IGUAZU FALLS

I thought I had seen the best waterfalls on my various trips to Canada.. Niagara Falls of course. That was till the Costa Rica and Buenos Aires trips. When I and MM#1 Fan went to Buenos Aires, we took two days to go see the Iguazu Falls. Upon first sight, I was like WOW. And then the words I read of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came to mind- " Poor Niagara!" I was just blown away by the sheer beauty of Iguazu Falls. Iguazu may not be the largest waterfall, but it is in a league earing the tile of the world's largest waterfall system in the world with several massive waterfalls all concentrated in this one area. To see the Iguazu Falls for the first time is to see nature at it's finest. And of course much like Canada and the US, the age old question is which side is better for viewing? Argentina or Brazil? Paraguay doesn't count, since so little of it is actually in that country. I can say if you want up close and personal to the falls and take in it's immense power, with boats rides and walkways,  and more vantages points,  then the Argentinian side is far better, and cool suspects from wildlife can be seen also. We did both. I must admit that the Brazil side gives one a unparalleled and undisturbed panoramic view of the 275 individual waterfalls crashing from 260 ft cliffs. But definitely a more enter at your own risk. If you only have one day to explore then go with the Argentina side. Getting there is fun too. Most take a small flight since it's about about a 15 hour drive from Buenos Aires, but we opted for a overnight bus trip, to save money for other things and take in scenery along the way.

I don't recall what the name of these suspects were, 

but they were aggressively friendly. They might have been called a Corvidae. I do remember they were in the Jay family of birds.

These coati were much like the ones in Costa Rica...

but darker and even more friendly.

I'm telling you, I ready to move there.

FLORALIS GENERICA

Buenos Aires Botanical Garden

My favorite trip I've taken thus far in my time on this globe has been hands down Buenos Aires back in 2017. I had always wanted to go, and must admit it was the men that attracted me. But in general, I have to say Argentina has more beautiful people per capita then Id ever seen. Inside and Outside. Very welcoming people. Natural beauty. But what took and blew me away was the architecture, a mix of very old and new, getting around and communicating wasn't an issue as many there spoke English, Spanish and French, and had more diverse culture then any other city I have visited. You can see many of the post by clicking the tag under the post. One of the most cool things we saw was the Floralis Generica.

Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano, designed the Floralis Generica, a giant silver flower, which has been a striking landmark since it opened in 2002. When standing at, it is huge! The enormous metal flower blooms anew each day in a pool of water next to the National Museum of Fine Arts, revealing four long stamens inside. It's six 13 meter long petals open, which takes about 20 minutes to watch, at eight in the morning, and then will close, slowly, at sunset, mimicking the action of a real flower. It is soo cool to see. We went back several days to see it even if just for a few moments. When the petals are closed finally, the 18 ton flower is 75 feet tall and 52 ft wide, and when blossomed it becomes a flora of incredible 105 ft wide. The constructed flower reflects the city around it, in the aluminum of it's petals. When the petals close at night, the flower either glows red or purple. On just four nights of the year, the petals will remain open, and glowing brilliantly, keeping Buenos Aires in bloom all night long. Just one of many unexpected delight this city offered.

I'm STILL surprised I came back.... don't cry for me Argentina ...

We'll soon be back together.

MISSING BUENOS AIRES

In wrapping up our lovely trip and going through almost 1,500 pictures.......it's been fun showing you all a fabulous trip to somewhere I have always wanted to go. When I first was telling friends I was going, they were like oh, noT Italy, or France, or England or a tropical location? Eventually yes...but the remaining two trips left on my list are now Budapest and Nairobi. We shall see. MM#1 Fan is a excellent travel companion, but truth be told I think he enjoys seeing my naked ass in the hotel. Anyho, there is this post left of various sights we saw, but don't really lend to a whole post, but were pretty cool to see none the less.

Iglesia Inmaculada Concepcion

Popularly known as "the round church" or "La Redonda",Another beautiful Catholic church. This church was built in the late 1800. and the inside is a must see

La Boca is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.It retains a strong European flavor, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. La Boca is a popular destination for visiting Argentina, with its colorful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. Other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs and Italian taverns.  Outside this tourist area, be careful... it is a fairly poor neighborhood that had  many regular occurrences of petty crimes we think while we were sitting having dinner.But the place we ate was excellent. 

