After a six hour layover in Houston and the opportunity to visit with family, we got on the direct flight from Houston to Buenos Aires. Over the intercom, I heard the flight attendant say the doors had been closed. I snuggled into my seat to watch a movie and afterward sleep for part of the ten hour flight.
Seven hours into the flight, I cracked my window open to daylight and a spectacular view of the Andes Mountains.
The pilot safely & smoothly landed the plane on the tarmac. Kenny and I gathered our belongings and headed out into the airport to go through customs. It took about 60 minutes to get through the usual customs experience. We then gathered our luggage and met our driver to take us to the hotel.
As we stepped out of the terminal, we could feel the heat and humidity. The driver said a big storm had come through in that morning, but now the sun was waiting for us.
We arrived at the Hilton and dropped off our luggage in our room and then proceeded outside to find somewhere to eat. We were hungry and tired from the flight, but we knew we needed to keep going to get our bodies adjusted to the South America time zone.
After a light snack, we looked at a map to get our bearings and decide where to start..
Our hotel is located in the Puerto Madero neighborhood, which is on the western shore of the Rio de la Plata. Compared to other neighborhoods, we were thankful to find out we were in one of the safest areas. We noticed many city police as well as military police walking around the area.
Puerto Madero is a revamped dockside area. This used to be where the ships would dock and drop off supplies and equipment. The once red-brick warehouses are now converted into restaurants, businesses and residential homes.
We walked along the dock and crossed over the Puente de la Mujer Footbridge. This footbridge rotates and the architecture of the bridge has been described as a synthesis of the image of a couple dancing the tango.
Along our walk, we talked to the locals and asked about the details of Buenos Aires. Some facts we learned:
* Buenos Aires means “good airs” or “fairwinds”
* Buenos Aires is known as “Paris of the South”
* eclectic European architecture and rich cultural life
* common ethnic origin is Italian & Spanish.
* largest Jewish Community in Latin America
* population of Argentina is 45 million
* population of Buenos Aires metropolitan is 14 million
* population of Buenos Aires is 3 million
* currency is peso
* the country is known for soccer and tango dancing
* etc
We learned a lot on our first day in Buenos Aires and can hardly wait to see what the next few days will bring.
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