Family Holiday in Buenos Aires

Zimmermans reunited...

When Jim and Lisbeth first booked their trip to meet us in Buenos Aires, it was November and we were in Thailand with Adam indulging in a "Hay-Nicholls Holiday". I can remember how excited we were, especially as Monica was going to be able to join us too. We jumped up and down in our Sri Panwa villa for approximately 20 minutes even though at that time, it seemed so far in the future. This would be the first time Chris had seen his sister since Christmas 2009 so we were all thrilled that we would be together again in such an exciting place as Buenos Aires. I suppose that this is going to be more of a 'photo-blog' than a detailed journal entry: we had such a fun time all together and I think this may come through just as well in photos as in my babble!

Jim and Lisbeth had arranged to spend two weeks in Argentina; due to work commitments, Monica had to wait a week until she could join us. I can't describe how much of a treat it was for Chris and me to be staying in the Marriot Plaza Hotel. After our fun in Sydney's Marriot, I never quite believed we would be lucky enough to stay in such a beautiful hotel again. We enjoyed everything about our stay here from the most comfortable beds in the world (Chris has since found out you can buy these Marriot beds - something I will definitely look into in the future for our chateau - oooh la la!) and the daily fresh towels to the free Shampoo, access to the Executive lounge due to Jim's status and most of all being so close to family. The rooms were big enough that we could enjoy a glass of wine there before going out or even, on one occasion, munch on takeaway pizza for dinner! What a change from 8-bed dorm rooms!

The grand, old hotel was right on the corner of San Martin square where one evening the French put on a spectacular show in celebration of the upcoming Bicentennial festivities that will happen in Argentina around 25th May. The Cirque de Soleil were flying on zip wires from building to building right next to Jim and Lisbeth's Marriot window and over the square throwing white feathers as they went - it really was quite incredible and it took us a long long time to understand what the snow-like confetti falling from the sky really was.

It was fantastic to explore the city with family. We spent a lot of time catching up over food and drink while we watched the world go by...

Sandwiches and cakes at Las Violettas

Monica's vegetarian selection...

Argentina is known for being a fun and lively city. We hadn't been here a full 24 hours before we learned that music and dancing are part of this city's soul. Walking around markets in the city's cobble-stoned streets you can expect to see tango dancers on one corner or else a traditional Argentine band on another. It brings such a great atmosphere to the streets when you're walking around and it often reminded me of the dancing and singing at the Sunday Market on Rue Mouftard in Paris.

It didn't take us long to realise that the Argentine's love their tea. Whether out shopping at the market or sitting on a bench taking a break from work, you can guarantee that the normal Argentine will have a "Yarba Mate" in their hand. It's made in such a bizarre way - for a start its mainly all tea leaves so that even when the boiling water is added you can still stand a spoon upright in it. They drink it from a'Mate' (which is an egg shape) through a straw with a filter at the bottom. We all tried it and Chris had it spot on when he described it as tasting like Wicker Furniture. I'm not a tea person myself as all of my friends know (I must be the only English person to never have drank a cup in my life) but even so, I wasn't the only one of us to decide that this bitter tasting drink requires an acquired taste.

The Wicker-Furniture Tea lady busily pouring for one of her clients at a market in San Telmo

If tea wasn't our thing then the beef most certainly was (Monica excluded of course). We had been warned that we may be dining on a fat juicy steak every single evening we spent in Argentina and that prediction wasn't far wrong. One evening we dined with Ahmed and Dave who, also staying at the Marriot on business, coincidentally work for Nasa. Jim and they caught up on current space news over a great dinner which of course included juicy steaks for all of us. The following evening was an even bigger treat for me. A good Argentine friend of mine who I'd met while studying in York was able to meet up with us and show us one of his favourite steak places in town. After taking us on a walking tour that only a local could, Ale showed us a wonderfully local place in San Telmo where we filled our bellies to bursting with juicy meat after scrumptious melted cheese to start. It was great to catch up with Ale again after almost four years and hear he's doing so well as a teacher. Thanks for showing us around, Ale, answering all our questions and teaching us about Buenos Aires! It was fab to see you!

We got to the restaurant by taking the oldest subway in South America.
Line A has recently been restored to its former glory and even the
train carriages are original. What a treat for train-lover Chris!

Chris prepares to tuck into his delicious, juicy meat feast of

Lomo steak, ribs and chorizo sausage... Yum!

(This surely isn't all for you, Chris?!)

To walk off our steaks, we visited many markets in Buenos Aires and while the arts and crafts can't be compared to those in India or Laos, there were some unique items, especially in terms of jewelry. The boys may have rolled their eyes as they watched the three of us girls bargaining hard on a two dollar ring but the truth is they were incredibly patient while we meandered our way round stall after stall in market after market.

