Alas some pictures from our trip to Buenos Aires! It was hard to choose which pictures to post because: a) we did so much and b) Buenos Aires is such a beautiful city. We had the fortune to enjoy some unusually warm fall days and to discover the city the way we like to: by walking! The boys would end the day exhausted - we would put them to bed by 10pm and they wouldn't rise before 10:30am - it felt like our summer in Spain!!
There aren't many pictures of the city itself. While it is beautiful, I felt it lacked personality - I felt I was walking down any European city. There was no fusion of its indigenous society, rich with art and architecture of its own, with the European. However, one neighborhood which I found totally fascinating and interesting was La Boca. It's walls are a testimony to its proud immigrant past and how they built their neighborhood with hard work. In fact, before we visited the "barrio" we visited the Latin American Museum of Modern Art and I fell in love with the work of Benito Quinquela Martin, for it's strong social and political messages. Only later did I find out that the inspiration behind his works was the years he spent living in La Boca.
La Boca is also alive with its particular passion for soccer and for its local team, the Boca Juniors and it's famous son - Diego Maradonna.
Also fascinating, to me at least, was how politically rebellious Argentinians are. Signs abounded for social uprising to protest against low wages, equal opportunities and equal rights, for work opportunities, for socialism.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures and those from El Calafate, Patagonia, will soon follow!
At the Palermo Zoo - Mati saw lions, panthers, pumas, tigers, Siberian tigers, elephants, zebras, crocodiles ... all his favorites!
