Argentina

Salta & the Northwest

On the surface of it, the northwest of Argentina appears to be more about the rugged beauty and amazing landscape, and the stark beauty of many if its rock formations and locations….but this would be wrong.

The thing that keeps those in the know coming back time and time again to this region of Argentina is the people and the culture of the place, with strong influences from the Incan and other indigenous cultures. The main interest surrounds the central square, the Plaza 5 Mayo, with the MAAM museum, the cathedral and the square itself taking centre stage.

Buenos Aires

If you are talking culture then where better to start but the capital, Buenos Aires. At the heart of Argentina for more than 450 years, Buenos Aires is a cultural and economic melting pot where influences from all over the world can be seen. For those that are interested there is an absolute wealth of activities and areas to take in and we would recommend a stay for atleast a week in the area to see them properly.

Things to visit in terms of culture are Teatro Colon, La Boca, Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo, Recoleta cemetery and Palermo. The district of Puerto Madero has an array of interesting restaurants and worth a visit.

Misiones

Made famous through films such as “The Mission”, the Misiones province is still an outstanding destination for those that are interested in the Jesuit order and the activities of both the Spanish and the Portuguese in the 17th century.

Locations such as San Ignacio, Santa Ana and Loreto are still prime examples of the manner in which the Jesuit order slowly advanced into this wild and untamed region of South America and created societies that were both profitable and peaceful.

Cordoba

As a centre for the Jesuits of the 1500s, Cordoba as a city is an interesting blend of the new and the old. Seen as the educational capital of Argentina ever since, it houses no less than 7 different Universities.

As a cultural destination it is very interesting, both in the city itself and in the surrounding countryside. The main reason to come here is certainly for the Jesuit ruins that lie just outside.

Buenos Aires Tango Festival – February to March

People from all across Argentina gather in its capital to celebrate the art of tango dancing. Performances are held across the city, as are classes and parties. It is a time to forget about your worries and dance the night away. Also in August there is the Buenos Aires World Tango Championships that take place in the birth place of Tango. Dancers from around the world gather to compete for the title of world champion.

Gualeguaychu Carnival- January and February

Throughout the months of January and February, the town of Gualeguaychu hosts one of the biggest carnivals in Argentina. Festivities include giant parades, dancing, live music performances and feasting.

Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Film

This festival is a 10-day event celebrating the art of independent film making. Film producers from across the world meet at this annual event to promote and reward the most impressive selection of independent films.

Semana Musical Llao Llao – September
This classical musical festival, held in the town of Bariloche, is a celebration of the art of classical music. Concerts are held throughout the town, while musicians from all around the world arrive in Bariloche to give solo and ensemble performances.

Oktoberfest Argentina- October
During the month of October, thousands of people from all across the world arrive in Cordoba province to take part in the incredibly popular annual Beer Festival. The festival lasts for five days, with festivities taking place in the beer garden, a venue especially designed for the occasion. Several litres of beer, served in giant German mugs, are drunk throughout the five days.

Day of the Gaucho- November
Day of the Gaucho (Cowboy) is an annual event which takes place in the Pampas, which is south of Buenos Aires. Various Gaucho related activities take place including folk songs and dance, horsemanship displays and other country skills.

Tango
Historically the origins of this famous dance form are fairly murky. Thought to have started around the late 1800s in the slum areas of Buenos Aires, as the various immigrants from Europe began to arrive into Argentina, the dance was seen as the dance of the working classes…the working man, hungry for some female attention, would go to the cafes and bordellos of Buenos Aires and dance with the prostitutes or waitresses that were serving there

La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery (Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a world renowned cemetery in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. Opulent and grand, La Recoleta Cemetery is characterized by a range of ornately decorated mausoleums, many of which are made of marble and adorned with statues. In fact, this over ground burial system is due to the fact that is anything buried underneath La Recoleta Cemetery’s marshy earth is likely to rise back to the surface. It’s most famous resident is Eva Perón or “Evita”, who is buried in a black marble mausoleum owned by her family and listed under her maiden name “Maria Eva Duarte”. Designed by a French engineer called Próspero Catelin, La Recoleta Cemetery more resembles a city than a burial ground, its impressive neo-classical gates opening up to winding tree-lined streets. Inside La Recoleta Cemetery visitors can see a variety of graves, some better maintained than others, but altogether offering a fascinating tour through Argentinean history.

Catedral Metropolitana
The Buenos Aires Catedral Metropolitana (Metropolitan Cathedral) was originally built in the sixteenth century, although it has since undergone several changes and the current building was constructed in 1745. The long and varied history of the Catedral Metropolitana can be seen through its diverse architecture, ranging from its neoclassical façade designed by French architects Prosper Catelin and Pierre Benoit to its 18th century nave, dome and altars. As the main church of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, Catedral Metropolitana forms the centre of catholic life in the city. Catedral Metropolitana contains the mausoleum of General San Martin, a central figure in Argentina’s struggle for independence from Spain. It also houses the tomb of the unknown soldier of Argentine independence and an eternal flame of remembrance.

Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo is famous and politically significant square in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. Established in 1580 and once known as Plaza de la Victoria, it was renamed as Plaza de Mayo in the nineteenth century following the May Revolution. Plaza de Mayo literally means “May Plaza”, a reference to the site’s importance during the May Revolution. Plaza de Mayo also contains the May Pyramid, a statue commemorating the May Revolution and Argentina’s independence from Spain, installed in 1811. Overall, Plaza de Mayo is an important focal point for political life in Argentina and is where most of its political institutions are housed, including the Casa Rosada from where Eva Peron or “Evita” addressed the people and city hall. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires can also be found here.

Casa Rosada
Casa Rosada is a presidential palace in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. Literally translated as the “Pink Palace” due to its distinctive pink façade, Casa Rosada houses the executive branch of Argentina’s government. The land on which Casa Rosada sits was subject to many changes and it was only in 1857 that President Justo José de Urquiza partially demolished and renovated a fort which stood there, creating a customs house which would become Casa Rosada. The building was renovated and decorated in the 1860, first by Bartolomé Mitre and then by Domingo Sarmiento, transforming it into a presidential residence. Probably the most famous aspect of Casa Rosada is its association with Eva Peron or “Evita”, the wife of President Juan Peron who addressed the people from its balcony. Today, Casa Rosada is open to the public, and has a museum in its lower levels containing numerous artifacts relating to Argentina’s history and its government. Behind Casa Rosada are the little known 18th century catacombs of Fuerte Viejo.

Seven Years in Tibet
Most of the shooting took place in Argentina, in the city of La Plata (the train station where Heinrich leaves for Unserberg is the Main Train Station of La Plata, for example), and in the Mendoza Province, in such places as the Andes chain of mountains. Some time after the film’s release, director Jean-Jacques Annaud confirmed that two crews secretly shot footage for the film in Tibet, amounting to approximately 20 minutes of footage in the final film. Other footage was shot in Nepal, Austria, and Canada.

Motorcycle Diaries
In a journey that lasts eight months, the partners travel over 14000 kilometers, from Argentina through Chile, Peru, and Colombia to Venezuela. Key locations along the journey described in the film include: In Argentina: Buenos Aires, Miramar, Buenos Aires, Villa Gesell, San Martín de los Andes, Lago Frías, Patagonia and Nahuel Huapi Lake. Ernesto and Alberto, and their long-suffering Norton, La Poderosa, start out from Buenos Aires, Argentina, passing through the city’s Plaza Once, and stopping at first to visit Ernesto’s posh girlfriend, Chichina, who’s staying in Miramar, on the coast about 200 miles south of Buenos Aires which, in the 50s, was a rich, and exclusively white, resort. The journey proper finds the pair heading west toward the Chilean border. The film skips quickly across Argentina to the beautifully photogenic Lake District and the lakeside village of Villa la Angostura, in the south of Neuquen province, at the northeastern shore of Lago Nahuel Huapi. At the lake’s southern tip, San Carlos de Bariloche, Ernesto is taken ill, after wading into the freezing water to retrieve the duck shot down by Alberto, and they spend the night at the railway station, before crossing the border into Chile at Lago Frias, where mountains rise dramatically from the lake’s waters.

The Mission
A worthy movie about the tropical north of Argentina is a film called The Mission from 1986. The Mission is a 1986 British drama about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th century South America. It’s focus is on the Guarani people, who are native to Paraguay and the northern provinces of Argentina. Many bird boys in the province of Corrientes that spoke Guarani and referred to every creature- be it a duck, or snake or dove, by the Guarani name. Jeremy Irons stars as the priest who attempts to convert the Guarani people, while Robert DeNiro is the slaver and mercenary bad guy.

Moonraker
Location: Bond paraglides over the falls: Iguacu Falls, Brazil The ‘Amazon’ boat chase was filmed on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River at Jupiter, north of Palm Beach on Florida’s east coast, but ends at the spectacular Iguaçu Falls, located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná, the Argentine province of Misiones and Paraguay. Designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the falls are shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil). They can be reached from the two main towns on either side of the falls: Foz do Iguaçu in Paraná, and Puerto Iguazú in Misiones, as well as from Ciudad del Este – in Paraguay.

Evita
Evita portrays the life of Eva Duarte (later Eva Duarte de Perón) (Madonna) from a child of the lower classes to becoming the wife of Juan Perón and First Lady and spiritual leader of Argentina. Eva’s death is announced in a movie theatre and a public funeral is held in Buenos Aires. Che (Antonio Banderas), an Everyman, narrates the story of Eva’s rise to power and later illness and death. He appears in many different guises and serves as Eva’s conscience and critic. As a young illegitimate child, Eva tries to attend her father’s funeral in the town of Junín with her mother and siblings. Her father’s wife and other family deny her family permission to enter, but Eva pays her last respects to her father.

Assassination Tango
Assassination Tango is a 2002 crime film written, produced, directed by, and starring Robert Duvall. It is a thriller about an assassin’s discovery of Argentine tango. Other actors include Rubén Blades, Kathy Baker and Duvall’s wife, Luciana Pedraza. Francis Ford Coppola was one of the executive producers; the majority of the film was shot in Argentina.

