Hello wonderful friends!
Yesterday I arrived back in Montevideo after spending some time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Population: 13 million. Food: the BEST I have ever eaten. People: highly fashionable. Girls: look like models off the runway. Buildings: very European and GINORMOUS. Art: unmatched. If you couldn't tell, I liked the city just a tiny bit ;) lol
Our time was spent touring major areas of the city. I thought I would break up the trip by neighborhood.
DOWNTOWN: Downtown reminded me of New York with its bustling streets, bright lights, and skyscrapers galore. Our hotel was only ten minutes away from the widest avenue (but not highway) in the WORLD, Avenida 9 de Julio. Any guesses how wide it is? 16 whopping lanes plus huge medians and side streets. This street is massive!
LA BOCA: This neighborhood has become a tourist area but started as a poor area for immigrants. It is still home to many immigrants living in colorful, tin houses and abounds with art, culture, local flavor, and bright colors! We also saw tango dancers here! Fitting as Argentina is the home to tango!
PLAZA DE MAYO: This historical district included the Casa Rosada, the president's house, and it really is pink. Now THAT'S my kind of city lol.
Here I also learned about Argentina's dark, corrupt, but fascinating political and economic background. Argentina was controlled by a military dictatorship a few decades ago and also experienced an economic collapse in 2001. The most interesting part to me was the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. This is a group women who still meet regularly in protest and in search of their children who were kidnapped during the military dictatorship. The corrupt dictatorship imprisoned, tortured, and killed around 30,000 "suspicious" citizens and the government is still finding mass graves around the city. Some of the children, however, survived and are being reunited with families today. I'm probably not explaining all the aspects to this conspiracy correctly but it's fascinating. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madres_de_Plaza_de_Mayo. The wonders of Wikipedia yes?
Hearing Argentina's history made me so grateful that I was able to grow up in a country with generally stable politics and economics. It also made me realize how little I know about world events! How did I not know about Argentina's economic collapse that happened only nine years ago?? It was a humbling reminder to me that America is NOT the center of the world!
PALERMO: The fashion district with classy boutiques. I'm not going to lie, I may have lusted over some of those thousand dollar clothing items! haha. I also had the best coffee in my nineteen years of life in Palermo. Aroma brand coffee with dulce de leche (a rich caramel flavor) ice cream mixed into it!
RECOLETA: This neighborhood featured a huge, beautiful cemetery, cute high rise apartments, a beach front view, and the Flores Generica, an incredible flower sculpture that opens and closes depending on the time of day!
THE PORT: The port area features the Women's Bridge, a architectural wonder. It also features many yachts and highrises and was beautiful at night. The nigth we went there were a handful of Argentine couples getting their wedding pictures taken in front of the bridge!
My time in Buenos Aires was filled with incredible sights, delicious tastes, and memories to last a lifetime. I wish I could explain the sights more thoroughly but if anyone is interested there are pictures on Facebook.
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