New Years – 2016 – Day 5

It was another beautiful day in Buenos Aires when we awoke.  The ship was to leave port at 6:45pm and they wanted us to be there by 3pm so we had the morning to do things and a little into the afternoon.

After breakfast, we took a cab to the only major site that we had not visited, the Opera House.  They had English tours at 11am, 1pm and 3pm so we got there at 10:30am and the 11am tour was booked so we made reservations for the 1pm tour.

Then we walked about 15 minutes to the oldest café in Buenos Aires and had pastries before taking a cab back to the hotel to pack.  After packing we took another car to the Opera House in time for the 1pm tour.

This opera house is huge, with seating and standing room for over 3,000 people.  It has 7 rows of seating and has been totally restored having been built in 1909.  We were told that the Opera House was rated #1 for best acoustics for Opera and #3 for orchestra performances. 

After the tour, we took a cab back to the hotel, picked up our bags and headed for the ship.  When we got to the port we found out that all of the porters were working for another cruise line as most of the Celebrity passengers had boarded the day before, while we stayed in town. 

We finally found a young girl representative who found a cart and we started in with our suitcases with her pushing  the big cart full cart.   After a short trek inside, we arrived at a Celebrity booth were the Guest Services Manager and a couple of his assistants were there.  He had one of the assistants take us through immigration and then we came back for our luggage which the Manager took himself through all of the security procedures and then to the shuttle bus to take us to the ship.

At the ship, they had 4 room attendants who met us at the shuttle bus who took our luggage right up to our room.  So what started out as a terrible boarding situation turned into a great one.  From the hotel to our room only took 1 hour had no line to stand in!

We went up to the top deck and had some pizza, checked out our table for dinner and then came back to the room to unpack and take a nap.

After our nap, we went to the 7pm show, which was a musical and very good and then went to dinner.

Our table was set for 7 and only one couple showed up and when we asked them where they were from they said, ElPaso, Illinois – now what are the odds on that?   They seem very nice and we had a good dinner with them and good conversations.

Then it was onto the Casino to meet our host Dimi and Casino Manager Palo.  Also, one of our favorite people, Carla, was a casino supervisor.  So far, Carla was the only person in the casino that we had known from before.

There was only one person playing blackjack and he quit after ½ hour and Ed was down just a little and Barb was up at slots, so we were up a very little for the night.  But, at least we were up and got in some playing time.

Tomorrow is Montevideo, Uruguay - night

The Opera House

The oldest café in town
 

 

 



Ready to go out for the first evening

New Years – 2016 – Day 4

Sunday in Buenos Aires was another beautiful day with tempt again in the high 80’s.

We had breakfast and then took a taxi to the Plaza Dorrego which every Sunday from 10:00am on has the largest outdoor market that we have ever seen. 

We were there just after most of the vendors had set up and it still was not crowded so we walked around the Plaza seeing the vendors and started to walk up the main street of the market.  I think that it was probably 30 – 40 blocks long and we only could walk until Noon as we had to get a cab to take us to our 12:30pm food tour.

The food tour started on the same corner as the Boca Juniors major soccer teams stadium which was also the same corner that we ate lunch at a local bar yesterday.

Our guide, George had asked if one other couple could join us and we had said yes so we met everyone right on time and walked about two blocks to the first restaurant, which was an Italian restaurant.  There is a huge Italian population in Buenos Aires.  We had a nice starter meal of some fancy Italian dishes with names I could not possibly remember!

Then we went walking through the La Boca district which is very neat and very touristy.  Everything is painted Blue and Yellow in honor of the soccer club!  We finally stopped are another restaurant that was grilling outside their food.  This was a steak restaurant as it is the primary meat that is eaten in Argentine. 

We had a huge amount of food consisting of sausage, tenderloin, sirloin and port.  Each portion was probably 6oz, so we ate a lot of meat and it was very good.

Then we walked to the main tourist part of the area and sat at an outdoor café and have drinks and sweets – just want we needed, but it was fun.

For this tour, the food and locations were good but the tour guide was terrible as he never talked about each restaurant nor anything about the food we were eating and how it was prepared – but it was still good.

We then took a cab back to the Plaza Dorrego as we had been told that a section of the Plaza would be set up for outdoor Tango, led by a group of Tango dancers.  The oldest gentleman was 84 years old and was he ever smooth on the dance floor.  We sat for about an hour watching the Tango dancers.

Then it was time to get a taxi and go back to the hotel for a short nap.

After our nap, we walked down Florida Street, which is the huge pedestrian street and bought some things before heading backing to the hotel to leave them and get a cab to our final stop of the evening, our dinner in a chef’s home.

The tour was at 9:00pm at a chef’s home in a very nice neighborhood.  We took a cab to the building and buzzed and were let in by his companion and them we met Chef Dan at the front door to his home.  It was a beautiful place on the ground floor of a large building with a very large outdoor enclosed patio that we could see from the living room.  Soon we were joined by the other 8 guests and sat down to a very lovely dinner at Casa SaltShaker, one of the first closed door restaurants in Buenos Aires.  In this restaurant, we did not even know the address until the reservation had been paid for and confirmed and then the Chef sent us the direction to his home.  We also did not know the menu for this 5 course meal until each course arrived at our table.  We also had wine paired with each course as well as a welcoming drink before dinner!

The main course was tenderloin of beef that had been cooked in a very unusual way and also had peas and popcorn potatoes as sides.  The popcorn potatoes were actually popcorn and potatoes blended together with butter and they were very good.

With each course, the Chef brought out the plates with his partner and explained what we were eating.  It was a great experience that lasted 3 hours and we had a table of people who had all traveled extensively, so that was enjoyable also.

So this day was eating, walking and eating again and doing it all over again.  Hopefully the walking offset some of the food we ate, but so much for a diet – we had a great time.

 After dinner, Chef Dan called us a cab and we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night. 

 Barb was pretty sore but fell right asleep and today we walked 2,514 steps and that will probably be the most that we will walk for the rest of the cruise, until we stay in Santiago starting on January 17.

A great stay in Buenos Aires and we saw everything and more that was on our planned list except a tour of the Opera House which we are going to have Monday morning, pack and get on the ship.

That’s it for day 4!

 

An Italian Lunch

Meats cooking for our lunch tour

All of the cuts of meat for beef, pork and goat for bar-b-que

 

Having a snack at the end of the food tour

Tango dancers in the Plazza

Arriving for dinner

Chef Dan

Tomatoes, zucchini, cheeses and an herb bottom crust and three different sauces

Watermelon soup with onions and bell peppers.  A sorbet of avocado



Spicy chicken wrapped in a light dough with a berry sauce

Tenderloin with peas and popcorn potatoes and sauces

 

 

A deep rich chocolate brownie with cherries and mixed berries

Tango in the Plaza - later in the evening anyone cold join in.

Chef Dan explain the main course