~~~Click on any image to bring it up full-screen~~~ Decades of galavanting around the globe have made me into a hard-to-impress traveler, but I still feel a tinge of amazement every time I cross the equator. Some 10 hours on a plane, and suddenly the whole world turns on its head. It was a balmy 90 degrees in Buenos Aires when we arrived on January 24th, a searingly hot and blindingly blue, cloudless summer day. The city - this gorgeous, sprawling old dame - was quiet that afternoon (middle of the workday and all). Grateful for the megadose of vitamin D, we spent a few hours prowling the most famous neighborhoods, seeking refuge under the lush rustling canopies of greenery and trying to not sweat too much.
Women's Bridge in the neighborhood of Puerto Madero. This glitzy area was built as a winning design for a competition held to give Buenos Aires a new port. It was by far the most expensive design entered, but the architect was the mayor's cousin, so naturally it was selected. 20 years later, and several times over initial budget, the port was finally complete, but, it hasn't served a day as a port. The whole thing was so poorly engineered that it was never able to accept a single commercial vessel, so today it lives on as a swanky open air mall with restaurants, shopping, pedestrian bridges, and some private boat parking. Buenos Aires continues to use its old port on the Atlantic, in the neighborhood of La Boca.
Puerto Madero
Palermo, Buenos Aires
colorful Palermo
