Monday was a clear spring day in Buenos Aires with incredible winds streaming down the streets from the Rio de la Plata,  just to our east. We ventured out with a couple of destinations in mind and soon found ourselves getting side tracked as we often do! We had three places in mind that we wanted to see specifically - a famous bookstore, the museum of ‘water’ and the barrio of La Boca. We descended into the closest subway and on exiting came pretty close to the bookstore, ‘El Ateneo Grand Splendid’. Splendid it is! It was once an elegant theatre, then closed, renovated and converted into a massive bookstore. We then walked to the Museo del Agua y de la Historia Sanitaria. A neighbour had recommended we visit this museum, and we were so impressed - not only were the interpretive displays really interesting but the building (which took up a whole block) was an ornate exquisite example of architecture from the 19th century. We had fun looking at all the old bathroom and plumbing fixtures. Later that day we got back on the subway and made our way to the historical barrio of La Boca. It’s known for it’s cultural diversity, colourful buildings originally built from recycled materials (mostly corrugated metal) and home to the Boca Jr Soccer club. The area has become a popular tourist destination, most of whom we met were Spanish speakers. 
  This morning we left 754 Parana Av, caught an Uber, made our way to one of the several airports in the city and caught a SmartJet plane to Puerto Iguazú. We’ll spend 4 nights here giving ample time to see the famous nearby falls and explore the national park. We’re north of Buenos Aires, very close to the borders with Brazil and Paraguay. It wasn’t a long flight getting here but every travel day seems long as it’s filled with logistics - finding our accommodation, grocery store, bank, and organizing our next few days’ activities. So far Puerto Iguazú reminds us of some small town in Mexico thriving solely to serve tourists. Tomorrow we’ve arranged for a driver to take us into the park. 



One more day in Buenos Aires, then north to Puerto Iguazú 

Argentina and Bolivia have been on our list of places we’ve wanted to visit together ever since Jim had the opportunity during his working days to travel in South America (20years ago!). We decided it was time to come, we’ve limited ourselves to northern Argentina and southern Bolivia - Buenos Aires is our first stop. We’re staying in a small apartment in the San Nicholas neighborhood with quite an inner city vibe (but friendly and safe). We’ll be here four days giving us ample time to get oriented and explore this immense old city. The woman who owns the apartment we’re staying in gave us her Subway card, once loaded we made our way to one of the many stations nearby. The system here is supposedly the oldest in South America and I think we likely experienced one of the ‘heritage’ lines! The schematics are super easy to follow, it didn’t take long to get oriented. Our destination yesterday was a visit to the ‘Recoleta Cemetery’ which of course meant also exploring its surrounding neighbourhood. The cemetery was established in 1822, encompassing five hectares with majestic mausoleums made of marble and decorated with sculptures. It’s quite impressive! In the evening we went to a tango show with live music accompanying five pairs of dancers. The show was held in the barrio of San Telmo which is purported to be the birthplace of tango in the early 1900s. It was an excellent show, actually exceeded our expectations, yay! The evening turned out to be a very late one for us, didn’t get back to our apartment until well after midnight! Today was a less eventful day, the weather cool and breezy so our plan was to find the Sunday mercado in San Telmo. We took the subway out to barrio where we were last night and just wandered and explored it in the daylight. Tomorrow we’ll find the barrio ‘Boca’, another famous neighbourhood known for diversity and colourful houses.

Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Yesterday, Wednesday we were picked up early by Emiliano, who we’d coordinated with to be our driver for a few days. Our destination was the Brazilian side of the Iguazú Falls National Park. Today, we stayed on this side of the river and spent the day exploring the Argentine side. The Iguazú Falls are the world’s largest waterfall system. Most of the falls and park land are in Argentina (approximately 80% of the 275 falls) but the panoramic views are seen best from Brazil. We can now concur! 



Where the path takes us!

Iguazú Falls - Brazil and Argentina share the glory…

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One more day in Buenos Aires, then north to Puerto Iguazú

Buenos Aires, Argentina