Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Thursday 20th of June
05.26 It's an early morning. The spring semester and work year has barely ended for us two teachers as a new trip has started. After a night in Christer apartment in Sundsvall, we are ready to go on a long trip. Yesterday, Christer checked us in on the two flights that are in the beginning of this journey. He has made sure to get extra leg space on the longer of the two flights.
06.10 Christer will soon lock the door to his apartment. The first small steps out into the world will be taken.
06.58 A cool and nice wind is blowing. Down here at the railway station in Sundsvall we have realized that we have seats 50 and 52 on the train, but not in the same train car. Christer is in second class and I'm in first class. Apparently, something got wrong at the reservation.
07.32 Instead of Christer as a travel companion, I got a small box as company. In it there was a breakfast, after all it is an advantage of travelling in first class at SJ.
09.27 The sun shines from the blue sky. What weather awaits us later today, tomorrow and ahead in the summer? We travel towards winter in the southern hemisphere.
10.29 We are now here, united and again divided here at Arlanda airport. Christer is off looking for an ATM that can give us American dollars. They are viable in the countries we are going to visit. I'm currently checking how much Argentine pesos are worth in Swedish kronor. Tomorrow we need that currency.
FRANCE
17.02 After getting out of the plane and navigating us through all the people, we are now on our way to leave Charles de Gaulle airport for a few hours. In order not to get completely bored here, we´ll go into Paris with a train from SNCF. We're supposed to wait seven hours between our flights.
19.37 I just slipped into Starbucks to queue for my classic double espresso. Now we have begun the return journey by train out to the airport. Yet there remains a lot of the long journey to Argentina.
Friday 21st of June
Peter outside Christer´s house in Sundsvall.
Peter at Sundsvall railway station. The train is soon here.
Some people travel in 1st Class.
We are going with train to Paris.
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, a random street we ended up on.
Inside Gare du Nord railway station.
Peter during a coffee stop at Super Wild Coffee.
Outside Gare du Nord.
Waiting for our departure.
01.24 Midsummer Eve has begun. They served good food and drinks here on the plane. Something that took something from the style and finesse was the fact that the cutlery was made of plastic, but at least I got gin and tonic before the meal, red wine to the food and mouth watering brandy to the coffee. Now I will switch to Argentine time, back five hours and hibernate aka sleep.
CHANGING TIME ZONE 06.25 The light was just lit in the cabin. Within two hours breakfast has been served and the plane has landed in Buenos Aires. We've been flying for 12 hours. It's been unexpectedly smooth. I think we can thank our good places for that. It's good to be able to stretch out our legs. 07.23 The staff in the flight deck has begun the approach to Buenos Aires. It's supposed to be +8°C in the city this morning.ARGENTINA
08.08 After 13 hours and 20 minutes in the air we have finally landed at the airport Ministro Pistarini (better known as Ezeiza). This is the longest flight we've had over the years. Today it is also the winter solstice here in the southern hemisphere.
09.50 The stay here had a tricky start. I had to show my passport at Starbucks Coffee (a new Starbucks country for me) to be able to buy coffee and bagel with my VISA-card and the ATM withdrawal was limited. We didn't get as much money as we had planned. 10.46 After toilet visits for both of us Christer bought bus tickets from the ticket booth for the company Tienda León (http://www.tiendaleon.com). Now we and others are waiting for the bus that will take us into the city to come. It's cool air here in Argentina.
Peter is visiting Starbucks Coffee at Ezeiza airport.
Waiting for the bus into the city.
Tienda León gives us a comfortable trip into Buenos Aires.
11.08 The bus journey east towards the city centre has begun. Now Christer's phone is ringing. The unknown caller has the number 076-1671088. Around us it is colours and weather that makes us think about how Sweden is in October or November.
12.06 A smooth transport to Tienda León's small bus terminal was followed by a short walk in cool temperatures. Now we are waiting to check in at Catalinas Suites (https://www.suitescatalinas.com.ar), the hotel that will take care of us during our three nights in Buenos Aires. Actually, the check-in starts at 14.00 but it might be OK for us to check in now. 12.40 A nice young woman with knowledge of English could check us in after we had waited a while. We were brought by an elevator of older kind to the 5th floor. The elevator was one of those where you pull a gate aside to get into it. We stay in room 411 overlooking the street outside, Tucumán. 13.55 A shower and a little quiet time in the beds for both of us have made the energy level rise significantly. Now we need real food in the bodies. It's enough baguettes and airplane food for a while now. 15.01 Stay, stay, whispers the room coma. No, go out, go out, screams the hunger. We listen to the latter voice.
Our hotel, Catalinas Suites.
