Amy & Andy’s Excellent Adventure 2025 Part 2: To The (Almost!) Bottom Of The World: All Good Things Must Come To An End

January 7, 2026: Where We Have A Few Hours Before Our Flight Home, And We Manage To Get Lost, As Is Tradition

After breakfast, we go back to the room and cram everything into our suitcases. After we check out and store our bags for the day, we venture out to spend just a little more time exploring Buenos Aires.

At the front desk’s recommendation, we take an Uber to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. It is a delightful little museum – all of 2 and a half floors, with a wide range of exhibits: from antiquities, to Impressionist and Modern art.

This guy reminded me of George Burns (z”l)

I liked the iridescent quality of this painting

Hermenegildo Anglada Carnarasa “Los opalos” 1904

These are hair combs – they are HUGE.

Spotted this Dega from across the room.

I felt bad for Jesus in this carving – he’s missing his nose and a few fingers.

Anonymous (Spain 13th Century) “Virgin with the Child”

Here’s the Modern Art

Antonio Berni “Pesadilla de los injustos” 1961

Luis Felipe Noé “Introducción a la esperanza” 1963

And another one that was easy to spot.

Amedeo Modigliani “Bust of a Woman” 1920

I’m not familiar with this artist.

The best thing about this museum was how ramps were built into the design of the entire building. There was no need for any steps at all – ramps were everywhere! Unfortunately, the elevator door had some kind of psychological problems – it always started to close as soon as it was fully open, even if you were standing in the doorway.

When we were done with this museum, we decided to find another small museum. Andy had a reference to a “design” museum that was open 24 hours. We suspected it was an open-air museum. Trying to follow Google’s walking directions, we randomly came across interesting things.

A better view of the monument to Evita Perón

After a while it became clear we had no idea where we were nor any idea where this “museum” was. A kind passer-by stopped to ask us if we needed help. Andy showed her his phone and what we were looking for. She studied it for a couple of minutes and then announced: “This is not a real place.”

So whatever that was, it didn’t seem to exist. We gave up.

We found a place to have lunch. At that point it was time to head back to the hotel, but we had *just* enough time to squeeze in one more stop at Freddo’s for ice cream!

This is the last photo I took in the cab on the way to the airport.

Hasta la vista, Argentina! It’s been a blast!

Coming in April, 2026: Tulips and Windmills river cruise in the Netherlands

Amy & Andy’s Excellent Adventure 2025 Part 2: To The (Almost!) Bottom Of The World: Jewish Buenos Aires

January 6, 2026 – Where We Have A Much Less Ambitious Agenda For Today: Touring Jewish Buenos Aires

Still a bit tired from yesterday’s adventure, we waited downstairs in the lobby for today’s tour guid, Matias, who comes from the same tour company that yesterday’s tour guide came from.

Uncharacteristically, Matias is running late. A quick email to Maximo, and he tells me it was his own mistake. There are two Bel Air hotels in Buenos Aires; he sent Matias to the wrong one.

Jewish Museum of Buenos Aires

Our first stop was the Jewish Museum of Buenos Aires, documenting the Jewish community of Buenos Aires and all of Argentina back to its origins. Argentina has a long history of accepting immigrants from all over the world, similar to the US.

In the 1880s, Baron Maurice de Hirsch developed the idea of Jewish settlements in the Argentinian pampas. Eventually thousands of Eastern European Jews made their way to one of these settlements, where they were initially supported and guided in their new life as farmers and ranchers. This created Jewish Gauchos, Argentinian version of the American cowboys in the US western states.

We continued on through the exhibits, all of them familiar: artifacts from synagogues, a graphic film on October 7 that we opted not to watch (preaching to the choir, here), etc. All in all, a nicely done collection of Jewish life in Buenos Aires and Argentina.

Matias also explained how the Jewish community of Argentina is tightly integrated into Argentinian society: four generations later, Jews speak Spanish, work in every kind of profession – very similar to the Jewish community in the United States.

I told Matias about my connection to Argentina: my grandmother’s brother who came to Argentina in the 1920s after the US began restricting immigration from Europe. My great-uncle eventually made his way to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he grew his family, and I have family there still! I showed Matias the photo of me with my newly discovered 3rd cousin whom we met for lunch back on December 22, 2025 (3rd day of the cruise).

Templo Liberdad – Temple Liberty, Reform synagogue

The Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism came to Argentina in the 1960s. There are Reform and Conservative seminaries in Buenos Aires! The only ones in South America.

Templo Liberdad was built first. Once again, we had to provide our passports to gain access to the synagogue. Security is taken seriously in the Jewish community!

