I was very surprised today by how much I enjoyed simply walking through the city. I love that it is neither smelly nor noisy while at the same time feeling extremely alive. I love the mix of old and new architecture and the fact that nobody is trying to hustle me here. And, of course, the climate is supreme right now: not as hot and humid as Cuba, but still warm enough for shorts.
My initial plan was to head to the Copa airlines office to get a refund for the flight to Chile the Cubans had me buy before they let me check in. But of course they were closed - it's Saturday. Well, the area is pleasant enough - located at the old port which consists partly of old red brick buildings and partly of super modern office buildings. It reminded me a little of Hamburg, just warmer and without all the wind ;-)
Somewhere in the area I came across an art museum - the Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat - which is mentioned in neither of my two travel guides (I have the Lonely Planet for details and a Spanish one with pictures for inspiration and language learning). I went in anyway - and thoroughly enjoyed the visit! They had a nice mix of paintings with a focus on modern art and Argentinian artists, but also some stuff like Censo en Belén by Pieter Brueghel. This flyer shows some of the artwork on display:
After that, I headed towards the Avenida Florida, the biggest pedestrian zone in Buenos Aires. The street is not only long and full with shops of all kinds, but there are also tons of tiny stalls in the middle, mostly selling various handicrafts. Very lively - and full of the variety I was missing in Cuba.
The end of Avenida Florida is very close to the city's central square, the Plaza de Mayo. Most of the important events in Argentinian history seem to have taken place here - small wonder, as there are several important buildings, like the presidential palace and the cathedral. But apart from that, it's simply beautiful - especially with the trees blooming purple like that :-)
My initial plan was to head to the Copa airlines office to get a refund for the flight to Chile the Cubans had me buy before they let me check in. But of course they were closed - it's Saturday. Well, the area is pleasant enough - located at the old port which consists partly of old red brick buildings and partly of super modern office buildings. It reminded me a little of Hamburg, just warmer and without all the wind ;-)
Somewhere in the area I came across an art museum - the Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat - which is mentioned in neither of my two travel guides (I have the Lonely Planet for details and a Spanish one with pictures for inspiration and language learning). I went in anyway - and thoroughly enjoyed the visit! They had a nice mix of paintings with a focus on modern art and Argentinian artists, but also some stuff like Censo en Belén by Pieter Brueghel. This flyer shows some of the artwork on display:
After that, I headed towards the Avenida Florida, the biggest pedestrian zone in Buenos Aires. The street is not only long and full with shops of all kinds, but there are also tons of tiny stalls in the middle, mostly selling various handicrafts. Very lively - and full of the variety I was missing in Cuba.
The end of Avenida Florida is very close to the city's central square, the Plaza de Mayo. Most of the important events in Argentinian history seem to have taken place here - small wonder, as there are several important buildings, like the presidential palace and the cathedral. But apart from that, it's simply beautiful - especially with the trees blooming purple like that :-)
