Buenos Aires

Getting to Buenos Aires on a Sunday afternoon was an easy drive, and the city was quite empty. As we found out it was because the Monday was to be a public holiday, and everyone had left to enjoy their extra day off elsewhere. We found a hotel in San Martín, a street in the central city with easy walking to the main attractions.

The first afternoon we revisited El Retiro, the biggest transport hub, with its neighborhood of colourful buildings. This area had deteriorated since last we saw it, and now appeared like a huge collection of random buildings with some street stalls between them. We didn't go in, it felt too busy.

The Monday we spent walking around the city to see La Casa Rosada, El Obelisco, and other landmark buildings. We also visited a shopping mall close to the hotel, Galerias Pacifico. Our last day was rainy and wet, so we went back to the mall for a closer look, and then had a late lunch in a local restaurant.

The overall impression we were left with was that the city was in a much better condition in 2000 than now. The footpaths are sadly very dirty, and the buildings are not maintained, so it was a disappointing update of what we thought of Buenos Aires. The shopping mall we went to has some upmarket shops, and the building itself is beautiful, but there was not a lot of trade going on.

The following day we left to go to the border and cross into Uruguay. The drive to Puente Internacional General San Martín was nice and the landscape much the same as the rest of the views from Mendoza to the east.