Day 17 26th January

We awoke to find the ship sailing into the harbour at Buenos Aires. It had been delayed by another ship so we could slowly see it manoeuvre into what seems like a very small space. As the ship was late, so everything else. We were due to depart on a trip at 8.05am but we went at 9.10am instead. It is also one of those ports were they cannot organise a flat gangway for wheelchairs so we went down a flight of steps with the help of four fit young men.

The trip around the city was interesting and included a visit to Eva Peron’s tomb but it showed the considerable poverty in Argentina which was missing from Montevideo. People were sleeping in doorways – many young and some with children. There are scanty towns under the motorway flyovers and around Boca Juniors football stadium the houses where very run down. The stadium itself could do with a coat of paint. In contrast some of the affluent areas breathe wealth. There is clearly a huge gap between rich and poor here.

The cathedral is interesting although it has too many statutes that look like painted idols for my taste. It is in one of the main squares with the Casa Rosada which was made famous by the musical, “Evita”. Eva spoke to the masses from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.  It means literally a red house. There were women and children begging at the Cathedral doors and also a protest in the square of Argentinean Falklands War veterans demanding higher pensions.

Buenos Aires is often described as the Paris of South America. However, the trip this morning did not convince either of us that it was. We are going out this evening to a Tango show with dinner since the ship is staying here for two days so I am writing the blog earlier than usual.