Yet more from my trip...

Heavenly apparition

Atheneo bookstore in Barrio Norte was once a magnificent theater and even has frescoes on the ceiling! This has got to be the most beautiful bookstore I have ever seen. Just a pity that they didn't have any books on learning Spanish as a foreign language. My advice to travelers is to bring them from home or be faced with trying to learn out of a dictionary, which is all they seem to stock.

Old courtyards have been converted into trendy new fashion and accessory stores in San Telmo.

While sipping at my coffee this was the view out onto the street from the second floor - amazing architectural detail, anyone know the style?

Another glimspe at colonial Argentina in the Cabildo or old town hall, a nice retreat from the hectic Florida street nearby.

Heart-pounding strong cortado coffee with the obligatory alfajores or local Argentinian cookies choc full of dulce de leche caramel.

Further wanderings among the barrios of Buenos Aires

Tattoos are big in BA, too, as this local Porteno is modeling on a cold Sunday morning in San Telmo.

Sultry, sexy, sleazy, skillful - sublime to watch the complex maneouvers of the Tango.

The chance to sit down and casually sip away at a strong cortado coffee while listening to haunting ballads gracias a la bandoleon (a kind of accordeon) is a regular event in the older quarters of the city.

Searching through antiques and knick-knacks in the courtyard of a San Telmo villa.

This has got to be one of the greatest expressionist architectural triumphs in BA, the Barolo building built in 1922. Those sinuous, curvaceous lines...Give me the attic apartment and I'm sure I'd thrive well enough.

These 'piquateros' or protesters are hammering away and blowing their whistles outside one of the notorious banks that withheld everybody's money during the economic crisis back in 2002. Imagine having your life savings reduced by two thirds almost overnight and not being able to withdraw any of it for converting into US dollars and safeguarding against further devaluations in the local peso...I would have been out there hammering away myself under those circumstances.

Journey to Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina

During the afternoon rainbows complement the falls and give the whole scene an ethereal quality.

The jungle surrounding the falls occasionally gives glimpses of toucans, caotes and other wildlife, but at this stage I'd maxed out all my digital memory cards with photos of the falls themselves.

We took boats right out to each cascade and got absolutely drenched with water and spray as we were eased just within the powerful reach of each mighty fall. I wish swimming had been allowed but can understand why that's not the case considering the treacherous undercurrents

Beautiful rock and plant formations - wouldn't mind this as the central feature of my future backyard garden...well perhaps on a slightly smaller scale.

Garganta del Diablo or the Devil's Throat Cascade is the mightiest of the numerous falls over the two kilometre stretch. Gazing out at the throat and all that water descending down into the roaring depths made me feel compelled to ease myself out over the rails and end it all for a few crazed seconds, before reality set in and took hold (fortunately for the future of this blog)

Catwalks on the Argentinian side took us out over numerous wide surging rivers on a twenty minute walk toward the heart of the raging falls

Another Day in Buenos Aires

There are lots of cute kids in BA like this one sitting all day long in the hot streets playing at their accordeons to try and help mum and dad out with a few extra coins. I wonder how often this one actually makes it to school...

Slap bang right in the middle of the upmarket Galerias Pacificas shopping center, this mural would certainly raise disapproving eyebrows in many other countries, but in BA it seems art is all about challenging the boundaries.

Trendy Palermo Viejo. Love the use of colorful tiles on the facade of this fashion store - very Gaudiesque.

La Boca's painted streetscapes, where immigrants from Southern Europe first settled in cramped quarters and began developing their tango steps.

The Sunday ritual of chess in the park with a Russian Orthodox church in the background.

The famous Recoleta cemetery - city within a city, where the souls of Argentina's most famous/infamous now rest.

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Pilar in Recoleta evokes the colonial days

Mi Buenos Aires querido...

Buenos Aires is a chaotic mix of old and ultramodern architecture juxtaposed together.
I've spent two weeks here in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and have loved almost every moment of it. The first week I did a Spanish language course at IBL in the city center and met loads of foreigners from different parts of the world who all seemed to want to relocate here. There is definitely something very special about BA, that has drawn me in and makes me feel really alive.
The second week has been spent sightseeing, and chatting with the locals in numerous cafes and eateries around the city. I can't get over the fact that Argentinians are still so positive in their outlook and gracious in their manners despite being screwed over so badly by successive governments.

Avenue 9 de Julio has sixteen lanes of traffic!

The Obelisk, Argentinian flag and stray cloud