Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Arrival in Buenos Aires
and an afternoon at leisure
Wednesday 7th November 2018
 
Our thirteen hour overnight flight from Heathrow to Ezeiza International Airport (EZE - officially Ministro Pistarini International Airport) was good. We enjoyed the on-board service and we both managed to get several hours sleep before arriving at 9:00 a.m., which was slightly ahead of schedule. After completing the usual arrival formalities and collecting our baggage, we were met by the local agent, a very friendly man who gave us his full name, which I can't remember, but who said we should simply call him Max or Maxi. Little did he know, at this point, how much extra effort he and his company were going to have to put in over the next few days to make our Iguazu trip the success that it was. More about that later.
 
 
 

The coach trip from the airport to our hotel in the city centre took a bit longer than anticipated because demonstrators had closed the motorway. This was only one of several peaceful protests we were to see in Buenos Aires. We were told that the country's economy is struggling, with inflation running at almost 40 percent per annum. There is also an increasing level of unemployment.
 
Our hotel, the Sheraton, didn't look that inspiring, but once inside, we liked it.
 
Views from our room, which we were surprised to find was on the executive club floor!
 
 
 
Derek unpacked and gave me some gifts from him, Linda, Ros and Adrian. I was delighted!
 

A perk of being on the "club" floor was having access to the club room, with free snacks all day.
 
In addition to the pastries and biscuits, there was also a lunch buffet... well it would have been rude not to sample some of it.
 
Not wishing to spend the whole afternoon stuffing our faces, we set off on foot to explore the city.
 
 
 
Another peaceful demonstration. We had no idea who they were or what they were demanding.
 
 
Casa Rosada - the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina.
(main facade as seen from Plaza de Mayo)
 
 
 
 
A memorial to Argentinian lives lost during their invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982.
 
Yet another street protest.
 
 
We weren't paying too much attention to where we were going, because we knew that we would be having a guided city tour later. We simply enjoyed strolling in the warm sunshine and absorbing the feel of the place. It was nice to see a number of Jacaranda trees flowering, which reminded me that they would probably be flowering in South Africa at this time of year too.
 
 
 
 
 
 
This restaurant was recommended to us by the local tour leader. We decided to try it for dinner later...
 
...which is what we did. We were not disappointed!
 
Another view from our room before going to bed.
We had an early start in the morning and a big day ahead... or so we thought.
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble