Argentina

In March, 2006 we went to Buenos Aires, Argentina for 8 days, just for fun. I wanted to see the combination of Latin American and Italian culture.
We rented a cute little apartment from an agency instead of staying in a hotel.

Buenos Aires is an undistinguished city, with little of the Colonial history and architecture and ethnic diversity that we love in Mexico and Peru.
Like all contemporary cities it has lots of traffic and big buildings.

The city has an impressive number of dog walkers.



This went along with a truly impressive amount of dog shit on the streets. Even more than Paris in its prime.

Buenos Aires has some lovely trees.



The La Boca neighborhood is a bit seedy but colorful.



Tango dancers demonstrate on the streets. Tango is a big deal in Argentina, but we did not go to any shows.



Mothers and grandmothers still demonstrate in the main square, the Plaza de Armas, seeking information about their children and grandchildren who were "disappeared" in the late 1970's dirty war (meaning murdered by state authorities or right-wing terrorists or kidnapped as infants and given to politically-correct parents to be brought up in ignorance of their biological parents).



The Recoleta cemetery is interesting, full of impressive mausoleums, and close to the city center. This culture respects its old family lines.



The tomb of Evita Peron is still adorned with fresh flowers every week, 50 years after her death.



We took a couple of small trips out of the city. We crossed the Rio Plata to Uruguay to stay in the tiny town of Colonia. This was quiet, a bit seedy but charming. We stayed in the very nice Hotel Italia and ate at the Meson de la Plaza, which was terrific.



We also visited the town of El Tigre, on the Parana River delta close to Buenos Aires. Rich BA residents have vacation homes along these canals.





We saw a couple of charming things in Buenos Aires. This display of fresh produce was beautiful.



And one day we saw a businessman with a bunch of balloons on a long string. There was a present hanging from the balloons, and he maneuvered the balloons up to a balcony where a young girl came out to receive it. That was a really classy way to deliver a present!



The food in BA was just OK. I never got one good cup of coffee, making me think that the Italian influence was pretty degraded. We had an awful meal at one of the city's famous Spanish restaurants. BUT, I mostly ate the most fabulous, delicious (and cheap) steak that I ever had. This was really special.
It's a shame that we did not have time to visit Mendoza, the wine region, and Patagonia.