While my mom was in town, we decided to take in a tour of Buenos Aires' premier opera houses, the Teatro Colon.

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 Built with Italian, German and French influences, it was constructed to match the grandeur of the European opera houses of it's time.  Completed in 1908, after 20 years of construction and during a period of great economic expansion in Argentina, the new theater replaced it's 51 year old predecessor of the same name.  The auditorium has seating for 2,487 guests as well as standing room for 1,000 on the top balcony.

After hitting up the Iguazu Falls at the very north of Argentina, we spent the next 3 days completing our giant circle route back to Buenos Aires.

The farthest north providence is Misiones, which is so named because of the Jesuit Missions that were founded in the region (also including Paraguay and Brazil). Unable to leave the providence without stopping by one of the Ruins, we made a side trip to see the largest and best preserved Jesuit Mission known as the San Ignacio Mini, which is only one in a long string of Jesuit Ruins that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Today we arrived to our main destination, the Iguazu Falls in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.  Upon arriving we checked into Hostel Inn and headed to an area called the Three Frontiers, which is where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet along the Parana River.



The falls are located along the border of Brazil and Argentina. Within a mile and half, there are over 275 separate waterfalls which draw visitors to national parks located on each side of the border.  Due to Brazil's visa requirements for Americans, we were only able to see the falls from the Argentina side  (Brazil charges a reciprocity tax to US, Canadian, and Australian citizens - $140 - to cross the border).  That being said, about 2/3rds of the falls are located with in the Argentina side and we were still able to get a great view of the waterfalls.



To enter the Iguazu National Park there is a fee of U$25. Within the National Park there are many different activities you can choose from ranging in price. Your park entrance includes all of the trails, catwalks, ferry to the island and train to the top of the falls.  But there is one company within the park that offers premium excursions, Iguazu Jungle.  Their offerings include a jungle safari, two different boat excursions (short/long) and/or a float trip along the river (from U$25 to U$60).  We had heard the Jungle Safari was isn't worth the time or money since you can see the wildlife easier along the hiking trails up to the falls.

My mom's in town for the next 10 days so we decided to make a trip to the North of Buenos Aires. If we'd accepted the advice of the conventional traveler for our road trip to Puerto Iguazu, we'd have found ourselves on either an hour and half plane ride or an 18 hour bus ride (each way).  But instead we bucked the system for secret option number 3 and rented a car for the week it would take us to make the round trip.  Solely as reference, the distance is roughly the same as a round trip from Oklahoma City to Phoenix or a one way trip to Portland, Maine (which is 400 miles further then driving directly to New York City from OKC).

Renting a car in Buenos Aires is not cheap.  Overall, it cost us about U$70/day for the rental and U$50/day in gas.  We rented our Volkswagen Golf 5 door from Tango Rental Cars, which was half the cost of the global brands like Hertz.  One reason this company it was cheaper was because they don't have locations at either airport and operated out of a sky-rise in Nunez (with their car lot located 3 blocks away).  Defiantly strange renting a car from the 18th floor.  Although the deposit of U$1125 was the ceiling of what we were responsible for in all cases (ie theft or damage), it was still nerve racking at time driving in a foreign land.

 
When driving on the highways in Argentina, most every town you cross operates their own Police Control stop, which is generally a mobile office and three cops standing in the center of the road.  Most wave you past after checking you for seat belts, but they can stop you to ask for your license, registration and insurance.  Normally this is a painless process of slowing down but within our first 3 hours of driving, I had already received my first international traffic fine. No Observar Las Reglas de Uso De Luces - driving without my daytime running lights on.  This should have been an easy one to avoid since we had already been warned by at least 3 different sources. Everyone in our car was fully aware that this was the law, but the butterflies of day one caused me to overlook it.

With Terry's mom in tow, we set out for another day of typical sightseeing in Buenos Aires. The day included a visit to the Casa Rosario and Plaza de Mayo, a ride the Subte Line "A" and take a stroll through San Telmo's Antique Market.

1st - Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires located directly in front of  the Casa Rosario at the intersection of San Martin and Rivadavia



2nd - Casa Rosario is the White House of Argentina. Casa Rosada (Pink House) is the administrative building of the President, but not the residence.  The Pink House also has a small museum located inside and is free on Sunday