Final Destination: Buenos Aires

For 3 months my life has been in a state of constant flux. Summiting mountains one day, seeing ancient ruins the next, and then packing my bags and catching a bus to wherever my next destination may be. In short, a lifestyle that is as tiring as it is exciting. While I have personally loved and thrived in this type of constant action, I will admit that at times I missed certain creature comforts like having a room (or even a bathroom) to call my own. Thus, it was definitely a nice change of pace when Elizabeth, Phil, Jessie, and I arrived in our last destination, Buenos Aires, where we rented an apartment for an entire month!

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To give a brief introduction to Buenos Aires, it is the capital and largest city (by far) in Argentina. What makes this city so unique isn't the fact that it's extremely modern like Santiago or surrounded by incredible history like Cuzco. Rather it's the unique mixture of European and South American culture, fused together, to make a vibrant and colorful lifestyle that was like nothing I had ever seen before. This lifestyle ranges from dancing the elegant and encapsulating Tango to treating your taste buds to a famous Argentinean Barbecue with world class steak and wine. The next day when you're recovering from the copious amount of steak and wine you imbibed the night before (not to mention sleep deprivation caused by the fact that the nightlife doesn't start until about 2am), you can sip an espresso and eat croissants at one of the many cafes in Buenos Aires.

Due to this incredible culture we decided that Buenos Aires would be the perfect place to plant our feet for a little while and really get to know the city and its people. One of the frustrating things about traveling is that you often wish you had more time to spend in a certain place and really get to know it. By spending an entire month in Buenos Aires we hoped to avoid this and to be able to understand why everyone who has spent time in BA absolutely raves about it. 

After arriving from our wine adventures in Mendoza, we met up with our landlord and got the first glimpse of the apartment where we were set to live for the next month. It was with slight trepidation that we entered our apartment as we had set up everything via the internet so it was possible that it wouldn't live up to expectations. Fortunately though, the apartment was absolutely amazing. It had a beautiful common room, kitchen, and even a little patio! What's more, the location (I think that's important in real estate?) was perfect. We were in a great, centrally located neighborhood with parks in which Phil and I could play soccer and enough shops to keep the girls busy for days.

Jessie, Phil, and I in the apartment!

Click Here to see all of our pictures from Buenos Aires!

After settling into the apartment we went about planning just what it was we were going to do for the next month! Ideas ranged from everything to learning how to dance the tango and cook Argentinean food, to entering a soccer league and seeing a professional soccer game. Obviously, not quite all of the ideas came to fruition, but the majority of them did. Hang on tight, here's what we managed to pack into a month in Buenos Aires..

We hit the ground running as we thought the best place to start our adventures would be to do a little exploring around the city as see some of the more "touristy" sites. Thus, we visited a plethora of parks, monuments, historical buildings, and even an art museum. While perhaps a little touristy, this was a great way to explore the city and get our bearings as Buenos Aires, size wise, is a huge and sprawling city (we even had to rent bikes a few times to explore).

A gorgeous monument called "The Flower"

"La Casa Rosada", the Argentinean White House

After doing our fair share of exploring the city, we decided to change things up a bit. The first new thing up on our list: The Tango. Buenos Aires is the proud parent of one of the most difficult but enthralling dances in the world. To get to know know more about this dance, we headed to "La Boca" a colorful and vibrant neighborhood where the Tango is rumored to have been created. Apart from the colorful houses and delicious food in La Boca, we got to see the Tango being danced on what seemed like every corner. It was incredible to see in person, and even more incredible when we paired it with a nice steak and glass of wine. After seeing Tango being performed we had to give it a shot ourselves and we decided to take a Tango class. Thankfully I don't have any pictures though because I assure you they wouldn't be pretty!

The colorful neighborhood of La Boca

A couple dancing the Tango

Our taste of Argentinean culture didn't stop at the Tango though. We saw and did a whole host of other amazing things. These ranged from seeing an all percussion band play live inside an old warehouse to seeing (and losing money at) a famous horse track in Buenos Aires.

The all percussion band...yeah had to get the ears checked after that one

Phil winning at the horse track!!

After about 3 weeks in Buenos Aires we thought that it might be a good time to take a few days respite from the hustle and bustle of city life. Thus, we took a quick 3 day trip up to Iguazu Falls, a set of huge waterfalls  on the Brazilian-Argentina border. Iguazu Falls is as if you took Niagara Falls (think that same size) and then placed it in the middle of the Jungle. The waterfalls were awe inspiring to say the least. From the sheer enormity of the waterfalls to the rainbows scattered everywhere, it was one of the most magnificent natural things I had seen in my life. I assure you that the pictures below cannot even begin to do justice to just how powerful of a sight these falls really were. 

"The Devil's Throat", the largest fall at Iguazu

Another set of beautiful falls

One of the many rainbows that seemed to be everywhere

We eventually returned to Buenos Aires after our very successful sojourn in Iguazu. I've been talking a lot about the cool activities and sights we saw in Buenos Aires, but probably the most fun we had was more in our day to day lives. Things like playing in a soccer league or simply eating our "family dinners" together (Younger demographic: if you're confused what that is, there's probably a definition on Wikipedia). Additionally, being in the city for a long time allowed us to really make friends and do things like get invited to a tradition Argentinean Barbecue! While things like this might not show up in any guide books or be all that flashy, they were what we really came to love. 

Enjoying dinner at the apartment together!

With our friends eating a traditional Argentine Barbecue!

Unfortunately though, our time in Buenos Aires, like all other time on this trip, flew by in the blink of an eye and before we knew it we were packing up our bags and getting ready to leave. For me, this pack is even more difficult than usual though as Buenos Aires is indeed the final destination on this incredible trip. I'll be catching a (long) flight and heading home, the end of what was one of of the most amazing experiences of my life.  

I'll be posting one final post to wrap things up in a bit and let everyone know that I made it home safely!