Argentina - Shopping and last minute walks

For those looking for the glamorous shops, look no further than Galerias Pacifico in Retiro. It's a modern shopping centre with a huge food hall and all the normal glamour brands sold worldwide!

Another street that is great for pedestrians is Florida. This pedestrian street has a " cambio" dealer every 5 steps! Just be careful of these money changers as the high exchange rate offered may bounce back in the form of false notes given!!

Av de Mayo is another good street to walk down and we took a tea break at the famous Cafe Tortoni. This world renowned coffee shop is beautiful inside with interesting decor and decent tables. Supposedly the oldest cafe in Argentina, it was established in 1858. Tea is served with tea leaves which makes quite a change in this era of teabags! Some of the waiters look pretty ancient as well!

Some observations:
Many smokers in the streets - horrible to inhale! Even worse than the vehicle fumes

McDonald's,  Burger King, Tupperware, Subway, Avon, Starbucks (everywhere!) and all the usual brand stores plus many Magazine/Flower Kiosks on the pavements

Kiosks selling chips, soft drinks and sweets are so tiny and there are often 2 or 3 right next to each other.

People are everywhere, dashing somewhere.

Traffic is relentless, fast but well behaved.
Buses go every which way and there are very many all day long.

Drivers are courteous to pedestrians and only seem to hoot occasionally

Architecture is a mixture of old, new or very decrepit!

Most pedestrians wait for the "white" man and when it starts flashing red, there is a second countdown so you know how fast to walk!

Motor bikes have parking permits in the Centre - pieces of paper flapping in the breeze.

Graffiti is everywhere - on every single garage type door  (closed kiosks ) and just on anything that can be scrawled upon.

Parking garages are everywhere - mostly just open plots where the cars are often double parked.

Loads of hawkers in Puerto Madera selling selfie sticks!

Homeless people sleeping in doorways

Bin diggers along the waterfront in Puerto Madera

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

Argentina - the Gardens of Palermo, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires from the Japansese Gardens

 Buenos Aires is a concrete jungle unless you get well out of the city. Apartments are the accommodation of all in the neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires so it is pleasing that there are a number of green lungs in the city. Today, we chose to explore those in Palermo, an upmarket area with numerous hotels.

Traffic in BA during the week is continuous no matter where you venture. However, everybody appears to drive well, albeit very fast. There is seldom any hooting - this makes a change from Manhattan, New York or anywhere in India!

Our Radio Taxi dropped us off at the Japanese Gardens for our 1st stop.
We really  enjoyed the Japanese gardens - well laid out and very pretty.

The Japanese Gardens in Buenos Aires

Such wonderful gardens despite the traffic noise from one side and the barking dogs on the other side!
Dog walkers are very common in BA die to all the apartment living. So the owners pay somebody to take the dogs out. These are pegged on the grassed area so they have a few metres to move. However, because they cannot sniff each other as dogs do, they bark continuously! The leads to take them home again all hang on the nearest tree! Watch for the poop as this is not cleaned up!

Dog Walkers are all over Buenos Aires!

Our next stop was the Rose Garden.

This garden is beautifully designed and it must be simply incredible when all the roses are in bloom. The few that are currently blooming have the most amazing scents. It must truly be rose heaven during the blooming season.

There was a photographer on the Greek Bridge doing some sort of fashion shoot. The young girl had to change outfits just below the bridge where they had suitcases of clothing!

One thing that has amazed us in this city are the number of smooching couples. They really go to town and one has to wonder why they are not at home in bed!!
And all in full view of the public! Population explosion?

Botanical Gardens Buenos Aires

Our next stop was the Botanical Garden which is another green oasis. There was not much flowering but the trees are stunning and everything has s green carpet of foliage.

Now that we had enjoyed our "nature" fix we decided to walk back to our hotel in San Telmo. Rather crazy? Yes!!

But by pounding the uneven pavements in tune with the hundreds of locals we could experience a tiny, noisy slice of local daily life in BA. The traffic noise is horrendous - how anybody can talk on a cell phone is beyond my imagination.

We passed a few beggars - mother, father and child plus an old woman alone. Some blind people as well but thankfully they all had carers.

Crossing these wide roads is another story - we nearly got squashed earlier when the " white" man came on and so did the 6 lanes of traffic! There was very obviously something wrong at that intersection. So we decided to wait for the locals to get going first but that brings on its own risks as some of them cross on the "red" man. Caution is advised as traffic is fast and roads are wide! To be fair,  drivers do wait for pedestrians on the smaller crossings - very patient and polite!

There are many bra and panty shops - do they sell so many as they are taken off so fast? One wonders!

With so many pedestrians to dodge, uneven pavements and traffic we were pleased to make it home safely after also having to cross the widest street in Buenos Aires, Av 9 de Julio which has approx 15 lanes. One cannot cross in one go, it takes about 3 attempts! And wait for the "white" man!!!

And after 2 hours of pounding the pavements we are now resting our wearing bones - tomorrow is another day!

The Rose Garden Buenos Aires

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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