This is our last day in Buenos Aires. In order to make the most out of it, we got up really early. First stop is Coffee of course! I have to say, the coffee is Buenos Aires is just OMG good. I am guessing it is because of the European influence back in the days. We went to this historic cafe called "El Gran Cafe Tortoni". This cafe was inaugurated in 1858 and it is the oldest cafe in Argentina. In the 1930s, the cafe was at its peak, many poets/politicians/scholars gathered there for intellectual discussion. The marble floor, wooden tables make you feel like you are back in the 19th century. There are also old photographs and art displays at various spots of the cafe. They have tango shows too, but we already went to a tango show last night, so we did not experience the one in here, but the reviews seem to be positive.
Then, we went to Plaza de Mayo, Plaza Dorrego, Metropolitan Cathedral, National Congress, San Martin Palace, Torre Monumental, Casa Rosada, Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina. The architecture is just amazing. We walked pass a palace looking building, and later found out that it is the Water Company Palace, or " Palacio de Aguas Corrientes" (The Palace of the flowing water), which is very amusing to us. One would think it is just a water pumping facility and there would be no need to build a palace looking building for that purpose. But apparently, they disagreed and thought that it is more aesthetically pleasing to look at. Below are some of the pictures I took when we were wandering around these beautiful architecture.
And the highlight of the afternoon is ...... Teatro Colon! This is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, and it is ranked the third best opera house by National Geographic and it is acoustically considered to be one of the best five concert venues in the world. We took a tour of the opera house, because they do not let people go in without a tour guide. The tour guide was great, very knowledgeable, funny and HANDSOME! (I have noticed the men and women are generally pretty good looking in Buenos Aires, so if you are single.... you know where to go) Teatro Colon opened in 1908, and it was built during the golden era of Argentina. In the early 19th century, Argentina was the world's 10th wealthiest nation per capita because of its highly fertile lands for agriculture. This is one of the main reasons for building such a grand opera house, just to show the wealth of the country.
After the tour, our last stop was the La Recoleta Cemetery. The picture on the right is the image from wikipedia. The reason why I don't have a picture of the cemetery is because it was CLOSED when we got there. If we got there like 10 minutes earlier, we would have made it inside..... I was soooooooo upset about this!! We took a little peek from the entrance, and it looks sooooo pretty inside. According to wikipedia, it contains the graves of notable people, including the presidents of Argentina, some nobel price winners, etc. In 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Today is our last day in Buenos Aires, meaning we won't be able to see it until next time when we come, and God knows when will that be. I wish I am those travel bloggers, whose only jobs are travelling and blogging. Unfortunately, I have limited time and money (poor grad students) to travel, and that's why usually my itinerary is very intense. I need to use the least amount of money and time to see the most of the place! Well, tomorrow we will be off to Iguazu Fall, one of seven natural wonders of the world. (Depending on what list you are looking at, it might or might not be on the list, but either way, it should be breathtaking.)