Buenos Aires, Argentina - Day 2

We were up early to make the most of our second day in Buenos Aires and, after a quick breakfast, we were off to board the Hop on, Hop off bus, to depart on a city tour at 9:00am. We chose this unique bus option, and combined two of its route choices, to ensure we could visit several different places which would otherwise be unachievable in the time available to us.
We had our water bottles, big hats and sunscreen, and were fully prepared to comfortably enjoy the three to four hours on the top deck of the open bus. We were provided with head phones, plugged them into the seat back console, selected the English narrative and settled in for our trip.
Very good value for $35 US equivalent.

Soon we were off, and headed towards Plaza SanMartin, skirted the park area and saw the English Clock to our right side. We then entered the Retiro neighbourhood and passed by the rail and bus stations.
Along a few streets,  and around a couple of corners, the Floralis Generica came into sight - a huge stainless steel flower which opens as the sun rises and closes as the sun sets.
While traveling through many interesting neighbourhoods, we saw a variety of architectural styles, enjoyed a variety of street scenes, saw many monuments and statues on immense pedestals, and were very impressed with vast number of parks and shaded avenues.
We navigated around Plaza de Mayo - a large rectangular plaza where the Casa Rosada, the former home of Juan Peron and Evita (Eva Duarte), is located.
Soon after leaving the Plaza de Mayo, we arrived in the San Telmo district, known for its art galleries, murals and numerous steak houses and other eateries.
In the La Boca neighbourhood we saw the famed Boca Stadium, home of the Club Atletico Boca Juniors and, their former team member and equally famous soccer player Diego Maradona.

All too soon we were almost back to our start point but decided to exit the bus a couple of stops earlier than the terminus, to take one last stroll along Avenida Florida before returning to the ship.
Although we have spent two long, and tiring, days exploring this beautiful place, we have only scratched the surface of the many interesting sites and features of this very welcoming city.

     
Floralis Generica
One of the very many statues located around the city

  
Recoleta cemetery

Entrance to Recoleta cemetery
burial place of Eva (Evita) Peron

San Telmo 




Casa  Rosada - home of Juan and Eva Peron - 
now the home of the Government of Argentina

Tribute to Eva Peron on the side of building 


Boca sports store - statue of Maradona on the right side of door 
and a statue of Che Guevara on the left side 

Boca area building - needing a little TLC.   


Boca area buildings painted in team colours - true fans


The Boca neighbourhood is an older part of the city and 
is quite run down in places 

Boca Juniors Football (soccer) Stadium 











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