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01 October 2015

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


                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa
                                      www.bradclin.com

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