We recently got back from a vacation in South America. It was,
hands down, my favorite place in the world--so far. We started out in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. We hadn't really planned to go there initially,
but I've always wanted to see the city so we tacked it on our trip. We
only had a few days there, so making the most of our time was crucial.
Generally, most people will take a day to or two to get acclimated to the time zone and recover from traveling to a far away land. If you remember my post from last year in London, I don't sleep well on planes and I am pretty cranky when we arrive anywhere outside of North America. This time was no exception. So instead of going from the airport to a tourist spot, we actually went to the hotel and took a short 90 minute nap. It did wonders for us (me). Seriously. Garrett didn't even want to punch me while we were out the rest of the day.
 |
| I took this pic specifically for my sister. Tigre! |
We started by taking the tren de la costa, a coastal train, to Tigre or Tiger, if you will. Rawr. This is a town about 20 miles north of BA, and is a weekend getaway for locals. It reminded me a little bit of a bayou in Lousiana, but more charming, and people still had their teeth, mostly. There are colorful houses on stilts all along the river and up the delta. We took an hour boat ride up the river and it was lovely. We especially liked all the mahogany boats and people lounging on their docks.
Argentina is known for its cows. We had plenty of steak. The steaks were pretty much as big as our heads. And it freaked me out. Malbec was free flowing and the Tango show we went to, excellent. Maybe it was the live music and singers. Maybe it's because I've only seen the Tango performed by Americans, but I have never seen the Tango like that. For dancers who most likely only train in Latin folk and ballroom dance, they were amazing. Not very flexible, but still amazing. 
We went to the upscale Recoleta neighborhood with the famous cemetery of the same name. It's huge, like a small city with streets, and stray cats everywhere. We saw one with a limp. It was sad. And of course, we saw Evita Peron's and her family's mausoleum. We saw lots of things on our city tour including the Pink House. (Get it, like the White House, only pink?) I learned that the capitol building in BA is pink because when it was built there was nothing to protect it from moisture so they sealed the exterior with
cow fat mixed with lime juice. Leftover blood from the fat made the sealer
pink. Sick, huh? 
This metal flower thing is a huge piece of art in a park near one of the universities. It used to close and open with the sun, like a real flower, but it broke. Apparently the school and the government can't come to an agreement about whose responsibility it is to pay for repairs, so it's broken indefinitely. Boo! But it sure was pretty.
 |
| San Telmo neighborhood. |
So fun! I loved this.