Before we left,
Ymke sent us this message: "Come back inspired". Need I say more? The trip was fantastic, an amazing experience. The country is so similar and so different to ours. The cities are alive and dirty and sophisticated at the same time. Here are a few snippets:
La Boca, Buenos Aires. Brightly coloured buildings. Ladies dressed in skimpy shorts and fish-net stockings grabbing you for a tango (and then payment). This just sounds wrong...A greasy Maradona look-alike wanting to take photographs with the ladies...
A crossing in Buenos Aires. The buildings and urban fabric is very European. People live on the streets and in parks. They only retire to their small apartments in the early hours of the morning...
Flor de Metal. A beautiful sculpture in Recoletta, Buenos Aires. The art scene is HUGE in Argentina. There are various museums, all the shops are beautifully designed and finished.
Street art is everywhere. Social comment is big in this country. Stenciling and graffiti can be seen on almost every single surface in the cities.
I must confess, this was more of a culinary tour than what we've expected. Argentine food and wine is really good. We came back a bit heavier. We ate enormous amounts of carbs and too many sweet things (Argentines consume the most sugar per capita in the world). More on that a bit later.
With the next few posts, I will elaborate a bit more on this country. I will, however, not dwell too long since I am dying to find out what Pretoria has in store for us this year.
Until later.
