This vacation trip was motivated by the offer of a free cruise, with penthouse accommodation, as compensation for volunteering to relinquish our Viking reservation on an overbooked Caribbean cruise last Spring. On short notice, that vacation was instead spent at two resorts in Puerto Rico.
Only a few blocks away, the “Ecoparque”, an environmentally friendly name for a zoo, offered free admission for tourists. We didn't have to walk far to find inviting restaurants. Our favorite was an Italian restaurant, serving excellent Malbec wine from Mendoza, with its meals. Italians form a large part of this nation's immigrant population, and their influence is still felt. Buenos Aires metropolitan area has a population of about 16 million; our impressions are mainly from the Palermo area.
A walk in the park on a pleasant late Spring Day. This park, near the river, is so large that it was divided into sections.
Streetside flower adds color to the neighborhood.
A cluster of dogs settled in the shade with their dogwalker.
High-rise apartment buildings just beyond the park's shade. This is where the dog owners lived.
A typical shaded street. Temperatures were mainly in the 70's while we were there, but the shade and cooling from those trees will be highly appreciated during warm mid-summer.
Montevideo central plaza with monuments. It was an easy walk to get here, pedestrian-only streets and mild weather.
Pedestrian-only shopping street in Montevideo.
Live Musical production in local theater. We attended as part of a cruise ship excursion.
As you can see, we had perfect weather to start our Viking cruise.
Puerto Madryn beach and business area. The summer attraction here is the extensive beach area.
Dawn looking seaward. The shipping pier here is extremely long in order to reach deep water. That is our cruise ship in the background.
A super big park was also nearby. We discovered that professional 'dogwalkers' each staked out a shaded area under the trees where they tended their charges, as many as 2 or 3 dozen dogs at a time. Nearby were many high-rise apartments buildings where the dog's owners lived. We took long walks to explore the area and felt safe while doing so. It was late Spring there; blossoms were falling from the trees to create a colorful ground carpet in places.
Metropolitan Cathedral mausoleum of General San Martin. We were fortunate to be there at the changing of the guard. Two soldiers are always posted here. General San Martin and his Army liberated Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spanish rule.
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
The first stop on our cruise was Montevideo, Uruguay, which is about 1/10 the size of Buenos Aires. We took a long walk through the old part of the city following pedestrian-only avenues. We stopped to look at products, mainly clothes, in the stores, but prices were at US levels, making them expensive for the locals and no bargain for us. An average wage here is about $500 to $1000 per month.
To allow a break in the long voyage south, we stopped at Puerto Madryn, Argentina. The nearby bay is a notable breeding area for whales as well as other marine species. Interestingly, many Scottish settlers were invited to come here generations ago and settle the area, and they have maintained much of their culture.
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