argentina

Buenos Aires was suddenly affordable from Canada, although the flight was long it was broken by a 2 hour lay over in Dallas and on the way home Miami. The best time of year turns out to be April when we went and we experienced 28 to 30C and sunshine most days. There are great hotels but as our blog mentions we are eccentric travellers and prefer a place to call our own when we travel..there is room to laugh and room to sulk when you rent an apartment and no one is asking to clean your room if you are sleeping in. There is no jet lag when you get to Buenos Aires and you slip into their culture immediately if you have a place of you own. The currency was 1$ to 2.84 pesos so a week of groceries was 30$. You do not need a car, the cabs are cheap and if you stay in Recoleta, as we did many of the sights are within walking distance. Restaurants are plentiful and of course you must try the beef...at Cabana in Recoleta we feasted on Chateaubriand and a gorgeous red wine, with appetisers it was still only 50$. We walked to the famous cemetery be warned the coffins are clearly visible in the crypts but the feral cats keep watchful eye on the folk there.

Open markets beckon you with silver and leather at great prices , and the botanical gardens are within walking distance. Cafe con leche under the sprawling Magnolia trees is wonderful and you will see the dog walkers, which is a spectacle taking their numerous charges to the parks.

Go to Tigre on the train , and take one of the ferry rides in the pretty estuary bywaters...with quaint homes perched dangerously close to the waters edge and pretty gardens. Then try Macdonalds and see how different it is there...the beef is probably why!

Take a plane to Mendoza for a few days. you can take a bus which has reclining seats but the journey is about 12 hours and only 2 by plane. The city is lovely, small and surrounded by vineyards. We stayed at The Huentala hotel booked with Skoosh.com and got an amazing rate. this is a 5 star hotel and has a rooftop pool.The rooms all smell divinely of sandalwood and the location is perfect for downtown. We visited Catena Zapata and took a cab there, we rented Hector for the day and negotiated a great rate with him. This winery is spectacular and try the malbec at the end of your tour, you will not be disappointed.

Buenos Aires has pink parliament buildings, a beautiful opera house and some stand out cafes. We went to see a Tango show at Cafe Tortoni where Robert Duval is known to hang out. This cafe is filled with great art and wood panelling but the music and the tango was awesome.

The streets of La boca are the most colourful , the story is they used left over paints from the shipyards used for painting the boats . The cafes are all open air and all have a dance floor, the tango and gaucho dancers thrill the crowd and some will be invited to try. The mallo pacifico is located in the downtown core and has the most scintillating frescoes on the ceiling.

Do not miss the antiques district in Palermo and Telmo or the art gallery.

There is so much to see and do in Argentina, and we found the locals were friendly but we would advise against taking the subway system as we were pick pocketed there...and although he only got a rolled up shopping bag he almost got more than this....

www.huentala.com was the hotel in Mendoza

www.ByTargentina.com had an apartment for us in Buenos Aires at a great price

Lan Chile is a better airline than Aerolineas Argentinas as they are more organised , but the airport is not the same as the international one you fly in on, and they are almost 25 minutes apart if you are thinking of connections. www.andesmar.com has coaches which travel across Argentina very affordably.

We both recommend the eyewitness travel guides which have great maps and tips for when you travel. If you go to Argentina you will be surprised at the history, art , culture , dance and food and as for the wine, it has to be said this country knows what it is doing with the grape!