Embajada de Brasil

This is the residence of the Ambassador of Brazil.

The French Embassy.

Floralis Generica

This was so cool to see. I can't say I have ever seen anything like it. Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas and a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower "is a synthesis of all the flowers and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening."  It was created in 2002. The sculpture was designed to move, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning.At night the flower closes, emanating a red or purple  glow from inside, and reopens ...is reborn... the following morning.

In one really wealthy neighborhood we walked through, we saw this guy actually polishing and cleaning the wrought iron gate that lined the street. wow.

Iglesia Santa Felicitas

This church is pure Argentine history, for those who have the opportunity to see it.... a not to miss guided tour. To give respect to the memory of his daughter, Felicitas Guerrero, known as the woman more beautiful of the Republic, his parents donated the construction of this beautiful church.... its architect was Ernesto Bunge and opened in 1876, to remember the fourth anniversary of the death of the young Felicitas. Among  one of my favorite churches and most impressive things, in addition to its Gothic style half mixed with many indefinable styles,

So that was the trip...All wrapped in  a two week tour! If anyone gets the chance or you have considered going.....GO!!!  By far the friendlies people I have ever encountered on my travels, and the culture and food, wine and sangria's out of the world. Another huge THANK-YOU to Adrin-O-M-G for showing us around for a couple days. You were downright so helpful, and kind to meet us not to mention dear...so handsome and sexy, you did have me swooning and tingling!!!! If anyone decides to go, as with any city, it has bad sections too, so just make sure to have a guide one or two days to take you around, or if your venturing out of the city, or take one of the many group guided tours the city offers.

I know I will never forget this trip. Even when departing I was trying to get back off the plane...

💋

HIGH NOTES IN BUENOS AIRES

I bet by now you can't tell I enjoyed this trip? We are approaching the end of the posts, otherwise we could be here all month!!! As you can imagine there is much culture in Buenos Aires.Buenos Aires is a cultural and economic melting pot where influences from all over the world can be seen, which surprised me. For those that are interested there is an absolute wealth of activities and areas to take in and I would recommend in the region of a week or two to see them properly. But when it comes to art and dance there is no shortage of either. We did see some tango's in the streets, not to mention in private! While we didn't see a opera or ballet, I forgot my gloves and opera glasses,  we did go see the main opera house, Teatro Colón . Saying it was spectacular was a understatement.

Our tour guide told us that the main opera house in Buenos Aires, is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world. The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, has 2,487 seats, standing room for 1,000 and a stage. The low-rise building has 6 floors above ground and 3 below ground, 7 elevators with a façade of applied masonry. It has a large central chandelier with 700 light bulbs. The original architect was the Italian Francesco Tamburini; after his death it was completed by the Belgian architect Julio Dormal. The original auditorium "had eight boxes with metal grilles and a separate entrance, so that those in mourning could still attend performances, but remain dignifiedly sequestered from public view". Who knew? But the places was just massive.

The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires.

The museum has its origins in a marriage in 1897 between two prominent, wealthy members of turn-of-the-century Argentine high society. The couple commissioned French architect René Sergent in 1911 to design a mansion for Errazúriz's future retirement from the diplomatic corps, in which he had been Ambassador to France for a number of years. The ornate Neoclassical structure inspired the Bosch family to commission a similar palace nearby which today is the United States Ambassador's residence.Completed in 1916, the couple devoted the following two years to decorating the palace, purchasing a large volume of antiques and other objets d'art.

When Mrs. Errazúriz died in 1935, however, the widower bequeathed the mansion to the Argentine government, on his son's and daughter's advice. The National Museum of Decorative Arts was established in 1937.The museum maintains twelve exhibit halls and nine permanent collections containing over 4,000 objects including: painting, room décor, Asian art and sculpture. Truly stunning.

I adored this picture...of all things. I tried to swipe it, but was frisked. Again. 

Another museum we visited was the National Museum of Fine Arts. If you ever get to Buenos Aires and have the time, it is rather interesting to catch if you can.

The ground floor of the museum holds 24 exhibit halls housing a fine international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century, together with the museum's art history library. The first floor's 8 exhibit halls contain a collection of paintings by some of the most important 20th-century Argentine painters. The second floor's two halls, completed in 1984, hold an exhibition of photographs and two sculpture terraces. There is also many well know painting from French, Mexican, Dutch, Flemish, and Scottish painters.