From Palermo we grabbed a cheap Uber ride to the main cathedral to explore the Microcentro neighborhood. To get there we took a massive road with 8 lanes (in each direction) plus lights!
Our first stop was the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. We have been to many cathedrals across Italy and Spain, and this felt like a mix of those, and not super memorable. However, one highlight was the chapel of Jose de San Martin (national hero and the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru) with two armed guards standing in front of his tomb.
Leaving the cathedral we walked across the street to Plaza de Mayo for views of Casa Rosada, the very pink presidential palace.
A quick visit to the Casa Rosada museum provided a bit of context into a century of Argentinean presidents.
From here we crossed Puente de la Mujer for views of the ministry of defense building and a large masted boat, the Sarmiento Navy training ship, before taking another Uber to the Recoleta district.
In Recoleta we started off at the massive Floralis Generica sculpture, then walked across the arty mural bridge.
On our way to the Recoleta cemetery, we stopped at the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar for a quick peek inside.
At the national cemetery we were stopped in our tracks at the tourist pricing. $16+ pp for a previously free, public space!?! Apparently the large cemetery (famous for Eva Peron’s grave) had been free until COVID, then it was closed for two years and reopened with a fast-increasing price for tourists. We declined a visit.
After lunch, we walked over to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which was better than expected. Online they list a “suggested” donation of $5K to visit but when you arrive, a “helper” completes the ticket machine for you, bypassing the “pay what you want” screen and choosing the full amount. So, it’s $5K to visit. Still, this was a great museum and compares to others we have visited for twice the price in Spain and elsewhere. We took tons of photos and enjoyed the collections which included lesser-seen works from Degas, Picasso, Pissaro and Manet, including sketches and drawings. Absolutely worth a visit and two hours of your time.
On our last night in Argentina, we switched locations to the Marriott, right across from the Obelisk which was showing a prayer tribute to Pope Francis (who was in the hospital at the time).
The beautiful Teatro Colón is a short walk from the Obelisk too.
The next morning we walked over to the Museum of Water and Sanitation History, housed in an ornate building designed to hide giant water tanks! The small museum is located in the first floor (we had to be directed twice) was surprisingly interesting.
On the way to San Telmo, we walked through Plaza Mariano Moreno for views of the Parliament building, and stopped at the Monument to Iguazu Falls which wasn’t operational and apparently hasn’t been in years. Disappointing.
We were charmed by San Telmo, especially the street art including several larger than life animated character sculptures!
We quickly walked through the San Telmo market but it was sweltering inside due to all the parrilla grill places!
