Connie was my only non-tango-dancing tour member. She dances, but not tango. Her husband is an enthusiast, so they compromised by doing a lot of tourist things, but scheduled so that he could go out dancing, too. The result: Connie gently prodded me to include a lot more touristy things for the tour, and as a result, it was much more fun. Here are HER tour highlights. Thanks for guest-writing, Connie!

Buenos Aires Adventure

I had many firsts on this vacation. First time traveling: to the southern hemisphere; visiting South America; and exploring Buenos Aires. Argentina in December is warm because it’s the beginning of summer. During our visit, we had temperatures of 85-95 degrees. Luckily, we had low humidity, with only one afternoon of rain. It was pleasant for walking in the morning and evenings. Most of my afternoons were spent in a very relaxing ways, reading, eating ice cream, and drinking my favorite aperitive, the Aperol Spritz.

Of course, there are many more delights I saw in Buenos Aires, but these are my favorites.

Colonia, Uruguay

We took a fast (1 hr.) ferry ride to Colonia del Sacramento, a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and capital of the Colonia Department. It has a population of around 27,000. We spent a lovely time walking around the old town and eating a unique brunch in an outside café. It is renowned for its historic quarter, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tigre Delta

At 5,405 square miles, the vast Tigre Delta is among the world’s largest, and it is one of the only major deltas in the world that does not empty into a sea or ocean. It flows into the Río de la Plata, which separates Argentina and Uruguay, after the Río Paraná splits into several smaller rivers and forms a multitude of sedimentary islands covered in forest and grasslands. With its islands and canals, Tigre is what Venice might have looked like before development.

Isla Macondo

We had an excellent time on an overnight trip to a wonderful B ‘n B in the Tigre Delta area. We took a train to the city of Tigre (35 km north of BA). Then, we took a 1 hour water taxi ride into the surrounding delta region to reach our BnB. Floating on the latte-colored waters – rich with iron from the jungle streams flowing from inland South allowed us to view the local stilt houses and colonial mansions. All along the shorelines are signs of water-related activity, from kayaking to wakeboarding, canoeing to sculling.

Tours of Estancia El Ombu and San Antonio de Areco

We escaped the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires for a a close-up look at traditional living in the pampas. We were driven through Argentina's sprawling pastoral landscapes, the pampas. We saw never-ending fields of waving grass and scrub-covered hillsides until we reached the quaint streets of San Antonio de Areco. We strolled around the historic town with a knowledgeable guide. He told us stories about the area's history as a meeting place for the local gauchos. Then we headed to a local estancia (ranch) to ride horses and/or take a carriage ride with the rugged gauchos. We wrapped up our adventure with a delicious freshly prepared barbecue and singing and dancing with the gauchos and Elizabeth.

My adventures within Buenos Aires

Teatro Colon

I toured the beautiful Teatro Colón, the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world. As of the year 2010, the Teatro Colón boasts a building restored to all its original glory, giving an air of distinction to its productions. I was also lucky enough to spend an evening in one of the opera house’s upper level boxes watching Porgy and Bess.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore and Music Shop

I visited this wonderful bookstore that was built in 1919. It served as a performing arts theater, then as a cinema, and now a bookstore. It retains its original frescoed ceilings, ornate theater boxes, elegant rounded balconies, detailed trimmings, and plush red stage curtains. The interior of the building remains as stunning today as when it was first built. I reveled in this wondrous monument of a bygone era. While the selection of books is a standard chain store fare and mostly in Spanish, bibliophiles will find the staggeringly opulent display of books to be reason enough to visit El Ateneo Grand Splendid.

La Recoleta Cemetery

This cemetery is in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon. In 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums.