Lindblad’s arrival day in Buenos Aires, the official start to the expedition, was Sunday, January 27, and the first “official” gathering was lunch at the Caesar Park Hotel. Since we had the morning free, MP and I took a taxi over to the Teatro Colón — BA’s famous opera house, a huge building occupying an entire city block — which Virginia had highly recommended we visit so that we could see the magnificent interior. There was a tour being given in English at 9 AM, which would give us plenty of time for the visit and a walk back to our hotel to meet our Lindblad group for lunch.
Unfortunately, when we got to the Teatro Colón, a rather nasty male ticket seller refused to sell us tickets, telling us that he would not allow the tour to be conducted because there weren’t enough people. (There were three of us — MP, yours truly, and another American tourist.) Nothing on the Teatro Colón web site, which advertised the 9am English-language tour, said that a minimum number of people would be required, and both Virginia and our hotel concierge had told us that the tours are conducted hourly in English, starting at 9 AM. But this guy wanted us to wait until 10 AM; we did not have the time to do that. With two female employees watching in sympathy, I explained to this young man that this was our only opportunity to see their wonderful opera house. I even confirmed with him that the English-language tour guide was actually there, expecting to give the 9 AM tour. None of this mattered to him. I stress his gender because it was very clear to MP and me that he was on a very macho power trip. Despite our pleas, despite my saying truthfully that he was the only person we had encountered in BA who had not been nice to us, he turned us away.
After conferring in the lobby, MP and I decided we would take the 9:30 AM tour in Spanish; even if we couldn’t understand everything being said, we would still get to see the inside of the theatre. When we tried to buy tickets for the Spanish-language tour, Mr. Macho Man insisted that we still pay the (much) higher admission price for foreigners. At this point, my patience had ended, and let’s just say that voices were raised. Fortunately, no international incident ensued as the two women in the ticket booth spoke to Mr. Macho Man, and suddenly it was agreed that they would give the English-language tour at 9:15 AM. Reasonable women had prevailed! As we met our guide, a couple of Italian tourists who spoke English joined our little group. We proceeded to have a phenomenal tour; the guide even took us to parts of the theatre she said she wouldn’t bring large groups, or groups with children.
As advertised, the inside of the Teatro Colón is magnificent and stunning, marble stairs and floors, beautiful art and statues, stained glass, and halls modeled after Versailles.
The auditorium itself has such perfect acoustics that Pavarotti reportedly said he hated to sing there, because any mistake he made could be heard clearly by everyone. Our guide demonstrated the phenomenal acoustics by singing a little opera herself; she was great! Near the conclusion of the tour we visited the Presidential Box, in the first tier on the side just above the stage. Terrible seats for watching a performance, but perfect if you wanted to be seen by everyone in the theatre (as Juan and Evita apparently did). Teatro Colón is absolutely worth a visit; just hope you don’t get Mr. Macho Man selling you tickets.
After the tour, we walked back to the hotel, a nice long walk on a quiet Sunday morning. We met up with our expedition mates for lunch in a private room of the hotel, and it was a great way to start getting to know the folks we’d be traveling with. After lunch, Lindblad took us on a bus tour of BA. Even though we’d seen the city’s highlights, MP and I opted to go along, to continue to meet our fellow travelers and (for me) to have more photo ops on our last afternoon in BA. The tour was fine for what it was — a good introduction to the city for those who had never been there before.
In the late afternoon, Lindblad had a gathering back at the hotel so we could meet the expedition staff who would be traveling with us to Ushuaia the next morning and get a briefing on the trip. Now it was starting to get really real — we are almost on our way! Dinner that night was “on your own,” and MP and I (and plenty of others) opted to go to the mall across the street, which had a food court. We bought some excellent sandwiches, wine, etc., brought the food back to our room, and finished packing back up for our flight the next morning.
It’s almost here!!
(photos by turtles06)
My Journey to Antarctica 
Teatro Colón was closed for renovations when we were in BsAs … thanks for the pictures of the interior.
By: Erin on July 11, 2013
at 10:13 PM
Erin, thanks for reading. Yes, our guide told us that Teatro Colón had been closed for a very long time for major renovations. There are some places along the way where they deliberately left pieces of the old walls intact so you can see what it looked like before the facelift. Quite a dramatic change. They literally cleaned off a zillion years of grime. I was very glad we got inside.
By: turtles06 on July 12, 2013
at 8:02 AM
Turtles06,
I am traveling on the trip before yours in 2014. I have also contacted and booked Virginia based on your recommendation. I have been following your blog and getting very excited about the trip. Your detail is amazing. It is almost funny since we are experiencing the same thing with the boots, socks, snow pants, etc.
I was curious if you could provide some more information about the bus trip that Lindblad/National Geographic provides before the trip starts in BA. We will be touring with Virginia the day before so we don’t want to redo something. Does the bus stop anywhere or is it just a couple of hours of driving around to see various locations? Is there anything we should make sure we do in BA with Virginia?
We arrive at 1.5 days before the trip begins. We are thinking of using Virginia for the full day as well as the morning before the Lindblad/National Geographic bus trip starts.
Thanks.
By: Benjamin on August 9, 2013
at 12:05 PM
Hi Benjamin,
Thanks so much for reading and for your comment. I think you will love Virginia!
The afternoon bus tour of BA with Lindblad does stop at a few places (including the Plaza de Mayo, El Caminito in La Boca, and La Recoleta Cemetery). But it is definitely a “re-do” of things you will see with Virginia if you tour with her before. We did it mostly to get to know our fellow Lindblad travelers (and, for me, to take some additional photos).
One thing I would definitely NOT miss in BA (and that the Lindblad bus tour won’t visit) is the inside of the Teatro Colon. You don’t need Virginia for that; just go when they are giving an English-language tour. (We did that the morning of Lindblad’s “arrival day” — the morning of the bus tour.) I also think seeing the inside of the Casa Rosada is worth it (if that history interests you and/or you are a fan of “Evita”). But you can only do that on a weekend (not sure what your schedule is) since it’s a working government building. Virginia also gives a great tour through the Cemetery, which is another “don’t miss.”
As far as other things not to miss with Virginia — she is a native, so let her show you her city. But of course if, after reading up, you have something you want to be sure you do or see, just let her know.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. And maybe I’ll be finished posting my daily entries on here before you leave. 🙂
By: turtles06 on August 10, 2013
at 8:47 AM
Thank you for your speedy reply. We really appreciate it. I came across your site via Cruise Critic shortly after we booked the trip. You’re not alone in your worries about the trip especially what to bring. We live in a warm climate and were trying on snow pants and thermals when it was 70 degrees plus outside in February. Our day in BA is Thursday, January 16 so we won’t be able to get inside of the Casa Rosada.
I am sure we will be in touch with more questions before we leave. I am encouraging the rest of my family to read your posts so they can be better prepared. We look forward to hearing about the kayaking, especially the details on getting in and out of the kayaks on the platform.
If you wonder if people actually read and use what you write, be assured I do. Months ago, I added hand warmers to the list for the camera batteries. You stated you did not need them so they are off the list. We are just as detailed oriented as you are so we enjoy your posts immensely. Last month we traveled with National Geographic/Lindblad to Alaska (a good place to try out the boots) and the photographic expert/naturalist is on our trip.
We look forward to reading about the rest of your trip to build excitement for ours!
By: Benjamin on August 10, 2013
at 4:21 PM