wow, what a city this is, I love it.

It’s sexy, sassy, easy to get around, one moment you feel like you’re in Paris, the next Vienna or maybe even the streets of Surrey Hills in Sydney.

We had two nights in the hotel before we said farewell to our lase Intrepid group and headed to our Airbnb. You form attachments to your group and this one was no exception. We had our farewell dinner at a very flash steak restaurant. ( adore their meat in this part of the world) – let’s just say heads were not great the next day and what goes on your stays on tour. Somehow we left with enough in the doggy bag to keep us going for the next 2 days.

We started with a walking tour, getting our bearings. Stunning architecture..

The weather here has been great , warm, balmy about 30c during the day. Almost perfect in my view

We have had a chill few days. Kind of need to kick back after the full on Intrepid plans. Still I’d absolutely do it again. So we’ve been taking it easy, sleeping in a bit and ticking off a few things each day on our list – if we don’t get through them all then that’s fine. I am in no doubt that Buenos Aires is definitely a city I could easily hang out in.

Some of the thing we have done include , a tour of the Colon Theatre. I had heard of this magnificent building and it did nor disappoint. I had no idea that Argentina was until as recently as the 1970’s one of the richest countries on earth. The colon theatre is part of that legacy

We have also checked out the San Telmo markets , the colourful La Boca district. The MALBA, the amazing ( museum of Latin American art in BA) and thanks to a generous present from a family member a food tour voucher which we did last night.

While it’s easy to approach a new city with Rose tinted glasses, Argentina has been and continues to go through some very rough economic times. Run away inflation reaching almost 300% in 2014 has had a huge impact. While inflation is down to 39% per annum. 52% of the argentine population are now in poverty. Unemployment is up to 7.9%. Salaries are now reviewed every 3 months. So much money has been printed ATM,s regularly run out of cash. It’s dire. The austerity measures by the current government have made a difference, ( some say artificially so) – but again this shows the importance and impact of our system of democracy and the checks and balances around it. We ignore it , not engage with it at our own peril.

I’m writing this on a ferry on the way to a day trip to Montevideo in Uruguay! ( one more stamp to add, although unfortunately Argentina don’t stamp passports anymore)

The tradition for these beautiful colours started when left over paint for ships started to be used by locals for their homes

Food here was pretty great but at this point I began to feel unwell so I scurried back to the Airbnb . We had steak, salad , and some Gelato- all in the neighbourhood we are staying in.

We have Three more days here. Looking forward to it.