Newly arrived in room 411.
Outside our window is the street Tucumán.
15.25 A minor walk along the streets closest to the hotel and rejection of some simple places eventually led us to Burger Mood (http://www.burgermood.com.ar), a hamburger restaurant staffed by a bunch of nice young people.
16.17 It was good burgers and filling for the moment. We are here to get back in shape after the long flight. Before we went home we also bought some soft drinks at the Carrefour Express store. 17.37 Things are a little tiring. On the one hand, for obvious reasons, we are a little tired, and on the other hand, the internet connection is not working so well. 19.21 A girl with a waist bag just walked by below. Christer, who has a sore heel, wondered if I could explain how the injury suddenly occurred. Before I could answer, the room's phone rang. He got no answer to the question, either from me or through the phone.
We have found the restaurant Mercado del Centro.
Christer´s pizza was really delicious.
Peter is dining at Mercado del Centro.
We have just left our ancient elevator.
20.27 Today's remaining mission is to prevent hunger and then to go to bed. The latter will be arranged here in the room later. The first thing will be taken care of by Mercado del Centro (https://mercadodelcentro.tumblr.com) which is a restaurant/pizzeria we found during our evening walk. It's on Lavalle Street.
20.54 The service is excellent here and the food superb. Christer has found his Italian favorite pizza with prosciutto and rucola. 21.09 Eating in Argentina is a bit special. Restaurants close about 15.30 after their lunch period and in many cases do not open until around 20.00/21.00. Many eat their dinner very late. The Spanish habits remain here. Fortunately, there are some restaurants open all day. This is one of them. 21.25 It's really nice to come home after a good day and a good meal. Soon we will get our much needed sleep and get the bodies to accept the time zone we placed them in. In the Copa America football, Chile leads against Ecuador. They are playing in the second half. The tournament is played in Brazil.
Saturday 22nd of June
08.12 Despite the fact that we had skinny pillows, we have slept well the first night here in Buenos Aires and Argentina. Now we are thinking about how we arrange the day we have ahead of us. It will probably be a trip with the tour bus to see as much as possible, but when do we go and also, for how long?
09.50 We're back from breakfast. Wonderful air, good air, Buenos Aires, is not to be found in the room. Now we are thinking about how we´ll dress on the bus tour. 10.39 A quiet and refreshing walk along Reconquista Street has taken us to Plaza de Mayo. This square must be considered as the heart of Buenos Aires, the most central place. This is where the nation's banner hangs from Casa Rosada. The president has his office in that building. It is said that the city was founded, began here on the square in the 16th century. It was/is also here that the so-called Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, protested/protest. They are an association for Argentine mothers whose children "disappeared" during the military dictatorship 1976-1983. 10.54 We've been walking around the Plaza de Mayo and seen the different buildings here. Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires is not a very beautiful church but it was here that the current Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was the bishop from 1998 to 2013 before moving to the Vatican City. 11.10 At Buenos Aires Bus office we have now for 1000 pesos each bought a tour bus ticket to the yellow buses running around the city along three different routes. The ticket is valid for 24 hours. An enthusiastic man asked about our origin and helped a lot of different customers at the same time. Now it is time to join the queue. We are far from alone in wanting to go. 11.26 The bus arrived together with the news that there were no seats left for us. It's actually positive. It means better seats on the next bus that will come in a while. The bench I sit and write this on resembles a mattress but it is made of stone.
Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires.
Catedral Metropolitana.
Casa Rosada, the residence for the president of Argentina.
A long queue to the bus.
Peter is writing down some notes before the bus departs.
Today we are going with the blue line in south and central Buenos Aires.
11.50 We have boarded our tour bus. It is not a part of the classic City Sightseeing group's red buses that are so common around the world. This is a company of its own, Buenos Aires Bus (https://www.buenosairesbus.com). It is time to plug in the headphones. They're yellow just like the bus.
