When we arrived in Buenos Aires at the beginning of our trip, we spent most of our time trip planning and didn’t venture far out of our neighborhood. We made sure to give ourselves a few days in the city before our flight left, so here we found ourselves! Spending our last few days of our South American adventure in Buenos Aires. It was hard to believe.
We arrived on a Saturday and knew exactly where we wanted to go for dinner – our favorite neighborhood parilla. We sat at the bar this time to get a full view of the grill. We ordered slowly to savor the food and the experience. We had grilled provoleta, entraña steaks, a lovely salad, and shared a bottle of wine. The total was less than $20 and it was easily one of the best steaks I’ve ever had – we were in heaven.
The weather was beautiful while we were there, albeit hot, so we did a ton of walking. We wandered through some of the city’s weekly markets, strolled through beautiful parks, browsed one of the most beautiful bookstores I’ve ever seen, and generally just admired the cityscape.
The pink house that is pictured is the president’s official residence. Eva Perón gave her famous speech from the balcony on the left! The large covered settlement in the forefront is a group of indigenous people who have set up camp there in an attempt to bring attention to the needs of their people. (Oddly enough, we were in the city the day Milei was inaugurated into office. We were a bit cautious, unsure of what might unfold as he is a controversial dude. On the day of the inauguration we noticed basically no difference – everyone was just going about their day! I guess we were a bit scarred from the last US inauguration.)
Speaking of Eva Perón, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit her crypt. You can bet that if there is a cemetery to visit where we are traveling, Alex will find it! La Recoleta Cemetery in downtown Buenos Aires is a popular tourist destination and for good reason, it is beautiful. You could get lost in the endless aisles of burial chambers, one more extravagant than the next. We got a peek at Eva’s little mausoleum and just had time to snap a pic before we were muscled out of the way by a group of Chinese tourists.
We visited several neighborhoods throughout the city, but one of the most memorable was La Boca. Translated literally to “The Mouth”, La Boca is a working class neighborhood known for their colorful buildings as well as their history as a tango hot spot. But they are especially known for their religious fervor for the local soccer team – the Boca Juniors. Blue and yellow, the team colors, were plastered everywhere and you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing the face Diego Maradona – the local hero. Statues and murals of Messi with his world cup trophy in hand were all over, battling Maradona for the most attention. It was fun walking around the neighborhood and soccer stadium, there wasn’t a game that day but I could fully imagine how electric this neighborhood becomes!
I got a bit lazy with taking food porn pics as the trip went on, but we definitely had some fabulous meals. But what I have pictured is us enjoying a memorably delicious street hot dog and our 2 dollar liter of beer served to us like a bottle of champagne.
One of the last things we did in Buenos Aires is visit the fella pictured below – Isaac Katz. Argentina has large silver mines in parts of the country and Isaac has a little shop where he makes silver jewelry. I was looking for a ring – a wedding ring, actually 🙂 I thought it would be the perfect memento from our travels! We explained to him what I was looking for and he made a silver ring for me right there on the spot. It was exactly what I was picturing and is so special to me – I’ll never take it off!
So there we have it – our time in South America has come to an end! We have been back for about two weeks now and as much as I was ready to come back and slow down for a bit, writing this makes me miss it so much. What an incredible time we had and such a variety of experiences! From seas, to glaciers, cities, and mountains, beaches and vineyards – it was all unforgettable. And I especially miss speaking Spanish! I can’t wait to go back.
Wandering Between Meals 
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