Half a day in Buenos Aires

Today was our last opportunity to see anymore of this city.  Having to be back on board by 11am it really didn't leave much time to explore too far...

Taking the atrocious traffic into account we decided our best plan of attack was to leave as early as possible and grab a taxi to our furthest point to which we could walk back to the ship without relying on the road system.

Plaza de Mayo was this point. Named after the month that Argentina gained it independence, this square is framed with many important buildings.  Beautiful architecture that could rival any European city.  Running along the eastern side stands the impressive Casa Rosada.  Named for it's distinctive colour, is the residence and offices of the current President.  It is also from these balconies that Eva Peron addressed her ardent followers.

White scarfs painted on the ground  symbolise the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.  Starting in the late 1970's, woman who had a child that "disappeared" during the military dictatorship gathered here each in week in hopes that their protests would shed a light a on what had happened them. Believed to have been over 30,000 of them mostly under the age of 35 ...  Jailed, tortured and killed to this day they still look for answers, and not just for their own children, but grandchildren that may have been born during captivity and given away.

The cities Cathedral looked more like a roman temple than a church and we would of missed its beautiful interior if it wasn't for our determination to find it....

From there we walked to Florida St, a pedestrian walkway which is also one of the shopping hubs of the city.  Wanting to see wonderful ceilings of Galleries Pacifico, we had to kill some time while we waited for it to open.  So it was coffee all round.

The whole street is lined with beautiful buildings, many once built as private mansions.  In the evening it turns into a mini Las Ramblas with tango dancers, street performers and living statues.

Things started getting eerie as we neared the end of the Avenue.  A low chant of "Cambio Cambio" filled the air.  Shady looking men repeating this word over and over again as you pass by..  Are they begging, are they trying to lure us into something untoward.  Luckily Mr Google put us straight and basically it means "change".  Well put into context they are money changers, black market at that, offering better rates than the banks.

Plaza San Martin is more a green space than Plaza de Mayo with gardens parks to stroll through. It also comes with a small fence playground for dogs.

We had to walk through the park to make our way back to the ship.  Passing the main railway station, with the reputation of being the pick pockets paradise.  Whilst standing at the traffic lights waiting to cross, concerned well meaning locals indicated to us to put our phones away, hold on to our bags, and to keep walking, don't stop.

It seemed another shemozzle was before us as we entered the cruise terminal.  Shrouded in darkness, there was no electricity.  Shouldn't have be
en a problem, but this meant that the security scanners were also not working.  Manual checking of bags didn't last very long as the queue to join the ships in port grew longer and longer.  Alas common sense prevailed and we were allowed to pass allowing leaving all screening up to the ship to complete....