12.12 The bus tour started with a ride around Casa Rosada and then we have moved along Avenida de Mayo to Plaza del Congreso. Here is the country's congress building, Parliament. 12.42 A lot of information interspersed with beautiful music fed into our ears. Now we are in San Telmo, the district and the quarter where the Tango was born and developed. This is one of the oldest parts of the city. 12.58 We have now entered the worn harbour quarter of La Boca. Much here in the quarter is painted with Swedish colours, blue and yellow. It is not primarily for our or Sweden's sake. We're at Boca Junior's home. The football team was founded in 1905. In the early years the club played in several different colours, including pink and white/black striped. Legend has it that in 1906, Boca played Nottingham de Almagro. Both teams wore so similar shirts that the match was played to decide which team would get to keep it. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colours of the flag of the first boat to sail into the port at La Boca. This proved to be a Swedish ship; therefore the yellow and blue of the Swedish flag were adopted as the new team colours. Source Wikipedia. 13.06 Stop number 7 is at football stadium La Bombonera, Boca Juniors home ground but we go further. We will not get off until we are near our hotel. We are far from there. 13.34 We have travelled around the fancy area of Puerto Madero. There are plenty of high-rise buildings, expensive restaurants and parks. As in so many other parts of the world, Buenos Aires, worn-out harbour quarters have been freshened and made them flourish. 13.50 Our bus will now continue on its journey without us. We got off at Stop 12, the last one before the connection towards the red line. Instead, we pay a visit to Galerías Pacífico, a shopping centre centrally located in the city. We are now looking for food, a lunch.
Plaza del Congreso.
The bus stops at La Bombonera stadium.
Blue and yellow colours in La Boca.
A Boca Juniors store.
A memorial about the racing car driver Juan Manuel Fangio.
14.28 It was stressful in the food court here in the mall. We neither found any restaurant outside the mall, only the well-visited pedestrian street Florida and a lady who wanted to get us into a leather and fur shop. A little more wandering and searching eventually took us to the restaurant Plus Ultra on the street Lavalle near our hotel. Now it's finally lunch. We sit outdoors with nice warm air blowing on us to keep us warm.
15.40 Both Christer and I enjoyed food and beverage. I finished it all with a café solo. Now we're at Starbucks Coffee for afternoon coffee. Christer was asked if he wanted hot coffee. Now he got it served at the table. Starbucks has many branches in the city. We're at Reconquista 383 right now. 16.42 We're back at Catalina's Suites again. In the Copa America Football, Brazil leads 3-0 over Peru. The match can be viewed by us since we returned to the room. We are now considering how to use the hours remaining this Saturday. 19.14 Brazil and also Venezuela won their matches. In the Women's World Cup Norway won over Australia after penalty shootout and will now play quarterfinals. This is more or less all that happens right now. 20.13 Before we can go out again, we should probably know where to go. If we don't know, it's going to be hard to find the right place for tonight's dinner.
It´s time to visit Galería Pacífico.
It is beautiful inside the mall.
Lunch at the restaurant Plus Ultra.
One of many Starbucks in Buenos Aires.
Christer is having Sorrentinos for dinner tonight.
20.45 What does it help to plan before so that we find the right one? A German restaurant, Extrawurst, which among other things offered sausages, had plenty of people and additionally accordion music. It might have been a private party or just generally packed and noisy. I think we'd like some more calm dinner this evening. A meat restaurant called El Establo, The Stable, is unfortunately closed on Saturdays. We'll keep looking. We'll see where we end up.
21.16 We decided to copy yesterday's success. So we're back at Mercado del Centro. Why avoid a return visit when food and service were really good? We can't always be unique and visit new restaurants all the time. 21.38 It might be the same restaurant but of course not exactly the same food as yesterday. Christer has ordered Sorrentinos, Argentine pasta balls with different types of cheese. 22.20 Pleased and satisfied, we turned home. There were no shops open where we could buy evening beer. Now we will summarize, evaluate and plan for our last day here in Buenos Aires before sleep awaits.
Sunday 23rd of June
07.42 It's gloomy, semi-dark outside. That's what happens if you travel to the southern hemisphere this time of year. It is only around 08.00 that the sun has risen for sure. Putting a folded blanket under the pillow gave a significantly better sleep this night.
09.09 What awaits us out there this Sunday? How do we dress? A new day and new experiences await. 09.32 A moment ago the cleaning staff knocked on our door and they wanted to come in. Christer asked them to wait a while and now the wait is over. It is also a message to us that it is time to leave the safe arms of the hotel to get something done today. 09.46 We walk through a desolate Buenos Aires this morning. We are walking along Paraguay Street and have just seen a closed Starbucks. 10.03 We had barely arrived at Avenida 9 de Julio (July the 9th-Avenue) as our yellow tour bus from Buenos Aires Bus arrived. Here you step on if you want to use the red line in the north of the city. Besides the bus host and the driver, we're the only ones on board right now. The ticket we bought yesterday is still valid for a few hours. 10.22 The bus is arriving at Stop number 17, Plaza Italia in the Palermo district. It is a more open, greener Buenos Aires on this stretch. On the square there is an equestrian statue with Italian hero Giuseppe Garibaldi and a horse. 10.38 We've been going around on various streets here in Palermo. It is clear that we are in a richer part of the city. The lifestyle is another, people jog, use bikes and are out with their dogs. A moment ago we passed a Great Mosque, King Fahd Mosque. It is supposed to be the largest one in South America. The sun now finally breaks through with light and warmth.
