After years of dreaming about Patagonia, glaciers, wildlife, and the legendary landscapes of South America, the day had finally arrived. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had plans of her own. Two days before our flight, a late-winter New Jersey blizzard threatened to derail our carefully planned adventure before it even began.
Pink Bear loves doing travel research!
South America is in the southern hemisphere, and an ideal time to travel there is during the winter months in the northern hemisphere. Our Viking expedition cruise package was scheduled to begin on 4 March 26 in Buenos Aires. Since we wanted to spend some time in Buenos Aires and Iguazu before joining the Viking tour, we planned on leaving on 24 February. One of the many advantages of retirement travel is having the flexibility to spend extra time exploring destinations before and after a cruise rather than rushing through them.
Blizzard of ‘26
Well, true to form, Pink Bear adventures are never dull. A silly little blizzard rolling into NJ two days before our scheduled flight out of EWR put a damper on things, pun intended. Our scheduled flight was cancelled. United booked us another flight the following day. That meant having to do some fancy footwork, changing hotels, tours, dinner show, and car reservations.
Pretty winter wonderland, but the snow was not good news for our travel plans.
Enroute Finally!
After a few modifications and mishaps with United, we were ready for airport pickup. We either use Gem Limo or Uber. Pink Bear thought Gem Limo was a better choice for this trip, given the bad weather. Using a large company would allow for substitute drivers in the event of an issue. The car was early, but as we were walking out the door, we experienced a massive snow squall. Luckily, the parkway and turnpike were moving, and the weather cleared while we waited in the United club for our flight to Houston.
Pink Bear really wanted to go out and help build the snowman, so I had to keep a close eye on her. She has a habit of running off on us.
Our Bags Almost Missed the Connection!
For International flights, Pink Bear insists on business class. Because EWR is a United hub, we belong to their frequent flyer program and use it almost exclusively. This allows us to collect points and use them to get premium seats. We often use the “money and miles” option to bring the business class ticket price down into an affordable range for us.
Most United flights from Newark to Buenos Aires connect through Houston. While relaxing in the United Club before our international flight, I checked the baggage tracker and discovered three bags had been loaded—but one appeared to be sitting in baggage claim. We arrived at Houston on time and spent a pleasant couple of hours in the club. The flight to EZE was on time, but when I tracked my bags, I noticed 3 of the 4 were loaded on the flight, and 1 was in baggage claim. OMG! After speaking with the wonderful cabin staff who contacted baggage, the wayward bag was loaded. Word of advice: track your bags through the app if you have it. It saved us a major headache by grabbing the wayward bag before getting to the destination.
Pink Bear loves her private space in business class
Leaving the snow covered northeast behind
Arrival Buenos Aires
We arrived at EZE a little ahead of schedule. We deplaned and followed clearly labeled signs for immigration (migraciones). We followed signs for foreigners. We were early so there not much of a line, and we were through passport control quickly. Our carry-on bags were scanned and were off to baggage claim. Again, very easy to follow signs. We had read that EZE could be difficult to navigate but we did not have that experience. We found the signs clearly labelled and easy to follow.
The arrival hall was a different story. The large arrival hall is chaotic. There are many drivers with signs. When we are traveling internationally, we typically pre-arrange airport pick-up. We could not locate our driver, but after a few calls through WhatsApp we were able to connect. Pink Bear highly recommends WhatsApp for communication internationally.
Traffic in Buenos Aires is terrible, so allow plenty of time to get to destinations. For our trip from EZE it took us over an hour to make the 21 mile trip. We still managed to arrive at 9:45am after landing at 7:20. A little over 2 hours from landing to Buenos Aires hotel.
Park Hotel Buenos Aires
Our hotel in Buenos Aires was the Park Tower Hotel. The Park Hotel is connected to the Sheraton Buenos Aires. It is the elite smaller sister property that shares all the Sheraton amenities. It is a very lovely hotel with a helpful staff. Because we were early and I requested a club room with a river view our room was not ready.
Buenos Aires Street Scenes
Buenos Aires is a very upscale urban paradise in Argentina, offering beautiful neighborhoods, shopping, restaurants and museums and galleries. I normally do not schedule a tour on arrival day but since we lost a day we had an afternoon city tour through Tours by locals.
Our guide was Andres and he picked us up in a Toyota SUV that was very comfortable. We drove past the obelisk, ornate buildings and then walked around the pink presidential palace.
We learned about the stones around the monument with names of those lost to covid and the meaning behind the painted white scarfs surrounding the monument. The white scarves painted on the pavement outside the Casa Rosada (the presidential palace) in Buenos Aires stand for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They symbolize the white baby diapers of the estimated 30,000 citizens who were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the Argentine military dictatorship during the “Dirty War” in the 1970s and 1980s
We then toured the inside of the beautiful metropolitan cathedral.
After the cathedral we drove to the famous colorful painted houses in Buenos Aires. They are in in the La Boca area. The specific pedestrian street and “outdoor museum” area where the brightest, rainbow-colored buildings are concentrated is called El Caminito.
After the painted house we visited a wonderful Mercado de San Telmo that had so many amazing food stands! I did get a famous empanada! It was delicious.
Recoleta Cemetery
After the market our final stop was Recoleta Cemetery where the famous Eva Peron (Evita) is buried. The cemetery itself is really something to see. There are only above ground crypts that are architectural works of art. Also, they are unique in that many of the coffins are visible from the glass doorways. One of the most surprising things about Recoleta Cemetery is that some family mausoleums have glass doors, allowing visitors to see inside. In one crypt, the coffin had deteriorated to the point where human remains were visible—a startling reminder that this is not simply a tourist attraction but a real resting place for generations of Argentines.
When we got back to the hotel our room was ready. A beautiful room on 22nd floor facing the river with a great view. Pink Bear was excited to have dinner in the room overlooking the beautiful city and river.
As our first day in South America ended, we were tired but happy. Our tour guide Andres did a great job introducing us to the city. What struck us most was how European Buenos Aires felt. Wide boulevards, elegant architecture, outdoor cafés, and bustling plazas made us feel as if we had stepped into a blend of Paris, Madrid, and a distinctly Argentine culture all its own. We were very impressed with Buenos Aires and looking forward to seeing more of Argentina. We really like the Park Hotel and highly recommend it.
Retirement Vacation Rating:
⭐ Retirement Comfort Level: 10/10
⭐ Adventure Level: Calm
⭐ Pink Bear Approved: Yes
Tips for Travel to Buenos Aires:
- Upon arrival, look for signs to Immigration (migraciones).
- At Immigration follow signs for “foreigners”
- The arrival hall is very crowded, if you have pre-arranged transportation, be sure you have a method of communicating with the driver
- WhatsApp is a great tool for communication internationally.
- Traffic in Buenos Aires area can be very bad, leave plenty of time to get to destinations
Not to be Missed Sights:
- Presidential Palace
- Painted houses
- Mercado de Telmo
- Metropolitan Cathedral
- Recoleta Cemetery
Over the coming weeks, we’ll share the details behind every part of this adventure—from navigating Buenos Aires and standing beside the roaring waters of Iguazu Falls to cruising through remote Patagonian fjords and hiking near ancient glaciers. If South America is on your retirement travel bucket list, we hope our experiences help you plan an unforgettable journey of your own.
To read all about our South American journey: