In my dreams I never leave Buenos Aires!' The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges once wrote and I can definitely see why someone would fall in love with this city.
In the past 6 weeks I have seen more classical concerts than I have ever before in my life and I have loved it, We have been on a boat, trains, subways, buses, been running and rollerblading not to mention walked what feels like ever inch of this city. We have been to art museums, street markets, food trucks, kosher McDonalds, the Japanese gardens, the endless beautiful parks and eaten some excellent food. We have watched so many people and seen how they interact and greet one another and what traditionally Argentines do on a Sunday (which is spend time with family eating meat, especially outdoors). We have watched winter turn into spring with leaves appearing on the trees and ducks in the park now swimming on the lake with their tiny ducklings. It has been an amazing 6 weeks giving us a real glimpse into what it means to live in this wonderful city.
Our last few days here we have spent a lot of time in the park, it has to be the most amazing park I have ever been too. We hired rollerblades and for me it was like riding a bike because when I was younger I rollerbladed all the time. I even remember rollerblading over to Chris and Matts house when we were in secondary school so I was probably rollerblading up until about 16. So getting to hire them for an hour in the park was brilliant. Nathan looked a little awkward at first and I was really concerned he was going to fall over and brake something but he persevered and got a good rhythm going towards the end. I love that rollerblading is still a great recreational sport here, it seems to have died out in the UK and that is a real shame as it is such a great form of exercise. I no longer have 'Bray the KA' to get me to and from work so maybe rollerblading is the way forward when I return.
Today in the park three young people came up to us and were chatting in Spanish to Nathan about where we were from and what education was like in the UK. It was great that these 16 years olds felt comfortable to approach 2 foreigners and have a pretty adult conversation. After 15 minutes they gave us hugs and kisses and went on their way to meet their friends.
We returned one last time to the burger joint where we ordered the Mexican burger with chips and a beer each for the equivalent of about £6.50 on Sunday evening.
We have spent a lot of time, sorting, reading and planning over the last few days also ready for the craziness to begin. So really it is now time for the last comments about Buenos Aires I would recommend anyone coming to South America to visit this stunning city which is deservedly known as the 'Paris of South America'. The capital of Argentina seems to have everything; people tango dancing in the street, two huge football stadiums with insanely fanatic fans, taxis that dangerously swap lanes across some of the worlds widest avenues, Porteños, as the residents here are called make time for everything, dining, family and relaxing, it has spectacular museums, lovely open spaces and stunning architecture.
So as Nathan and I pull away on our 18 hour bus ride to Mendoza this evening at 8pm I will not be saying goodbye to this wonderful city but 'See you in a few years Buenos Aires we will definitely be back!'