- Happy Birthday Rick 🎂🎉🎊🎁🎈
This morning we took the subway to Plaza de Mayo. This is the colonial section of the city. Here are some pictures.
We walked along Calle Florida, which is a pedestrian retail street and over to Plaza de Mayo. From here we had a great view of the Puerto Madero, with its modern buildings.
We saw the La Casa Rosada, the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. Eva Perron gave speeches to masses from the balcony of La Casa Rosada. They give tours of the building but we didn’t do that. You can see they are doing construction on the Plaza.
The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral is also in the Plaza. The Cathedral of Buenos Aires was rebuilt several times since its humble origins in the 16th century. The present building is a mix of architectural styles, with an 18th-century nave and dome and a severe, 19th-century Neoclassical façade without towers. The interior keeps precious 18th-century statues and altarpieces, as well as abundant Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque decoration. Here are pictures of Cathedral.
By this time we were hungry for lunch so we walked back to Puerto Madero and had a very nice lunch to celebrate Rick’s birthday.
On our way back to the subway we saw the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, which is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires, and 9 de Julio Avenue. The Obelisk is located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio and was erected in 1936 to commemorate the quadricentennial of the first foundation of the city. 9 de Julio Avenue is the widest avenue in the world, with 8 lanes of traffic in each direction. Its name honors Argentina’s Independence Day, July 9, 1816.
We took took the subway back to our hotel and relaxed for awhile. Later that evening we went out for birthday pizza.
The Argentines eat very late, similar to the Spanish. People start showing up at restaurants at 9, even with little kids.