Exploring Buenos Aires                   August 4th to August 12, 2013

After leaving the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia we traveled south into Argentina. We drove through a number of interesting towns and cities including Salta, Cafayate and Cordoba.  We were excited to get to Buenos Aires which would be our last stop in South America before flying to South Africa.

Lyn and I had been to Buenos Aires a few years earlier but we didn’t stay long enough to really explore “The Paris of The South”.  With eight days available to us we rented a short term apartment and started our grand walking tour.

Our apartment was in the barrio (neighborhood) of Recoleta, which was central to most of the places we planned on walking to.  Everyday we plotted with our trusty map where we would walk to and what we would see.  We met local people that were very helpful with suggestions for us and so our plans were always fluid.  As always I carry a sketch book and a camera in the hopes that I will get some good sketches and photos for future paintings.

The National Museum of Fine Arts in Recoleta was a great surprize with a wide range of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings plus paintings by El Greco, Titian, Rembrant, Goya and many more.  The museum opened my eyes to some amazing Argentinian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries.

High on our list of to do’s was going to a tango show and wandering the antique markets in San Telmo.

Buenos Aires is a city that really comes to life at night.  Many locals or Portenos as they like to call themselves have dinner after 8 and 9pm.  Some bars and cafe’s stay open most of the night.  For us going to an authentic Argentinian Grill  for Parilla (grill or BBQ) was something we managed to do but the restaurant didn’t open until 8 pm and so after walking all day this was a bit of a stretch to wait but well worth it.

Most evenings we cooked from our apartment and shopped at the local mercados for our food.  This was its own adventure.

After a week in this beautiful city we boarded a plane for South Africa.  As exciting as the next leg of our trip would be I felt a little sadness at leaving such an amazing place.

Pen and Watercolor sketch.

Pencil and Watercolor sketch of Rodin sculpture “The Thinker” with the Plaza Congreso in the back ground.

Cafe Tortoni is the oldest cafe in Argentina. Pencil Crayon

Pen and Watercolor sketch. Available for sale.

A new landmark in Buenos Aires, The solar flower or steel flower automatically opens and closes with the level of light. Created by Eduardo Catalona