I had my own frustrations while shopping. Since my arrival in Chile - where if people weren't dressed in a suit and tie, they were at least very smart - I realised that I needed an alternative piece of footwear than my smelly hiking boots. Oh, the joys of backpacking and having only one pair of shoes for the year. I hadn't realised just how much of a mission it would be however to find a pair of shoes or boots to fit my rather large feet (hmmph, I'm only a size 7 and a half/41)!

It proved great practice for my Spanish as I went into each and every shop in Santiago asking whether they had any women's shoes over a size 40. Not one shop did. Neither Lisbeth nor Monica could believe that the same could be said for Buenos Aires (I had already noted that the women here seemed a little taller than their neighbours in Santiago) and we set off on a big-footed mission to find me a pair of smart boots in the leather-land that is Argentina.

After days of wandering round with some of the best shoppers on the planet - Monica and Lisbeth were extremely patient as I trailed around each and every shoe shop in this city - we discovered that the same was indeed the case in Buenos Aires and no-one stocked any shoes above a comparatively small size 40 (the majority of shops stopped at 39, for goodness sake!). However, rather hilariously and in the style of a shop for the larger lady, we did happen upon this 'special' shop for 'special' people with 'especially' large feet. Hmmm. I refuse to believe that girls here are all size 6 (UK) or under and maintain that they must wrap their feet, Japanese style, in attempts to shrink them. In case you're wondering, I succumbed in the end to globalisation, managing to find a trusty Zara whose big-footed European market meant that they had a few styles in a 41 - thanks so much Grandma: despite inheriting your large feet, I now look smart thanks to the birthday money from you! Muchas Gracias!

The shoe trauma over, it was time to get back to the business of tourism in this wonderfully grand city which reminded us all so much of Paris with its tree-lined boulevards and magestic, light-stoned buildings. First on our list was a tour of the 'Congresso', where parliament is held.

We also strolled around the cemetery in Recolata where many of Argentina's most famous military and political leaders lie in impressive tombs along with other, notably wealthy families. Wandering through these crypts which are in varying states of disrepair a lot of them, I pondered many questions and admit that this was one of the strangest places I've been.

First of all, wandering through Recoleta is like walking through a miniature city: it even has 'city walls'. It felt like we were walking through small streets past miniature houses, each street lit by a street-lanterns. Many of the crypts are indeed the size of humble homes from yesteryear. I've never really been one to dwell on death but walking around here, it's hard not to. As we gazed through the glass doors of some of the tombs I was shocked to see that coffins were on show. Stacked, possibly in order of death, were members of one wealthy family after another on marble shelves. Each tomb also had stairs down to a deeper and larger crypt where, if you looked closely enough (which I certainly did) you could see shelves upon shelves of coffins - generations of a family laid to rest in coffins, on show. Gosh. It made me think a lot about death and putting loved ones to rest. I suppose really it's not much different to burying a coffin in the ground except, well the bodies will surely take far longer to decompose and... well, I found it strange. Or, just new, I suppose. There must be a heck of a smell surely when a living family member opens the tomb to pay their respects. Death is a strange thing. Or, I should say, humans are strange things.

While the majority of the tombs are palacial and are maintained in that way, some of the older crypts were in such a bad state that the stone was cracked and the coffin was hanging out so that you could touch them. If you wished...

Evita's tomb. It would have been her birthday a few days

earlier and people had flocked to lay flowers for her.

Moving back into the land of the living, we visited many museums...

The Barbie Palace:

Yes, it really exists and yes, there is a beauty salon for five year olds.

Ridiculous.

A collection of Eva Peron's dresses in the museum dedicated

to her life and her, frankly, incredible achievements.

The 'Generic Flower' which opens and closes like

a real flower according to the light

One of the most interesting neighbourhoods we visited was La Boca, first built by Italians from Genoa and now home to brightly painted corrugated iron houses and lots of artists. I hadn't realised before visiting Argentina how much Italian heritage there is here. I had ignorantly assumed that it was a country founded almost completely on Spanish heritage but this is not the case. In fact, you can hear a slight Italian rhythm to the Spanish spoken here which I find really interesting.

La Boca was no exception when it came to Tango dancing in the street.

(N.B Spot Paparazzi Christophe!)

Despite the obvious tourism on the four to five colourful streets here, La Boca is apparently one of the poorest, working class neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires, also home to the Bocca Juniors Football team. Guide books warned us not to stray from the tourist-ridden streets but we seemed to forget this advice as we strolled along the banks of the river in search of a restaurant Chris had heard about. It wasn't two minutes however before we were stopped by Police who instructed us in fast Spanish to turn around as it was muy peligrosso (dangerous) for us to be wandering in this area. A very interesting experience in a city which is considered extremely safe otherwise.

What a city Buenos Aires is. Wonderful food, lively people, fantastic music and a great atmosphere - this has to be one of the most fun cities on the planet! And to be able to enjoy it with family has been a treat for all of us. We've all had a great time and would certainly come back for more...