We left La Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires and reboarded our coach to head towards our next stop on the first day’s cruise excursion in Argentina. This was easier said than done as our visit to this first country in South America coincided with the opening of parliament, a visit by the president, a protest against both of those things (possibly), and the accompanying closing of many roads. Our coach crawled along and sometimes didn’t even do that but it gave me an opportunity to take plenty of photos through the tinted, dirty windows. I don’t like taking photos like this but sometimes you just have to for the memories even if it makes your teeth grind when you spot the reflections later.
We made it onto Avenida 9 De Julio (July 9 Avenue), the widest avenue in the world, named to honour Argentina’s independence day. Traffic was particularly bad here but it meant we could inch past the Obelisco De Buenos Aires so it had its benefits. We eventually turned up Avenida Presidente Roque Sáenz Peña as the third coach in a convoy of four from the Star Princess but a side road was blocked off by police just as we tried to turn down it.
We were stuck there for a fair amount of time while our guide made calls back to the ship. Eventually, he secured the assistance of some crew to come out to us and help to escort us as walked the rest of the way towards what would be our next stop: the Metropolitan Cathedral. This meant we got to stretch our legs and get some fresh air – which was nice – and we got to walk down the middle of a major road in Buenos Aires with no traffic around and just the sounds of distant engines, helicopters, and the odd chant from unseen protest groups. Bonus!