This Sunday morning we are walking through a quiet Buenos Aires.
It was empty on the bus today.
The clocktower Torre Monumental can be seen behind the park.
On big avenues we are going to the northern parts of Buenos Aires.
A monument of Justo José de Urquiza. Here is the start of the Palermo neighbourhood.
MNBA, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
11.02 We have entered the Recoleta district. There are magnificent buildings and expensive hotels. However, the most famous tourist attraction here is the cemetery where many famous people from Argentina are buried. The most visited grave is probably the grave where Eva (Evita) Perón is resting.
11.13 The bus has left us. We got off right near the main theatre Teatro Colon building. We are now taking a shorter bench break in the park which is located in the middle of the two parts of Avenida 9 de Julio, incidentally reportedly being the world's widest street, 140 meters. 11.32 We have entered the Galería Pacífico which we visited yesterday as well. We are looking for some kind of souvenir shop and a cafe but find none of these. It's just as good to keep looking. We also need to find an ATM during the day. 11.48 The place we went to was the hotel. We needed the internet to locate the souvenir shop and something suitable place for lunch. Now let's plan the afternoon a little more precise. Christer has received a message about how to act when we leave with the bus tomorrow. Through Google, almost everything in life is controlled. 12.38 After a moment of thinking, we probably now have a working "to do list" for the afternoon. Remains to be seen how good it holds when it comes into contact with reality. 13.23 So far, we'll follow the list. We have more money and left some of the banknotes in exchange for some souvenirs. We did not find the store we were looking for but another one that had the range we wanted. Let's have lunch at La Estrella restaurant. We walk again on the street Lavalle which gave us two other good restaurants earlier days. 14.11 The great lunch ended. The waiter was ambitious and even tested to speak a little English. Again, however, it happened that we get an English menu but the staff doesn't understand what the dishes are when we point in the menu and order. Let's look at the city's White Needle, obelisk. It extends to the sky in the middle of Avenida 9 de Julio and has stood there since 1936. 14.30 It is again time for a visit to a Starbucks Coffee. This time we sit at the address Avenida Corrientes 602-632. Coffee's good. Its humid today in Buenos Aires. It's nice to sit in an air-conditioned environment for a while.
Our bus travels through Recoleta.
Here is where to get off if you want to visit the famous cemetery in Recoleta.
We have just finished our second tour around Buenos Aires with these buses.
Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.
The pedestrian street Florida.
Peter is having lunch at La Estrella.
15.56 From some Chinese in the Super Pekin store, we have bought eat-and drinkable stuff for the evening and also for the bus trip tomorrow. At home in our hotel we came to the realization that the key card entered the room lost it touch. We had to reload it at the reception. Now we reload ourselves with football from Copa America, Argentina is playing against Qatar.
16.58 Pretty soon Argentina scored, 1-0. That is also the result in half-time. What will happen in the second half? 17.42 In the final minutes, Argentina extends the goal harvest to 2-0. In the Women's World Cup in France, there are also two goals in the match between France and Brazil. There, however, it is 1-1 this far. 18.16 Argentina won their match. At CNN, Christiane Amanpour and Iran's United States Ambassador discuss the grim conflict between Iran and the United States. 19.38 It was a French victory in the women's World Cup match. No gold to Brazil this time either. Soon we're going back to town. 20.31 There are silence fearing citizens from the country south of Canada here in the meat restaurant El Establo, "The Stable". A larger group half-screams and seems completely unaware of the other guests. They seem to be employees of some airline. It sounds like that on the conversation. We'll treat ourselves to some extra delicious food on the last night in the capital. There will also be premiere on this trip for both grilled Argentine meat and, in addition, wine. 21.47 This was by far the best meal on the trip so far. It was absolutely right to order a bottle of red to this tasty meat (Bife Chorizo). Next awaits some rest in the room. 22.50 We have resumed an ancient tradition. In fact, it is one of the oldest during our travels. We enjoy one evening beer each. Unfortunately we have no balcony so the balcony beer tradition will have to wait.
Obelisco, Buenos Aires.
An empty Starbucks welcomed us this afternoon.
Here is where we are dining tonight.
Peter is waiting for the meat.
Christer is enjoying a very good meal.
The last dinner in Buenos Aires.
You can see 17 photos from June 20 in this photoalbum.
You can see 17 photos from June 21 in this photoalbum.
You can see 65 photos from June 22 in this photoalbum.
You can see 44 photos from June 23 in this photoalbum.