Buenos Aires: The Family Arrives!

The end has finally (or already?!) come. The last stop on my trip was in Buenos Aires. Katie and I bussed up from the farm and spent two days playing tourist there before she had to fly home and my family arrived! Relativity is definitely a thing, because the hour spent waiting on the stoop at the apartment we rented for my family to roll in from the airport felt like at least 17 days. It was super exciting to see them again after six months traveling down a continent and up it again.

Finally here!!! 

Buenos Aires is a huge city. Though not as big as other cities I was in, the attractions are spread out so it feels like you have to do a fair amount of walking to see them all. Or maybe it was just the 90 degree weather and humidity that made the walks seem so long. Who knows. There's some nice museums and cool markets to walk through, but the city does feel over all like it's a little past it's peak. There's dog poop all over the sidewalks and lots of graffiti. Argentina has had economic problems for the past several years and has slipped from its spot at the top of the pile in South America and the city seems to reflect that. Not that it's a bad place to visit, just not my favorite city I was in.

Recoleta Cementary 

Tango in San Telmo

We were there over Christmas so the city was pretty quiet over the holidays with most stores and restaurants closed. We spent a couple days touring the city but also took several day trips - to an estancia to horseback ride, across the Río de la Plata to Colonia, Uruguay (another stamp in my passport!), and out to Tigre to do some boating on the delta. Clearly my standard of living/budget significantly increased once my parents joined the trip.

River crusin' with the babes 

It was very fun having my family join me for the end of my trip (even though their ulterior motive was clearly making sure I got on the plane to come back to the States). And I do have to say it would have been hard to stay behind while they all went home. I'm not going to say I was happy to leave South America but I do think I was ready to stop traveling for a while. More sappy reflections (as promised) will appear in my last blog entry, coming up where I think back on what I learned, if anything.