Here are some photos of the interior of the Reform synagogue. The sanctuary is huge, and is still used.

This window is unusual with the Tetragrammaton – not typically depicted

Orthodox synagogue

The Orthodox synagogue felt a little more familiar and closer to what we’re used to in Conservative synagogues. In Orthodox Jewish synagogues, men and women sit separately. In this synagogue, the divider (metchitzah) is down the middle (men on one side, women on the other), instead of a more traditional separation of women sitting up in the balcony.

The stained glass windows are simple, with only Stars of David.

1992 Bomb site

We visited the memorial to the victims of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy that killed 29 people (Jews and non-Jews).

1994 Bomb site

In July, 1994, the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires was targeted by Hezbollah, killing 89 people – the worst Jewish disaster since the Shoah until October 7. A new building was built. Additions have been made to the building over the years, the latest being the bollards and entrance are now painted orange in memory of the Bibas family murdered after October 7.

The bollards and entrance are orange in memory of the Bibas family murdered after October 7

Garment district/frum neighborhood

Our last “stop” so to speak, was through the garment (“shmata”) district and religious neighborhoods, both of which reminded me of the garment district and Lower East Side of Manhattan (or my old neighborhood in Queens).

Our tour ended with Matias dropping us off at a recommended kosher restaurant. He helped us order. It turned out to be too much for 2 people.

After lunch we took an Uber back to the hotel to rest up for a bit. Lunch was so huge, a real dinner was out of the question. At some point hours later, we decided to walk over to Freddos and have one last ice cream. My personal favorite: Chocolate Doble Tentacion.

Hint: this was, in fact, not The Last Freddo ice cream of our visit

Tomorrow: Some time to kill in the morning, and then it’s time to head to the airport to come home.

Amy & Andy’s Excellent Adventure 2025 Part 2: To The (Almost!) Bottom Of The World: Buenos Aires City Tour

January 4: Where We Spend Six Whirlwind Hours Racing Around Buenos Aires To See All The Things

We had the first of our three tours scheduled for this week. Today’s was a 6-hour tour of Buenos Aires. Our tour guide’s name was Juan. Very knowledgable about Buenos Aires. He told us about the many courses he had to take to get a degree and certification as a professional tour guide. He was terrific – speaking for 6 hours in a language that is not his native tongue.

First stop – The Floralis Generica. A giant mechanical sculpture that used open and close. Unfortunately, the mechanical parts are broken and somehow a city with a huge college of engineers can’t find an engineer to fix it. Two of the petals were restored to their positions just a couple of weeks before we arrived.

Next photo op: the law school of the University of Buenos Aires.

Faculty of law building at the university of Buenos Aires

And then the seat of the Jose San Martin Institute. San Martin was the founder of Argentina, akin to George Washington for the US.

Jose San Martin Institute – he was the George Washington of Argentina in 1820

Next stop was the Paseo El Rosedal – a huge rose garden. It was too much for me to walk, so I enjoyed the sunshine while Andy and Juan went looking at roses. Here are some of the photos he took.

Here is the monument to Eva Perón – first lady of Argentina in the 1970s and 80s. She is still greatly revered in Argentina

It was fitting that our next stop was the Recoleta Cemetery that is the final resting place for the rich and wealthy in Buenos Aires for the last 200 years. The cemetery is complete – the only way to get buried here is to have a family mausoleum or be somebody incredibly important. In other words – most people don’t rate.

A couple of notable mausoleums:

Tomb of Admiral William Brown, founder of the Argentinian Navy

I forgot to make note of who these people are. Juan says this is typical of the interments in this cemetery – the coffins are above ground. The only exception: Eva Perón.

And here she is. Evita is buried underground. Other family members are housed in the mausoleum.

The Recoleta cemetery was endlessly fascinating, with all the different designs

Tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak – killed at age 26 in an avalanche while she was on her honeymoon

The next few stops were quick ones.

Next up: the beautiful Catedrál de Buenos Airs, where Pope Francis was the archbishop before he became pope.

Randomly, Juan asked us if we were religious. We told him we were Jewish, which triggered a surprise: an exhibit memorializing Jewish victims of the holocaust and terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires. It is the only memorial of a different faith in any Cathedral. The normal requirement to remove your hat inside the cathedral is waived in this nave, because it is Jewish custom to keep your head covered, even inside.

Our next stop was the Plaza de Mayo, the main square in Buenos Aires, created in 1884.

Monument to General Manuel Belgrano, creator of the Argentinian National flag

On our way to the neighborhood of Caminito, we stopped by the market of San Telmo. We had a fleeting thought of getting lunch in here, but that quickly evaporated. We were crushed from all sides just trying to move forward. We didn’t get very far at all before we gave up, turned around and came back out.

