Buenos Aires (Apr 11-19) and Rosario, Argentina (Apr 28-May 3)

The Casa Rosada (the Pink House) - residence and workplace of the Argentinian president.

A few days before flying from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, Argentina, I started to prepare myself mentally for the switch to a metropolis of 13+ million.  Good thing!  As it was, I had a tough time with the concrete, pollution and noise.  However, after several days it became obvious that there is some green to be found, some really lovely neighborhoods, and - certainly - plenty of impressive architecture.

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There is an incredible amount of impressive architecture and marble sculpture work at La Recoleta cemetery.

Most of the city buses seem to be these old refurbished buses - cool looking, if a bit rickety on the inside.

As expected...  both....

Downtown Buenos Aires. This was on a bike ride in the nature preserve along the restored river front area.

Some in Argentina have the opinion that Rosario, about 4 hours from Buenos Aires, is more beautiful than the capital.  For anyone liking a smaller city (just over 1 million), it is an easy choice.  There are many tree lined streets, a river where the parks fill with families drinking mate (tea), skating, strolling or playing fútbol.  This is the birth town for both Che Guevara and Lionel Messi, but for us the huge draw was our friend, Leo, who lived in Portland for a couple of years and whom we played soccer with.  His incredibly gracious family treated us like royalty.  It was great to see Leo and his family again, to spend a day on their farm, and to see how life off the hostal track and in a real home is like. 

With Leo at the Monumento a la Bandera (monument to the flag).

The farm had lots of things to entertain Duane's engineer-brain, including this ~70 year old windmill/well that still provides water.  Even my non-mechanical brain was intrigued and impressed.

Apparently there is a breed of sheep where the males have tails!

One of the family & friends fútbol games with a Messi fan, of course.  It is nice to see some girls involved!

At Leo's family's home - Mari, Duane, Celeste, Verna, Leo, Alfonso, Laura.

It really was the perfect time in our trip to see familiar faces!  We certainly hope that Leo's family will let us return the favor sometime in Portland!