I LOVED Buenos Aires. A big city with a lot of variety, history, and culture. First up I checked out “Libreria el Anteneo Grande” it was STUNNING. Rated the second most beautiful bookstore in the world (1st Holland, 3rd Portugal, 4th USA) it used to be a theatre. All three stories of the balconies used for separate sections of the store, and the stage used for a coffee shop/reading area, everywhere you looked had elegant gold filigree, mahogany detail, and the ceiling was painted in a Michelangelo-esk style. On the way there I came across an 19th century palace. No idea what it’s used for now, but it was pretty.
Finishing that day in “Plaza de Mayo”. On its corner had a pretty basilica called the remains of that holds the remains of General José de San Martín a national hero that helped liberate Spanish South America; he is guarded by 2 soldiers. The plazas main attraction is “Casa Rosada”, or government house, which is a big pink palace!
The next morning I made my way to La Boca! An area of the city that apparently the Tango originated, and it was so fun! Multi-coloured houses, street markets, Tango dancers, Argentinian grill houses, is was one of my favourite places! The houses had corrugated sheets painted in random colours along its walls, and the doors, stairs, window frames were all coloured too. One thing to be careful for is to not wander too far. Once you’re out of that main touristic area you come into streets you do not feel safe in.
With that, I took a bus to the area of Carlos Gardel. A neighbourhood featuring the style and dedications of a famous Tango singer, and other notable Tango men and women. They painted the houses in fun colours and patterns too (not as much, but in a totally different style), had a street lined with statues of all the great Tango people, and random paintings of his face dotted randomly throughout the area.
On my last day I hit the main of the city and checked out the big “B A" in the middle of the main road. A European-influenced street in architecture, so the surrounding buildings were also very pretty. And, To finish my Buenos Aires fun, I had a “Tango experience”. Picked up from my hostel and taken to a dance studio where I was taught how to Tango! Well .. The basic steps of it anyway. My partner for the lesson was the only other solo traveller in the class, a Brazilian girl named Josy! A fun filled lesson with a great teacher. Onto a Tango show including a 3 course dinner and an open bar (what could go wrong). The performance was perfect. They went through the different eras of the dance and how the outfits, moves, and symbols changed over time in seamless transitions. With a live band and singer I was very, very impressed with the show! And of course the dinner was delicious. Traditional options - I had a salad, Argentinean steak, and ”Caminito” With the loved dolce de leche (a sort of creamy caramel). A perfect end to a VERY loved city!

Combined 35,000 steps, not including my dancing, and I am coming back to Buenos Aires!

I bought 2 books...all in Spanish of course and I'm slowly reading/translating them