Around the World

view over rooftops from our hotel's courtyard

Buenos Aires -- Yesterday we took a tour of the city on a double decker bus. We took the subway to the central part of downtown to pick up the tour. The subway was quite busy, but nice.  Bus tours aren't my favorite thing, but they are a quick way to get an overview of a city. The opportunities to take decent photographs are also pretty limited, bouncy bus, shooting over or under the surrounding bars. Occasionally you get lucky.

Buenos Aires is in many ways a beautiful city. The colonial architecture is stunning. The various ethnic neighborhoods are fascinating. Sadly, however, large portions of the city are not well maintained. The streets are wide and grand, but full of litter debris and dog crap. The buildings are beautiful but almost universally coated with graffiti. The parks are huge and expansive and unlike other public areas are well maintained. I'm sure many reasons for the look of decay are political, but I also think there is a cultural element. A unique aspect of Spanish architecture is the way that buildings are turned inward outsides do not seem to matter much. A very shabby exterior can conceal a very grand and expansive interior, perhaps opening to an inner courtyard. The only distinguishing feature of most exteriors is a very fine wooden door with brass hardware.

only looks like the Washington Monument

On neighborhood that got started by poor immigrants features houses with corrugated metal siding that the
occupants have painted with a variety of bright colors.

from the tour bus

Argentinians love to eat out. Every corner has a restaurant. The food is generally good and cheaper than in the US. Sometimes we are not sure what we are ordering but the surprise is half the fun.

Tomorrow we get on the plane and head to Ushuaia, the furthest south city in the world. We will have a week in a B&B and then will start our antarctic cruise.