge that there are people sleeping inside of them.  The branches become so heavy that they are shored up so they don't fall down. 

Cemetery
The cemetery is like no other.  A huge plot of ground loaded with mausoleums from not only re-known people from Buenos Aires but the most famous resident of all, Eva Peron.  Mostly family plots, all above ground.  What is wild is that it is put together like a small village.

Cemetary2
 Narrow street after street of family mausoleums instead of homes.  Each one more ornate than the next.  Granite, bronze, marble sculptures. 

Cermatary
Afterward, we grabbed at cab over to Congressional Square and walked down Avenida de Mayo.  It is one of the cities great boulevards.  At one end is the Presidential Pink Palace and the other is the Congressional Palace.  The street is lined with cafes and shops.  In all honesty, today was so dead that it felt old and tired.

Bridge near waterfront
We continued walking all the way down to the waterfront.  There is a very cool walking bridge that runs over the waterway.  This area went through a serious transformation about 12 years ago.  When we were here last, this area was booming.  Very trendy cafes and shops.  They took the waterfront of old buildings and created a new community.  It has been done in many cities.  Today, this area is not that interesting at least to us.  There are still offices and restaurants but one of the primo restaurants that we noticed was Hooters.  Alas.  TImes have changed.

Mott lunch
Hopped in another cab.  The city is huge.  Paris would fit into one neighborhood.  We went over to the Palermo Viejo area where we plan on returning again tomorrow as the stores, galleries and cafes will open.  We had lunch at Mott.  A large industrial type space with salads, sandwiches and a large bar.  Open for lunch and dinner. 

Salad
Delicious simple salad nicoise with yummy breads on the side.  A good stop.

After, we strolled around some more until we found a cab.  Back to the hotel for a little rest.  

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Comments (Archived):

  1. pollski

    Your link to Mott seems down or wrong. Maybe it’s just me. BTW- Love the pictures!!

  2. Evan

    Supposedly at one point, the cemetary in Recoleta was the most expensive real estate in the world per square foot.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Wow. Thats a fun fact i will share with the group. There are a lot of dead people in a very small plot of land.joanne [email protected]