It’s always been a goal of mine to visit South America, but I’ve never managed it until now. Somehow, we acquired enough Avios points for a return flight to Argentina and so booked a trip that would allow us to explore the country — from the vast, bustling capital city, south to the glaciers and north to the hot, humid waterfalls.
This week we started the journey, and I kept a diary: my own anthology of travel tales. Unfortunately, the collection opened with delayed flights and missing luggage, but it quickly morphed into steak and fine wine. Buenos Aires, it turns out, rewards patience with Malbec and charm in roughly equal measure.
Day One: Lost Luggage, Found Malbec
The journey began with more drama than you really want when flying. British Airways cancelled, rebooked, and generally conspired to keep us in Heathrow longer than any sane traveller should be. By the time we reached Buenos Aires, my bags had apparently decided to see the world on their own schedule. But a bottle (or two) of Argentine red at, officially, one of the world’s best restaurants did wonders for morale. I’m not saying wine solved everything, but it certainly softened the edges. Somewhere between The Salt Path on the in-flight entertainment and late-night Buenos Aires jet lag, I started to think this trip was worth the chaos.
Read more about the day on my Blipfoto diary.
Day Two: Ferry Nice Day Out!
As the second proper day dawned, we headed for the Río de la Plata and a day trip across to Uruguay. The Buquebus terminal was far slicker than the internet had led us to believe, and passport control was remarkably more efficient than the tales you can read elsewhere. Colonia del Sacramento turned out to be all cobbles, calm and colonial charm — the sort of place that exists to make Instagram jealous (but I was so taken with the place I didn’t post a picture). We paid for the hotel pick-up, only to discover later it would have been fine (and cheaper) to walk. Consider this information a small donation to your travel guide. In the evening, we discovered the vibrant energy of Avenida Corrientes and Buenos Aires’ theatre district. And no, we didn’t queue for tickets for a midnight performance, but next time we just might.
The diary chronicles our day trip to Uruguay.
Day Three: Buses, Bonhomie and Buenos Aires’ Brightest Streets
We gave our feet a break and let the tourist bus do the work — an unexpectedly efficient way to see a city that sprawls as confidently as Buenos Aires. From the leafy calm of Palermo to the bright murals of La Boca, we ticked off the postcard highlights without ever breaking a sweat. Every stop offered something different: the solemn beauty of Recoleta Cemetery, the grandeur of the Teatro Colón, and the kind of boulevards that make you wonder if Paris might have borrowed a few ideas from here rather than the other way around. It was the perfect combination of adventure and sightseeing, capped off with a tango show that had enough energy to power Greater Buenos Aires’ ten million people.
The diary has more about the visit to El Caminito, Recoleta Cemetery, the Colón Theatre and La Ventana.
Day Four: The Fire, the Feast and the Fifteenth Course
The finale of this leg of the trip came, appropriately, with fire. My birthday dinner turned into a culinary marathon that blurred the line between “meal” and “endurance event”. Fifteen courses later, I concluded that Argentine chefs possess brilliance, an ability to withstand the heat of a volcano, and a slight disregard for the human capacity to eat perfectly cooked meat. Earlier, there was time for a little history: the grandeur of the El Ateneo bookshop, the stories of Plaza de Mayo, and a reminder that Argentina’s beauty is matched only by its complexity.
The diary for the fourth day of our adventure is on Blipfoto.
We ended the first leg of this trip full — of food, of stories, and of gratitude for every minor inconvenience that somehow made the whole thing better. Because if travel teaches anything, it’s that a lost suitcase is just the first chapter of a much better tale.
Tomorrow we’re heading south. There’s so much more to explore in Buenos Aires. We’ll be back, briefly, next week.