Caminito is my new favorite city neighborhood. Home of past generations of immigrants living by the docks, it’s now a lively food/arts/party scene, with colorful buildings, fanciful cartoon figures on the street, street side cafes, and plenty of great shopping. The only problem: the streets are all cobblestone making it very painful to walk, and my transport chair can’t function.

People line up to take their photo under the “Messi” with the World Cup

On our way back to the hotel, Juan pointed out two more interesting landmarks.

Puente de La Mujer – a rotating footbridge built in honor/tribute to women

It was 3:30 p.m. by the time we were back in our room. Juan and his driver had done a masterful job of showing us as much of this beautiful city as can be seen in six hours!

We ended up having an early dinner or maybe it was a “linner”, since we never did manage to squeeze in lunch in those 6 hours.

Tomorrow: Super crazy day – up to Iguazu Falls and back.

Amy & Andy’s Excellent Adventure 2025 Part 2: To The (Almost!) Bottom Of The World: Hasta La Vista, Celebrity Equinox!

Where We Are Gently Encouraged To Get The Heck Off The Ship So They Can Clean For The Next Batch Of Cruisers

And We Enter The Final Week Of Our South American Adventure

January 1, 2026

Day at sea. Everybody is recuperating from the night before. I realize I’ve come down with Andy’s cold.

January 2, 2026

This was supposed to be a tender day in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, with a planned excursion boat ride to see yet more sea lions do nothing. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and windy and deemed not safe for tender operations, so the port was canceled and we have yet another day at sea. At this point, I reached that moment that I can only describe as “antsy”: too many days on a ship and – in particular – too many days at sea. On this itinerary we missed: the Magellan Straits, Punta Arenas, and now Punta del Este – about half the itinerary. Now I just want to get back to dry land, where we have more control. I spent a could chunk of the day artfully arranging vacuum packed bags in my suitcase of what’s left of my clean clothes.

January 3, 2026 Disembarkation day

Disembarkation day is always a bit of a mess, especially when we’re walking off the ship and going back to the hotel where we stayed 2 weeks before. I had arranged with the hotel for a taxi to come get us, instead of us having to stand in line for whatever taxis were available.

We had breakfast in the restaurant for the one and only time this cruise, then went to wait with other people who requested assistance navigating the incredibly steep ramp off the gangway. That process worked pretty well. I was safely deposited at the bottom of the gangway, and the bus took us back to the cruise terminal, where we found our bags. Cruise staff helped us to get our bags to the curb to wait for our taxi.

Who had no idea where we were, because we didn’t know until that very moment that we would be at Gate 3. After a bunch of back-and-forths with the hotel and the cabbie, the cabbie found us by calling me and watching to see what phone rang. Rather clever, I thought.

We arrived back at the hotel in no time, where the front desk told me they did not have a reservation for us for January 3. Um. What? This had all been confirmed several months ago. They had a reservation for June (?!?). But it was all good – they had a room available for the dates we needed it. {Side note: eventually I had the time to go back through all the correspondence and found my original email asking for “3 January 2026 through 7 January 2026”, followed by the hotel’s response confirming the dates with a confirmation number. There was another email where I used “3 Jan” instead of “3 January”; I think this is where they saw “Jan” and thought it meant “Jun”. Anyway, luckily it was not an issue.

The view from our room on December 19 was several HUGE air conditioning units. The view from this room was ever so much better.

We had lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. It’s just not our “vibe” or something. And my head cold had hit hard; nothing looked or tasted appetizing.

We went out afterwards looking for a pharmacy to buy some over the counter head cold stuff, which turned out to be more difficult than one would think. There’s no CVS-like store in Buenos Aires. The small pharmacies fill prescriptions and display skin care products. We found a bigger pharmacy that had a couple of things I was looking for.

Which called for ice cream, of course! We went back to Freddo and tried different kinds of chocolate. Still fabulous.

Feeling adventuresome, we walked further away from the hotel in search of a souvenir store. The one we found didn’t have anything interesting. But it was across the street from a shopping mall, so we tried looking in there. Nothing but clothing stores. And the bathroom.

We decided to have dinner at one of the sidewalk restaurants. We picked a random steak house. We noticed a huge brick wall across the street that turned out to be the big cemetery we’ve hears so much about. That was on our list to the next day on our 6 hour city-tour.

I was fading quickly, so we went back to the hotel and I just went to bed. I hoped to shake this cold before our Big Day on Tuesday, when we fly up to Iguazu Falls and back on the same day.

Tomorrow: city tour