Buenos Aires
- RetiredCormac
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Day 1
The flight with LATAM from Santiago was uneventful, and we got lucky breezing through immigration and customs. Before long, we were in an Uber for the fairly long drive into the city — and just in time to catch the last hour of happy hour in the hotel lounge.
The Hilton Buenos Aires is well located in Puerto Madero, a smart and pleasant part of the city.
Most people know Buenos Aires for tango, football, and culture. I, however, know it as one of the first cities to be attacked by the Arachnids in Starship Troopers — where Johnny Rico’s parents were killed while he was FaceTiming them. I imagine they lived somewhere around here. Interestingly, I haven’t seen any bugs.
Day 2
We did a city tour (which I’ve reviewed on TripAdvisor). Unfortunately, it wasn’t great. Much of it involved sitting on a bus visiting sites of limited significance—and even less interest.
We did get some time on foot around the main square and in La Boca, which was extremely touristy. I bought a shirt.
It was Jane’s birthday, and due to poor planning, we ended up at a fairly sub-optimal restaurant. Lesson learned. We made up for it with some excellent cocktails back at the hotel bar. Argentina is incredibly good value—cocktails were around £7 each and very well made.
We also discovered there was a festival in town that weekend—Bryan Adams, Lewis Capaldi, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter were all performing. Apparently, Lewis was staying at our hotel. I spent 2 days carrying my phone everywhere in case of a chance encounter.
“Operation Stalk Lewis” officially had begun!
Day 3
No sign of Lewis at breakfast.
We had a great lunch, which only highlighted how poor yesterday’s had been. I reviewed Cauce Restaurant (about 300m from the hotel) on TripAdvisor. A three-course business lunch with water and wine came to just over £40 for two! —amazing value for the quality of food, presentation, and service.
The afternoon was spent by the pool in warm sunshine, generously covered in factor 30.
We headed to the hotel lounge for happy hour, only to find it packed with noisy pre- and post-cruise guests. Loud. Very loud. That said - they had a pool table - so we were able to head over to it - to make some more noise than them.
The evening was salvaged with more excellent-value cocktails. I had a beautifully smoky Old Fashioned, followed by a vodka martini—shaken, not stirred, with three olives. Very chic.
Day 4
After breakfast, we took a long walk by the nature reserve, followed by an afternoon in the sun. I don’t feel like we wasted our time in Buenos Aires—we got out and about enough to justify the lounging.
We heard a few Scottish accents around the hotel, but still no sign of Lewis. That said, a crowd started forming outside, so we assume he—or someone equally famous—was nearby.
Lunch was another success, this time at Sorrento (also reviewed on TripAdvisor), before heading back to get ready for the evening’s tango show.
We were taking an Uber to the venue—1.5 miles for about £4. An easy decision.
And then… there he was. Sitting casually in reception.
We approached in what I’d describe as a non-stalker fashion. Jane met Lewis Capaldi while I documented the moment. He was relaxed, friendly, and very down-to-earth. We wished him well for his performance and went on our way—mission accomplished.
The tango show was excellent (again, reviewed on TripAdvisor). A small venue with only a handful of guests meant great seats and an intimate feel. The music and dancing were fantastic—authentic rather than overproduced.
We opted for an early night instead of getting swept up in the local Saturday night scene, which seems to run until 4 or 5am.
Day 5
Despite diligently applying sun cream, we both managed to get badly burnt on our stomachs while lying by the pool. Our best guess is we didn’t give it enough time to absorb before heading into the sun. A painful lesson. I think I've actually burnt my nipples - which will be a first.
Luckily, tomorrow is a travel day, followed by a full-day tour—so some recovery time is built in.
We attended a cooking class, which was a lot of fun (again reviewed on Tripadvisor)
Afterwards, we had drinks in the lounge, went for a walk across the ‘woman’s bridge’, had a drink on the Corona barge (not worth the wait!) and then back to the hotel bar, to continue our non-drinking night (smiley face).
I conducted extensive “research” into Old Fashioneds—exploring smoked vs unsmoked, and with vs without sugar—while talking a fair amount of nonsense.
This naturally led to a late night.
Day 6
Moving day.
Breakfast was a subdued affair—just coffee and a bit of toast—as I nursed a self-inflicted hangover that lingered for most of the day.
Comments