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Buenos Aires
Reception and transfer from Ezeiza International Airport to Hotel in Buenos Aires. |
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Classic City Tour of Buenos Aires
Breakfast in the hotel. This City tour takes in the most emblematical places of Buenos Aires, visiting the National Congress, Plaza de Mayo together with the bordering Presidential House, the Casa Rosada, the Cathedral and the colonial Cabildo. We see the newly renovated and awesome Teatro Colón, historically one of the world's most important opera houses. Barrios with history, like San Telmo, that have nightly venues to dance the Tango or milongas, or La Boca, where lived the first immigrants, the great majority of Spanish and Italian origin, where we take some time in Caminito. Other barrios to visit are the residential barrio of Palermo with its trees and beautiful parks and Puerto Madero, the newest and most modern of them all where they reconstructed the dock warehouses that were abandoned to become one of the most exclusive barrios. La Recoleta is another barrio on our excursion with its famous cemetery bordered by fine cafes and restaurants, together with the colonial Church of Pilar.
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Navigation in the Delta del Río Paraná, the Coast Train and San Isidro
Breakfast in the hotel. In order to get to the water station of Tigre we take a bus to the north and this passes the various parks of Palermo, the Jorge Newberry airport and the River Plate football stadium. In Tigre we take a boat in the Delta del Río Paraná entering into the 'Venice' of Argentina where the labyrinth of canals is the streets of the Delta servicing the many houses and restaurants. The Delta del Río Paraná starts in the province of Entre Rios and has three important divisions, the Delta Superior, Medio and Inferior, which in total cover an area of 16,500 square kilometres mostly covered by subtropical jungle. The area is full of islands, rivers and creeks where you can see the wild native flora and fauna.
The closer to Tigre the more 'urban' and busy are the waterways and more dense the population, albeit most of the houses are used for vacations.
Once we disembark we go by the coast train to the exclusive barrio of San Isidro. This coast train was inaugurated in the 1990s and runs along the border of the Río de la Plata over a stretch of 16 kilometres with 11 stations and is the newest train infrastructure in Argentina. It passes through the barrios of some exclusive residential north zones such as Vicente López, San Isidro, San Fernando and Tigre and many luxurious houses can be seen en route. In San Isidro we visit the Gothic Cathedral built in the early 1900s and its historical foundations. On the return to the City we can see the Presidential Residence of Olivos.
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Breakfast in the hotel. We are taken to the maritime port of Buenos Aires to catch a ferry-bus to the capital city of Uruguay, Montevideo, through Colonia. It is the headquarters of the South American economic grouping of the Mercosur and of the ALADI. With its nearly 2 million people it accounts for nearly 60% of the total population of Uruguay. It is considered one of the most secure capitals of the world and for that reason, together with the climate and beaches, it has a better quality of life. At the end of the 18th century was the first dwelling census and planification of the city and they named it San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo.
In the afternoon we go out to see the capital city. We begin in the old town with its interesting architecture, the Port Market, the Plaza Independencia, the Legislative Palace where is the National Parliament that was inaugurated at the beginning of the 20th century in commemoration of the first centennial of Independence, the residential barrio 'El Prado', el Cerro de Montevideo and the green parks bordered by monuments. Additionally we visit the traditional residential barrios of Carrasco, Punta Gorda and Pocitos bordering the classic 'Rambla' of Montevideo that shelters the beaches alongside the Río de la Plata.
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Breakfast in the hotel. We leave to go to Punta del Este following the coasts of Montevideo, Canelones and Maldonado. The first point of leaving the Atlantic coast is Atlántida in Costa de Oro, where we find the Pablo Neruda museum. We carry on the itinerary by the route up to Piriápolis, a beautiful beach resort that is hidden between the hills and the beaches. After, we climb the San Antonio hill to have an exclusive view of the coast and its beaches. We continue the journey until Punta Ballena to visit Casapueblo with its outstanding architecture, the work of the sculptor and painter Carlos Páez Vilaró. There, we are very close to Punta del Este which we enter by passing a number of importance residencies in front of the beach until we arrive at the eastern Port. We take our time over lunch and then visit the shops in the commercial centre of Punta del Este. At the end of the afternoon we return to Montevideo.
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Breakfast in the hotel. We go to the boat terminal to board and commence our journey to Colonia del Sacramento in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, found on the Cape between the San Pedro and Santa Rita Points and characterised by its cobbled streets and its peaceful colonial ambience. We start by visiting the sandy coastal front where we can see the Colonia Bay and its Islands. Later we go to the Real de San Carlos and the old Plaza de Toros.
Following the designed route we go by the port and the town centre until we arrive at the historic barrio where in its 120,000 square metres there are mixed different styles of architecture such as Portuguese, Spanish and post colonial. This area was declared a Historic Patrimony of the Humanity site by UNESCO. Other places of interest are the house of the Virrey, the Azulejo Museum, the Spanish Museum, the Matriz Church, the Regional Archive, the Iso Suspiros Street, la Plaza Mayor and the house of Eva Peron. The original city plans were Portuguese and do not coincide with with the standard plans determined by Spanish Law in relation to 'las Indias Occidentales'. In the afternoon we return to the port of Colonia and Buenos Aires.
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Breakfast in the hotel. This is a very popular excursion. We take a trip to a large country estancia of more than 2,000 acres that is dedicated principally to agriculture but has become an excellent tourist site showing some of the renown Argentinean country culture. We are received in the general store with empanadas and red wine and then can visit the estancia museum and chapel. At lunch we are treated to a country barbecue. We also have the opportunity to see a Tango Show and gaucho folklore and dance.
Amongst the other activities offered are rides in horse and carts observing the landscapes, their crops and the unequalled charm of the wild and rustic. We finish the day with a spectacular exhibition of typical gaucho horsemanship with a troop of horses.
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Breakfast in the hotel. We take a program dedicated to the understanding of the Tango and its slum origins. We begin in the old immigrant suburbs of Buenos Aires, La Boca, by visiting a classic tenement house where the Tango started and converted into popular dance and urban music. The tenement blocks were old rectangular houses which were overcrowded with immigrants of different nationalities that had one thing in common: being poor. We follow this by a visit back to the City, to the Avenida Corrientes, the Broadway of Buenos Aires, where many of the theatre works are related to Tango, and to the Palais de Grace where the aristocracy started in the Tango. These were the ones who introduced the dance into Europe.
We finish in the zone of Abasto in the house lived in by the famous Tango singer, Carlos Gardel. In the afternoon we have the third Tango class and for the new learners they can then begin to take private lessons. For the experienced, all of the classes are private. In the evening we enjoy a dinner and Tango show at one of the best venues of Buenos Aires ( Homero Manzi / Complejo Tango / Señor Tango / La Esquina de Carlos Gardel / Madero Tango).
The Tango has a special charm outside of its origin: From New York to Sydney, people that have never visited Argentina are left seduced by its mystique and sensuality. Others stay captivated by the music. This original tour traces in parallel the history of the city and that of the tango journeying by its different stages of development from its birth in the slums, to its consummation in the Avenida Corrientes and its later internationalization. |
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Breakfast at the Hotel. Transfer to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.
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