SECOND DAY IN BUENOS AIRES

The first place where we were was The Congress

The Argentine National Congress Buenos Aires is the

administrative palace for the country's

bicameral government, 72-seat senate and 257-seat chamber of deputies.

National congress building, together with the adjoining Congressional Plaza square, is located at the western end of the Avenida de Mayo. On the opposing end of the street, you can find the country's other administrative palace, the

presidential palace Casa Rosada.

Location immediately

surrounding the palace contains

many of the city's most significant works of art and

monuments.

SECOND PLACE: PLAZA DE MAYO

The area continued divided between these two plazas until 1883 and with only minor changes in landscaping, chief among them the 1811 addition of the May Pyramid, a

monument put up to commemorate the newly independent "Provinces of the Rio de la Plata". That year, however, Mayor Torcuato de Alvear ordered the space modernized, resulting in the demolition of the colonnade and the creation of the modern Plaza de

Mayo.

The Plaza de Mayo is the

main square in Buenos Aires. Since being the scene

of the 25 May 1810

revolution that led to

independence, the plaza has been a hub of political life in

Argentina.

Following over a century of overuse and neglect, the local colonial government attempted to

give a semblance of order to the

plaza by having a

colonnade built across it from north to south.

OUR NEXT VISIT WAS TO LA CASA ROSADAWe toured around the rooms and hallways of the magnificent Pink House. At the

time officials do not work, the Casa Rosada (the “Government House”) is open to public tours. The Grenadiers do not guard the entrance any longer;

they work as tourist guides instead.

La Casa Rosada is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina.

The Casa Rosada was built in the location which, since the foundation of the city of Buenos Aires, the

top political institutions of Argentina resided. The current Italian-style building, however, dates back

only to 1873. Its balcony, which faces this large square, has served

as a podium by many figures, including Eva Perón and Juan Domingo Perón, who rallied the

"descamisados" there.

The building is painted a light pink colour (and a darker pink colour on the side facing the plaza, after a recent repainting). It is currently going through an extensive renovation, including

repainting. Dubbed "Casa Rosada" by President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, it is said that he chose this colour scheme in order to defuse political tension by fusing the red and white colours of

the country's opposing political parties.

FOURTH VISIT: BUENOS AIRES METROPOLITAN CATHEDRALThe Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral is an

iconic and historically important structure in the center of the capital city. Visiting this

cathedral is one of the best things to do if you enjoy taking a glimpse into local culture and history. The church is located in the

central part of the city near Plaza de Mayo.Besides being the central Catholic Church in

Buenos Aires, it is also the burial place of General de San Martin, who is often referred

to as the Father of the Nation

In a city that offers lots of amazing attractions in terms of centuries-old

buildings and wonderful architecture, the Buenos Aires Cathedral is one of the most enduring and

beautiful.

 It is free to get in to see the beautiful Buenos Aires

Metropolitan Cathedral and the midnight mass on

Christmas Eve is a special experience if you are in

town around the holidays.

THE NEXT AND MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN BUENOS AIRES:

COLOMBUS THEATRE

The present Colón replaced an original theatre which opened in 1857. Towards the end of the century it became clear that a new theatre was needed and, after a 20-year process, the present theatre opened on May 25, 1908.

The theatre is bounded by the wide 9 de Julio Avenue, Libertad Street (the main entrance), Arturo Toscanini Street, and Tucumán Street. It is in the heart of the city on a site once occupied by Ferrocarril Oeste's Plaza Parque station.

The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, has 2,487 seats (slightly more than the Royal Opera House standing room for 1,000 and a stage which is 20 m wide, 15 m high and 20 m deep. The Colon's acoustics are considered to be so good as to place it in the top

five performance venues in the world. Luciano Pavarotti held a similar opinion.

Is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world.

THE DAY KEEP ON WITH THE RECOLETA CEMETERY

The mortal remains of many figures in Argentine history can be found here: Juan Bautista Alberdi,

Manuel Dorrego, Bartolomé Mitre, Juan Manuel de Rosas, Cornelio Saavedra, Guillermo Brown, and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. Perhaps the most

popular among them is the tomb of Eva Perón whose grave is visited daily by large numbers of tourists and

admirers of Peronism.

is one of the main tourist attractions in the neighborhood. It was designed by the French architect, Prosper Catelin, at the request of President Bernardino Rivadavia, and was dedicated in 1822.

The cemetery is located next to the former monastery of the Recollect

Fathers. It is an outstanding display of nineteenth- and twentieth-century funerary art and architecture, with

private family crypts of the bourgeoisie and mausolea of the

landowning classes.

FINISHING THE DAYBy the time the day was coming to his end, we were going to have a rest. First, we went to the hotel and relaxed a moment.

It wasn’t as excited as we expected, but it was amused after all. We

couldn’t wait to arrive to the hotel, we were really tired! so, as you might imagine, we slept really

well.

Then we had dinner and the last activity of the

day was bowling.