Postcard from Buenos Aires

We boarded our night flight out of Zurich to Buenos Aires via São Paulo on a cool and rainy October evening. We wondered what would await us when we stepped off the plane in the monster city, a city larger than an either of us had ever been to before. To kill time we walked around the airport and inspected The Circle, the newest addition.

We boarded the plane and off we flew into the night. In between watching movies and attempting to cat nap, I peeked out the window into the pitch black sky. I was able to catch the tiny lights on the African coast as we flew out over the Atlantic and four hours later I leaned my head against the window for an hour to watch the sunrise as we flew over Brazil. We had a short layover in São Paulo as the plane was cleaned and refuled and the flight out over the city was amazing. The city stretched out as far as the eye could see. Two hours later we descended into Buenos Aires where we stepped out into a cool, windy morning.

Our driver played Joan Baez during the half hour ride to the hotel and we stared out of the window in typical long haul fashion. After a short nap we headed out to explore the streets closest to our hotel. The following day, we ventured out a bit further to explore the rose garden, a wonderful experience to see many beautiful and perfumed roses blooming in October.

Buenos Aires is often called Paris of South America. It is easy to see why but unfortunately many of the beautiful buildings have been torn down and one has to actively look for those that still exist. Of those that remain, some have been restored and are well taken care of others are sadly languishing.

Once we returned from our road trip through the northwestern region of Argentina, we spent another week in the city. We expanded our radius, taking public transportation, taxis and walking. We ran across streets as not to be run over my speeding cars. We sought a few minutes of quiet in a city that seems to never sleep. We ate delicious strawberries, drank fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoyed huge ice cream cones. We danced at milongas where it was barely possible to move. We experienced a city that was larger than we could fathom. A trip that definitely will never be forgotten!

 

 

 

 

3 Replies to “Postcard from Buenos Aires”

  1. Aunt Gail says: Reply

    Hurray! Finally the photos from your exciting Buenos Aries adventure. As always, your pictures are amazing, so many different things to explore, from the beautiful rose garden to ancient ruins and of course the Argentine dance floors!

  2. Wonderful photos! I really like your variety of subjects from the beautiful older buildings to the examples of contemporary architecture, even the images of the messy streets. But, I was especially impressed by the rooftop views of the city. You perfectly captured the reality of modern Buenos Aires.

  3. Oh Juliana! Your photos are SO interesting and beautiful (and of course I snatched a few for a change of wallpaper…you do get credit when someone admires them)..I loved the plane photo with the star (?) on the wing in the night, and the photo of the succulents and metal horse on plates, but the architectural elements in all are your signature art photos. Brilliant, you do know how to travel and share your experience of it.

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