First of all, I want to tell you that we have moved to another Crashpad in New York with all the same 16 lovely ladies. Our new pad is called the Overhead Inn. We are now one street over from the original crashpad. Our new place is still 2 bedroom and 1 bath. The girls have put a lot of energy into making our pad cozy.

Marianne, Jennifer and I knew it was going to be a great trip when we saw the beautiful pink sky while we were waiting for the van to take us to the airport.

Land of the free, because of the brave!

Off to Buenos Aires to celebrate the 4th!

What a warm welcome we had in Buenos Aires when we arrived at our hotel for the 4th of July. Red, white and blue balloons awaited us along with our American flag standing proud!

After the patriotic welcome, we headed to bed to get a few hours of rest before we took on Buenos Aires.

San Telmo Market

San Telmo Market is a large indoor market that has stalls offering everything from antiques to fresh fruit. These days it’s a hotspot for food bars, coffee and fun shops to explore in.

We decided to eat Argentinian Empanadas for lunch. Origin of the empanada are not entirely clear, but it seems most likely that they first appeared in Argentina in the kitchens of immigrants from northern Spain. An empanada is a pastry or turnover that’s filled with savory ingredients and served hot.

We had a lot of fun exploring the different shops. We had one more stop before heading back to our hotel for dinner.

Milion

Barely visible from the street, the Milion bar-restaurant is a hidden pearl in the Recoleta neighborhood.  It’s known to be one of the coolest bars in the whole city. This former petit hotel cost the owner a million dollars (hence the name) to transform a crumbling ruin. With passion and perseverance, they managed to restore its old appearance.

It was quiet at the Milion. It is winter in Argentina now.  It has both indoor and outdoor seating which makes it a perfect spot to enjoy a drink and nibbles on a long summer evening. 

It was time to head back to our hotel. Our wonderful hotel was hosting a 4th of July dinner for us.

Obelisco of Buenos Aires

You can’t miss the Obelisk. The Obelisk of Buenos Aires is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la Republics at the intersection of two of the city’s most important streets. One of the streets is Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world with 16 lanes. The monument was erected in 1936 and marks the spot where the Argentine national flag was raised for the 1st time.

4th of July Dinner Celebration at our Intercontinental Hotel

I can’t say enough how wonderful the staff at the Intercontinental Hotel was to put on an exceptional fun 4th of July celebration dinner for all the airline crews that would be missing their 4th of July festivities with their friends and family back home.

The picture above is a photo of our fun crew from JFK.
Our hotel chef put a special menu together with all the 4th of July classics, BBQ ribs, chicken nuggets, cheese burgers, corn on the Cobb, potatoes and much more. Our fabulous dessert was an apple pie with ice cream or to my delight they even had a Sundae Bar. Scrumptious!! The hotel staff was so accommodating and of course kept the wine flowing.

Good food, good company and good times made our 4th of July special!

We still had another day in Buenos Aires to explore. Our flight takes off the 2nd day in the evening. Without fail, us girls were up early to make the most out of Buenos Aires.

La Boca of Buenos Aires

We decided to wonder in the La Boca area. La Boca, known as the birthplace of the tango, this one-time shipyard has a famous walkway, the Caminito, where tango dancers perform and artists exhibit their work.

La Boca is totally unique. I love the vibrant colors and all the fun shops. La Boca is one of the prime destinations to experience the traditions and customs that originated from the city’s immigrant past and which have shaped its distinct identity.

Santos Manjares

It was time for lunch. We went to a recommended Argentina Steak restaurant. The steak was mouthwatering! The Argentinians believe that they have the best steaks because of their cows that graze on the amazing grass of Las Pampas, a vast grassland in central Argentina.

Feeling full, we needed to get back to our hotel to take a nap before we worked the all nighter flight to New York. It certainly was a nonstop fun layover. We learned a little bit more of Buenos Aires and we can’t wait to come back!

Buenos Aires is a city where it is more fun to be seen with good friends. A toast to our friendship today and always, Star-spangled friends forever.