This morning, we woke up early at the Raíces Esturión Hotel in Iguazú and enjoyed another pastry-filled breakfast. I had some watermelon, pineapple, and oranges, along with a medialuna filled with dulce de leche. Sadly, it was our last morning in Iguazú, so right after breakfast we took about a 40-minute bus ride to the Iguazú airport and later boarded a plane back to Aeroparque, the national airport (Kind of like Reagan National Airport in the US).
At this point, we were all exhausted, so many of us enjoyed a much-needed nap on the two-hour flight. At one point during the flight, I looked up and saw that everyone around me was knocked out. After our flight, we took a bus tour through Palermo and Recoleta, where Marisa explained brief details along the way. After the tour, we went to the hotel and quickly dropped off our luggage before getting lunch at Pertutti’s. Many of us tried chicken and veal milanesa, while others had pasta and salads. Then Marisa took us on a walking tour where we saw the opera house, the Pink House, the National Bank, and many other buildings. We also toured the inside of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and saw the mausoleum of General José de San Martín. We learned that every Thursday, mothers and grandmothers dressed in white walk around the Plaza de Mayo to commemorate and demand answers about “Los Desaparecidos”, the 30,000+, largely college aged Argentinians who were “disappeared” by the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. (Here disappeared means abducted by military police before being sent to secret prisons and/or murdered extrajudicially for opposing the military junta politically. People were shipped on planes to foreign gulags, bodies were dumped in rivers, families were separated – it was pretty brutal. And this is in living memory! -Ed.)
After the tour, we returned to the hotel for a siesta. Some stayed in their rooms, while a small group of us went back to Pertutti and another store for snacks and currency exchange. Later, we dressed up in nice outfits and got ready to go to the tango show and dinner at Mansion Tango. At the show, we were seated in a beautiful room and started the experience with appetizers and entrees. After we finished our main course, the show began. We were amazed by the beautiful music, singing, and dancing as we were immersed in tango. We were served dessert, and throughout the show, rounds of applause erupted as we admired the incredible art of tango. Finally, once the show ended, we took group photos in front of the stage. To close the night, we rode the bus back to the hotel and settled into our rooms. -Jasmine
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We woke up in Iguazú for the last time today at 7:00 and went to breakfast at 7:30. We went on the quietest bus ride back to the airport and flew back to Buenos Aires. After landing, we got to go tour the north side of the city, and saw sights like the Galileo Galeli Observatory, multiple statues, and the ginormous opera house.
Afterwards, we dropped by the hotel and headed over to lunch. There, we all got Milanesas and French fries. Then, we got to do a tour of the city! We went to see a couple of important buildings near the hotel and then headed over to the Plaza de Mayo. At the Plaza de Mayo, we got to see the Priámede de Mayo, the Casa Rosada, and we got to go inside and see the Cathedral of Buenos Airies. After the cathedral, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a few hours before going to dinner, although some people went out and got sweets!
We arrived at the Mansion Tango after a few hours of resting and sat two tables in the front. Instead of choosing your appetizers, entrée, and dessert separately, you chose them all together. The show started after the entrée, and it was amazing. The music from the band was great to listen to, the dancing was so elite (especially Juan Pablo’s), and the singing was gloriously beautiful. They all came together and created an amazing performance. It was definitely one of the best experiences of Argentina so far.
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel at 11 and slept for a while in preparation for our partners the next day. -Chris
