Wonderful Walking Tour of BA

Jonathan - Our Tour Guide

I read about a free walking tour of BA led by a British ex-pat, named Jonathan.  The reviews on Trip Advisor were excellent and it sounded like fun so yesterday was the day for us to give it a try.  We had already purchased our SUBE cards to easily take public transportation. We walked around the corner from our apartment and caught a bus to Plaza Italia where the tour begins at 11 a.m. every day but Sunday.  We gave ourselves plenty of time in case we had problems getting there but we didn't and so arrived early.  While sitting on a bench in the shade we met some other English-speaking tourists, Canadians from Toronto and a couple who were also planning on going on the tour.  We introduced ourselves and where we are from.  They mentioned that they knew someone who had a house in San Miguel.  Just on a whim I asked for their friend's name and to our surprise, it was a friend of ours who goes to our Community Church in San Miguel.  What a small world this is!

Eleven people showed up for the tour.  Jonathan started out with some history of BA and gave us instructions for taking the bus and subways.  His instructions were very clear and we learned a lot. (The plaza where we were starting from has an equestrian statue of Garibaldi who was an Italian military/political  figure in the mid 1800's.  The plaza is located in the Palermo district and was donated by Italian immigrants).

Plaza Italia - Statue of G. Garibaldi

After detailed instructions on how we were all going to get on a particular bus to get us to our next stop, we crossed under the street (using the subway entrance) and immediately found the correct bus to take.  We already had our cards so it was very easy for us - you simply tell the bus driver the fare - 1.6 pesos - and wave your card in front of the scanner.  Otherwise, you had to have coins to pay the fare which is more without the card - 3 pesos.  The fare does vary somewhat depending on how far you are going.

At the end of our bus ride we arrived in the colorful neighborhood of Abastos where the legendary tango singer, Carlos Gardel lived.  We heard all about Carlos (born in Toulouse, France - most likely) and saw his house which is now a little museum (he died in the 1930's in an airplane crash).  On the same street we observed the store fronts covered with fileteado - a decorative painting style originating in this neighborhood by migrant Italians.  

From here we walked a few blocks to the Abastos Mall which had originally been the commercial market for all of Buenos Aires but at one point - in spite of its acres of space - it was abandoned for a new and larger market farther out.  In 1999 it was remodeled into a modern mall.  We went into the mall for refreshments and a little rest from the hot sun.  On entering we noticed the world's first and only KOSHER McDonald's outside of Israel.  That was a surprise.  The neighborhood does have the largest population of Jews in Argentina. 

After our break, we received further instructions about traveling by subway and off we trekked to the nearest subway station.  Jonathan warned us to be very careful in the subway, especially if the stations and trains were crowed:  pickpockets are everywhere, he says.  I was carrying my camera and he advised me to let him carry it in his backpack during the subway trip.  Actually, it was not crowded being middle of the day and we had no problems.  We emerged near the Congress on Avenida de Mayo where we had some more history lessons and information about how the government works with interesting tidbits and stories thrown in. The Congress is modeled somewhat on the US Congress.  Here's a picture.

At the other end of the esplanade is Casa Rosada - the presidential offices (but not residence).  We walked part way along the esplanade but took the subway to Casa Rosada.  The final subway ride was on the "D" Line - which has old wooden trains that are 100 years old.  The treat for us today was that it was the last day that these trains will ever run.  The line will be closed and upgraded and that is the end of the wooden trains.  There were lots of tourista, and I suppose residents as well, riding and taking pictures - me among them, of course.

So we arrived at the end of the line and gathered in front of Casa Rosada.  Jonathan gave us some more interesting history and comments.  Of course, he talked about Eva Peron and pointed out the balconies from which she gave her speeches (and where the film starring Madonna was made).  Interesting stories were told about the movie and Eva's death and more.  You'll just have to come and take the tour to hear them.

We were hot and tired puppies at the end of the 4 hours but it was worth it and everyone showed their appreciation with tips for Jonathan who did a great job.  Now it was time for us to find our way home with a stop somewhere to eat.  Jonathan suggested which subway to take and in spite of it not yet being rush hour, the train was packed and we didn't really feel comfortable about it but did it anyhow.  We'll most likely stick to the bus routes which go everywhere from now on.  We bought a GuiaT which is an invaluable little book to find your way to anywhere in the city by bus.  Jonathan showed us how to use it and it's going to be liberating for us to be able to go anywhere now and know where we are going.

We ended up back at Cumana for comida - shared a pizza and very cold beer before walking the rest of the way home and collapsing into our air conditioned apartment.