Good Air in Buenos Aires!!

With a city as well-known and large and cosmopolitan as Buenos Aires (the word can translate to "good airs"), it was wonderful that we were able to spend two full days here, as part of this 80-day long South American cruise.

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, with a population of about 3 million, making it the most populous city in Argentina. It's also the most visited city in South America. It was discovered and settled in the early 1500's by the Spanish - no surprise there. It's a good place to live, with about 48 inches of rain per year, and a modest average temperature range of 60-70 degrees F. And if you like to dance, Tango is the thing here.

There are tons of professional dog walkers here too, as more than 60 percent of households have a cat or dog (or both). I saw probably half a dozen of them walking dogs in groups of up to 10 dogs, during my time meandering through the city.

A couple of other tidbits - there are more bookstores here per capita than anywhere else in the world; the Avenida 9 de Julio is the widest street in the world (and very pretty too); it was the first Latin American city to recognize LGBT rights; and, the national sport is not soccer (football) but pato, which is similar to polo, except they use their hands instead of sticks. I think pato means duck. Not sure of the correlation but whatever............I don't know much about polo. Or soccer for that matter.

The sculpture Floralis Generica. It is made of steel and aluminum and opens at sunrise and closes at sunset every day.

Recoleta is both a neighborhood and a very famous cemetery in Buenos Aires. Eva Duarte Peron is buried here and this cemetery is actually THE most visited attraction in Buenos Aires. It's a really pretty place, with thousands of family mausoleums.

The story of this young woman in her wedding dress and her dog, below, is that she was a newlywed who died on her honeymoon in Austria.The hotel apparently was struck in an avalanche, killing her. When her beloved dog died, the family added the statue of it next to her. People rub Sabu's nose for good luck.

This mausoleum looks like the bow of a ship, don't you think?

El Ateneo bookstore. National Geographic calls it the most beautiful bookstore in the world. I think I might agree. In its days in the early 1900's, it was a palatial theatre that hosted some of the greats of Tango. In 1929 it was turned into a cinema, and stayed that way until the early 2000's, when the economy was poor and a large conglomerate bought the site and turned it into the beautiful bookstore that it is today. There is still live piano music and a lovely little cafe in the store today. A lot of the balcony boxes are used by people to sit quietly and read. I could have stayed for hours!!!

In the background, below, you can see the obelisk that is along Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world. This "gives rise" to a little known fact that Buenos Aires has the largest condom in the world, because one year to mark World Aids Day, the obelisk was covered by a giant pink condom!

Below is the Metropolitan Cathedral, located in the Plaza de Mayo, where Casa Rosada is. Love the architecture in this city!

Beautiful mosaic tile floors inside the cathedral

City architecture

A 10-story portrait of Eva Peron decorates the Social Developoment Ministry building in the city. It was unveiled in 2011 and apparently inspired by a similar portrait in Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba of Che Guevara. It is said that the time of her death, 20:25, is "hidden" in this portrait. I was able to find it by taking a zoomed picture of the portrait, then zooming it even further. "2025" is hidden in her hair!

Villa miseria - the shanty towns just on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Thousands of people live in these tin, wood and decrepit buildings without running water or electricity. Many children who live here have been found to have high lead concentrations in their systems. There has been some slow progress in improving these neighborhoods, but it is slow-going.

You can see how close the city is - just a stone's throw.

One morning, Kathi, Pat and I went into the yarn district in the general Palermo area to buy yarn. We really got our yarn on! There were dozens of stores along Raul Scalabrini Ortiz and we spent several hours there oohing and ahhing at every store. Each seemed to offer something different. I have learned how to knit on this trip, and am hoping to come home having completed two identical scarves for my two little granddaughters.

I was not aware that Argentina is one of the world's largest wool producers and that knitting is still taught in many primary schools. I think that's just marvelous.

One afternoon I went wine and tapas tasting. This bottle of Tannat is rather inexpensive, but I found it delicious. I brought a bottle back to the ship with me to enjoy on board.