Buenos Aires

My tour of Argentina continued to Buenos Aires. I arrived with no issues and was excited to meet my friend Sandra. She's a friend from NYC that now lives upstate. I saw her right before I left on my trip, and was excited to spend a couple of weeks with her. After grabbing my bag (of course it was the last one off the belt), taking the bus to Palermo, and walking to our Airbnb, I made it. Sandra had arrived earlier that morning, so she was already settled in. We caught up for a little bit, while I updated her on my most recent trials and tribulations in San Juan. 

After relaxing for a bit, we went out to explore the city and find lunch. Lunch was ok. I haven't been super impressed with the food here except at the nicer restaurants. They have a lot of stuff similar to home, but not as good. Like the pizza. No good here. No matter where you get it. Once we ate, we walked to some of the nearby parks. We first went to see the Floralis Generica. It's a pretty cool sculpture that apparently opens and closes like a flower does during the day. It would be cool to see it in the morning, or in the evening. 

Floralis Generica.

Up next was the Cemeterio la Recoleta. This was one of my favorite spots in Buenos Aires. We didn't have much time here since they were closing at 5pm, but what we saw was pretty cool. The narrow rows and rows of tombs were really cool to wander and see. When you think about it, it's really creepy. But still so cool. I was hoping to make another visit later in the trip, which I was able to do. We also checked out Eva Peron's tomb. Probably one of the most visited spots in the cemetery. 

Cemeterio de Recoleta.

Eventually we made it back to the apartment to relax and get some sleep. Sandra totally passed out since she had traveled overnight. I attempted, unsuccessfully, to book flights for our next stop. I was able to get it all sorted out the following morning, and we were off to Iguazu Falls. After that was taken care of, we got a nice run in around Parque 3 de Febrero, including Paseo el Rosedal. It was a nice scenic run to see a few more things in the city. 

Running in Paseo el Rosedel.

We walked around Palermo a bit before finding lunch. It's a pretty cute neighborhood, but I think there was still more to see. We saw a bit, but as much as people had talked about it, I assumed there was more. So many stores and restaurants have painted the fronts in cool designs. 

Storefronts of Palermo.

We headed to the Burger Joint, which was recommended by a friend. We got a pretty damn good burger and beer for lunch. I was definitely impressed. The place was a bit funky and definitely had a lot of American references. The Soup Nazi even made an appearance.

The Soup Nazi.

After some communication in Spanish and English, we got a sube card and headed to Plaza de Mayo. This is the area where the city of Buenos Aires was started. It had some cool buildings, including Casa Rosada, where the President works. This is also famous for the movie Evita. Which is being added to my list of movies to either watch for the first time, or watch again, of film locations I've now visited on this trip. 

Casa Rosada.

We walked over to Puerto Madero to see this newer up-and-coming neighborhood. We walked along the dams a bit and over the Puente de la Mujer, the Women's Bridge. After all that walking and the sun beating down on us, we found a spot to relax a bit and have some beer. 

Puenta de la Mujer

Once we were recharged, we continued on our walking tour and headed to Plaza de Congreso. As we approached we saw there was some sort of activity. It looked like it could have been a demonstration, but I think it was some sort of parade. I think this is a regular occurrence, but since I don't know what most of the signs read, I remained out of the loop. 

Parade near Plaza de Congreso.

It was getting dark now, so we headed back to Palermo to get dinner and rest up for the following morning for our trip north. After I got my run in, we headed to the airport in order to see one of Argentina's most popular destinations, Iguazu Falls. 

Running around Buenos Aires.