El Calafate
El Calafate and El Chalten, sitting right on the western-most edge of the Patagonian Steppe, are one of the most visited regions in Argentina. Lying at the very edge of the Southern Ice fields, the second largest ice shelf on the planet, the area is full of glaciers, icebergs and stunning nature.

The Perito Moreno Glacier, just an hour’s drive from El Calafate is one of the last advancing glaciers left today. To the north, the citadel of the Fitzroy mount provides all sorts of great walking and outdoor opportunities.

Iguazu Falls
As the river Iguazu crosses, the border between Brazil , Argentina and Paraguay , it thunders over a series of around 275 separate falls and cataracts that, together, make up one of the most majestic sights in the world, the Iguazu Falls. A visit from the Argentine side allows much more interaction, with walkways set up over the top of many of the cascades and the chance to look down into the “devil’s throat” as millions of litres of water flood past! The normal itinerary for most heading to Iguazu is to spend a couple of days on the Argentinean side, getting wet and up personal, and then head over to the Brazilian side for the panorama and a few photo opportunities or vice versa. While the total area that the falls is not that large, it is worth bearing in mind that a trip to Iguazu will involve a fair amount of walking as you go up and down to get different perspectives.

Lake District
For those that are drawn by nature and a desire to be outdoor, then the region around Bariloche and the Nahuel Huapi National Park are your best bet. Certainly one of the most well liked areas in Argentina, this region is a cacophony of lakes, hills and forests. Punctuated with small and picturesque “Alpine” towns such as Villa la Angostura and San Martin de Los Andes.

This entire region consists of some 20 odd lakes and valleys and is predominantly protected land and ski areas which has meant that most of the natural forestation and natural beauty has been retained.

Esteros del Ibera
With the area spanning almost 15000 sq.kilometres, the Esteros del Ibera (Ibera wetlands) is the second largest freshwater wetland on the planet (next to the Pantanal in neighbouring Brazil), and Argentina’s largest protected area.

Made up of a series of lakes, lagoons and marshland, the Esteros del Ibera wetlands are home for over 350 different bird species and some of South America’s most iconic wildlife such as the capybara and the caiman.

Salta
Right up in the very north-western region of Argentina lie the provinces of Salta and Jujuy and some of the favourite sceneries. While a lot of this area is desolate and barren due to the altitude, the rock formations and general vistas are to be seen to be believed.

Stark reds stand out against the deep azure sky, and adobe huts are swallowed by the sheer size of the place.

Mendoza
As the capital of the countries wine growing, this is a Mecca for gastronomes the world over Probably the first stop for any self-respecting foodie, Mendoza and the valleys that surround it are the home to some of the best wines in the world. Featuring some of the main wine growers from Europe, this was the first area in Argentina to truly be developed and, today, is very much up there on the world stage.

A few days wandering through the vines and sampling the wine and tasting menus is a wonderful experience for both connoisseurs and novices alike.

Buenos Aires: Parilla
As one of the top cities in the world, Buenos Aires is a veritable playground for the avid food fan. Featuring many of the top restaurants in both Argentina and the world, there is a vast array of different restaurants and menus to choose from. The traditional fare for most is the ubiquitous steak and glass of Malbec, but Buenos Aires also caters to a whole host of other tastes and palates. One of the must do activities while here is to partake in a traditional “Parilla”. This Argentine barbeque has been a traditional meal for centuries and derives from the family and ranch meals that were & are still eaten. Each parilla is different but, on the whole, either a full lamb is butterflied and put on a stake in front of the fire to slowly cook, or a whole load of beef is carved up and you get to choose which part of it you like the look of. The meat and the meal are absolutely outstanding.

Bariloche: Chocolate
Argentina is well known for its bitter mate (pronounced: ma-te), an infusion of yerba mate leaves with hot water, so the sweetness that’s associated with Bariloche is a real contrast. Said to now have the best chocolate in Argentina –perhaps even in South America – the streets of Bariloche have been filled with the scent of chocolate for decades, thanks to Europeans who immigrated here after World War II. Two of these immigrants were Ines and Aldo Fenoglio, who came from Italy and opened a chocolate company at their new home. As the years passed and the company thrived in its sale of chocolates around the country, two of the couple’s children, Laura and Diego, became involved in the family business. In 1996, Diego launched his own chocolate store, called Rapa Nui, on Mitre, Bariloche’s main street. Colored in purple, with plenty of places to sit inside and out, Rapa Nui offered a Chocolate Happy Hour, giving discounts on its delicious products.

Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego : King Crab
Set down on the southern most tip of Argentina, the isolated and windswept Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego is not somewhere that you would think of for food. It is true that they don’t have the luscious pastoral lands of northern Argentina, but they do have very good seafood, in particular the mighty king crab.

Similarly, the range of accommodation may not be vast, but there are a few hotels in the region that cater very well.

Wine Spa
Located in the heart of Argentinean wine country, there are many spas that incorporate wine and grapes into many of their services, including a scrub-and-wrap combo.

Skin is exfoliated with a grape-based polish before being wrapped in a nourishing red wine and grape mask, which helps improve tone and elasticity. These spa treatments are a hit with men & women.