A Day in Buenos Aires

Puerto Madero Yacht Club at left

That's Brenda

Puente de las Mujeres Bridge

Nice veranda at the stern

This morning we set off with the plan to walk to the bus station at Retiro to purchase our tickets to Mar Del Plata then to walk on to the interesting and attractive Puerto Madero, then do a circuit of the large nature reserve between Puerto Madero and the Rio de la Plata.

The bus station was huge, with ticket booths as far as the eye could see, and 70 or 80 bus terminals below.  We purchased 2 first class tickets on the El Rapido bus that will leave at 11 AM tomorrow and arrive at Mar Del Plata at about 4.30 PM.

Puerto Madero was the original commercial harbor of Buenos Aires. The waterway has been divided into four sections separated by swinging bridges.  Each side is lined with scores of eating and drinking restaurants and cafes.  On the city side of the waterway arethe original multistory brick warehouses that had been tastefully converted into residences above and restaurants below.  In the first section  of the waterway is the Puerto Madero Yacht Club, with slips for perhaps 100 boats.  We had a couple of cool drinks and purchased a large ham and salad sandwich to take with us then pushed on to the reserve.  We had seen three interesting square riggers with iron hulls dating from the turn of the 19th century on this segment of the walk.  The first one was a large 3-masted ship in immaculate condition used for training by the Argentinean navy.  The other two ships are open for tours but our time was limited and we kept moving on.  We also visited an information kiosk where we got a good map of the city with great information of things to see in Buenos Aires and the Tigre area.  Because of the 2 day delay in Brenda's arrival it would not be possible to see these sites during this visit, but we planned to spend a few days in the city before Brenda's departure for Australia to see many of these sights.

The reserve was a disappointment in that the three “lakes” were really marshlands with dry reeds.  However, the area was quiet, peaceful, and there was plenty of interesting bird and plant life to be seen. 

We returned to the hotel after about 6 hours of walking.