Buenos Aires, Argentina

Kathy and I flew from Knoxville to Buenos Aires, landing in the morning. We made our way to the Étoile Hotel in Recoleta and checked in before noon, on a tree-lined street a few blocks off the main road.

By Michael

We started early with the sun barely up outside the Étoile Hotel, then spent the morning around the neighborhood before heading out for the day. From the apartment I could look down over the courtyard and the rooftops and balconies of the buildings around us.

Walking toward Recoleta we passed a red phone booth and an old rubber tree with roots spreading out behind an iron fence. Recoleta Cemetery was next, narrow lanes lined with ornate mausoleums and statues, one topped by a carved angel. Kathy and I walked through together, working out which markers belonged to which families.

From there we went to the Obelisco, the tall white monument in the middle of the wide avenue, with a busy shopping street and billboards all around it.

We finished the afternoon at Caminito in La Boca, walking past the brightly painted houses stacked in blue, yellow and pink along the cobblestone street. A couple was dancing tango right on the street for the passersby, and Kathy stopped to look through a street vendor's stall. We saw an old blue car parked under a bridge on the way out.

The day took in Recoleta Cemetery, Obelisco and Caminito, and it ended with coffee at a cafe before we headed back.

By Michael

We started early with a walk near the hotel, past bright red and yellow flowers in the lobby and out into a small park with an old, thick-trunked tree and a fountain behind an iron fence. The streets filled in quickly, and by mid-morning we were working our way through a crowded street market. We stopped at a church along the way, looked at the statues set into niches on the outside, then went in and saw the altar and the pews.

By Michael

We spent the day wandering around Buenos Aires with no set plan. We stopped at an outdoor cafe, then found our way into a cathedral and looked up at a painted ceiling fresco overhead.

Later we walked past a Swatch store with its watches lined up in the window, and a fast food place called Barbacoa with a lit-up sign.

By Michael

We spent our last morning in the hotel room before packing up for the flight home.

Before checking out we walked into the city to shop for leather. We found a shop called Norwich Shoes and Boots, its shelves stacked with rows of leather shoes, and a leather goods market nearby with racks of jackets and bags. We browsed for a while, chose a few pairs of shoes, and stopped at the counter to pay.

In the afternoon we walked through a park where a street performer stood in a silver and red robot costume, posing while people walked past.

Late in the afternoon we made our way to Ezeiza International Airport to check in for our flight. We flew from Buenos Aires to Knoxville that evening.