Buenos Aires - One Last Huarry With Dad

For our last stop, we were heading back to Buenos Aires. It felt a bit strange to think that just 4 weeks ago, I was here picking up my dad to go hike in Patagonia in the very south and explore Jujuy in the very north of Argentina. Time really flies.

Anyway, we had 1.5 days here, which was probably sufficient to do sightseeing. And this is what we did. On our first day, we went to La Boca, which is probably the most interesting and colourful neighbourhood in Buenos Aires - dare I say all of Argentina. We took the metro there and the first thing in the neighbourhood we saw was the home stadium of the local football team Boca Juniors (the team for which Maradona played at some point). In all fairness, it looked a bit like the outside of an Ikea store given it was completely painted in blue and yellow.

After taking a few snaps there, we continued to explore the neighbourhood and the further we went, the more colourful it got - beyond just the blue and yellow. There was a very easy-going vibe here, with lots of laid-back restaurants, interesting shops and colourful buildings with statues of mainly Maradona and Messi. Here in La Boca you really realise how important football is to the Argentineans.

All the colour came from Italian immigrants that used to work on ships and used the scrap metal to build homes with and which they painted in many different colours. Certainly transformed this area into a beautiful place.

We lingered around for a while, soaked up the atmosphere and had a little lunch (bread with chorizo), before slowly walking back towards the Microcentro. Microcentro is basically where all the impressive classic buildings are that have to do with culture, politics, etc. In other words, palaces, theaters, markets, the famous Obelisk on the main avenue, and the parliament.

Walking through Buenos Aires gave us a little feel for the city, but also made us realise that there is not a lot to see in the city. It's nice-looking, organised, interesting at times, but relatively European and probably more a city to live in than to visit I would say.

We walked a lot that day to go from sight to sight, so in the evening we thought it was only fair to have one last steak in Argentina together before dad would fly home in the afternoon the next day. It was again a good steak, but not quite as brilliant as the one we had a couple of days before in Salta.

On our last day together, we decided to explore the popular neighbourhood of Palermo. Again, it was a nice area, but without much to see, to be honest. It probably is THE place to live in Buenos Aires, given lots of cafes and shops that exude a bohemian vibe, but since we went relatively early, all of them were still closed.

Thus, we decided to go and check out a few parks that were on our way to an early-lunch.
Those parks were incredible. One of them was a little zoo-like and we saw giraffes (yes, in the middle of Buenos Aires) and other cute animals in the middle of the park. That was definitely unexpected. The other park we strolled through could have easily been in Paris or London. Very European.

And then after a delicious lunch it was time to walk back to our accommodation and say goodbye, as my dad was taking an Uber to the airport, ending our fabulous time in Argentina together.

The first thing I want to say to my dad is a huge THANK YOU for joining me on this trip and in Argentina. It was amazing not only to see a familiar face again, but for it to be my dad. Over the last 4 weeks, | had an incredible time with him exploring Argentina and parts of Chile and I would travel with him again in a heart-beat. Of course I had to adjust the way I travel a little bit, but that was easy to do (i.e. bread and milk was a lot on the table, and having a nagging voice to my right when I was driving was sometimes challenging to get used to). I was very much surprised about his endurance when in the mountains - after all, we did some very long back-to-back hikes - and his love for curiosity to see and experience as much as possible. I am proud of you dad! Well done.

With that, it was a heart-felt goodbye and after a day of resting in Buenos Aires I was catching a flight to see the world-famous Iguazu Falls!Read more