Argentina is famous for a lot of things, including its soccer or futbol, tango, steak, and Malbec wine. We started our Argentina trip with its famous steak and Malbec wine at one of the historical steak restaurants, called, La Cabana. It has been in operation since 1935. Mrs. Choi dined at this restaurant 40 years ago so the restaurant indeed had a historical meaning. The dry-aged steak with a Malbec wine was indeed a fantastic combination.
But, we had an incident on the way back to the hotel. Mr. Yoon had his Rolex watch snatched by a thief while we were waiting for the traffic signal to change. It happened in a few seconds and he ran away on a motorcycle that was waiting. It was Mrs. Yoon's wedding gift and it was a significant loss. This was the first mishap, but not the last. Yikes!
We did a city tour of Buenos Aires the following day. It is a large city and we had only one day. So our tour covered only a handful of landmarks.
The tour started to pass by Teatro Colon, its famous opera house. We did not get inside so I borrow from Google.
We started our walking tour from Plaza de Mayo 25. The plaza was adjacent to the Pink House, the presidential office, and Catedral Metropolitana. Also, there was a statue of General Manuel Belgrano who led the country's fight against the Spaniards for independence.
Catedral Metropolitana has become famous because the current Pope Francis was the Archbishop of Argentina and was leading this cathedral. We learned that he is a descendant of an Italian family. No wonder. It did not look like a traditional cathedral. Rather it looked like a Greek or Roman temple.
El Caminito de La Boca is a small district of Buenos Aires where you can find many shops and displays that symbolize Argentinian culture, including of course Tango, Evita, and Argentinian (futbol) gods (Maradona and Messi).
As we toured the city, one structure looked like a stainless steel flower. It used to blossom in the morning and close in the evening. But, it was not working when we came by.
We visited a cemetery. Why? It was part of their culture. All tombs were decorated with a structure so that the remaining family may visit freely. Its park-like environment was inviting, but it was still a cemetery. One of the attractions was the tomb of Evita, the wife of a former president, who was an active politician and dearly loved by Argentinians.
El Ateneo is a bookstore converted from a theater. Its interior was quite splendid. The tour guide took us there as a Grand Splendid. Its ceiling is decorated with an artistic painting and it was indeed splendid.
Cafe Tortoni is one of the places any tourist must visit. Its long history of operations since 1858 is quite impressive and its beautiful atmosphere, plus delicious foods, was quite attractive. No wonder people do not mind lining up to be seated. Moreover, the waiter who has been working there for a long time was quite entertaining. Albert Einstein's photo was hung on the wall, saying that he visited the place.
We had a Be My Guest dinner at an Argentinian home. The meals in a family atmosphere were very homey and delicious. They even showed us a tango show.
Argentina is suffering from hyperinflation in 2022 and 2023 at around 80%. So it has two FX rates being used. Its official FX rate is called a red rate. But, the market has an unofficial rate, called a blue rate. This blue rate is almost two times the red rate. In January 2023, the red rate was approximately ARS180 per USD1.00 while the blue rate was in the range of ARS330-370. We had to jump the hoops to take advantage of the rate difference. At any rate, we started our 3-week long trip to South America this way. - Jeffrey
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