Though it’s spring in the southern hemisphere, we had a sort of ‘fall break’ from class this week and our program gave us the option of going to Buenos Aires for a weekend and/or Iguazu Falls on the Brazil/Argentina border for 4 days. I opted to go to both places and it was a really neat experience! 🧳😀

Buenos Aires City Tour

From Montevideo, it’s a 1.5 hour bus ride to catch a 1 hour ferry ⛴️ into Buenos Aires. We started with a downtown city tour that included the teatro Colón, the city’s beautiful opera house, as well as a historic tour. The architecture and style of buildings reminded me a lot of visiting European cities.

China Town!

In the evening a few of us explored the city’s China Town and found some neat murals, interesting shops and delicious bao buns and boba tea! 😋🧋

That night we visited a famous local speakeasy called Floreria Atlántico, which has a floral shop as it’s store front and a pretty bar behind and downstairs with fancy drinks like the Columbia, served in a coconut and lit on fire! (It’s a little blurry because of the dim lighting).

Afternoon Exploration

The following afternoon, we went to the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Catholic Church where Pope Francis led mass as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires before assuming office in the Vatican in 2013. We also shopped in San Telmo at a market that occurs every Sunday, and then had lunch along the Puerto Madero waterfront, where we saw some Tango dancers. 💃🏻

La Boca!

Located near the port of the city, La Boca was previously a melting-pot of different cultures immigrating into Argentina in the 20th century and is now home to the Boca Juniors, one of the two largest football teams in Argentina. Known for its brightly painted houses and lively atmosphere, it was an incredibly picturesque area with beautiful contrasting colorful murals and eaves. This was the highlight of my visit to Buenos Aires! I took so many fun pictures, it’s hard to choose which ones to post! 🎉

Rapanui Ice cream 🍨

Someone found this chocolates and ice cream chain while in Buenos Aires on the first day we visited and it was so delicious that we kept going back! We had a 4 hour long lay over in Buenos Aires on the way back from Iguazu Falls and went again! If you’re ever in Buenos Aires and love helado, I would definitely recommend checking this place out, it’s fantastic! 😋

I’ll do a separate post about Iguazu Falls and an unexpected trip to Paraguay while there next. Thanks for following along! 😃