Buenos Aires, Argentina - Los Calles

The colorful streets of Palermo

The streets of Buenos Aires are full of parks, life and color. Murals awaken the streets in a style somewhere between graffiti and contracted works of art. It gives the impression that this place is so full of creativity that color just exploded everywhere. Each neighborhood seems to pride itself on the color and creativity of its streets as well as the quantity of public green space. I've never seen a city with so many parks! Living in a city with so few parks (Arequipa, Peru) really makes you appreciate a city that almost overdoes it.

Each park has green grass without any signs restricting you from getting comfortable. Each park is well planned and sprinkled with statues. There are bronze men atop bronze horses around every corner commemorating heroes past. The history is so rich here with various european influences that you can almost feel it from one neighborhood to another. We stayed in the old neighborhood of Palermo, which is known for its high end fashion and upscale restaurants. It's the nicest of the older neighborhoods and has a somewhat similar feel to parts of lower Manhattan. However, the most colorful neighborhood in Buenos Aires (and most touristy) is La Boca.

The streets were massive through this city. This street to the right is just a part of Avenida 9 de Julio and it's 7 lanes wide! Not only is this the the widest street in the city, it's the widest in the world! Despite this, there are still traffic jams during rush hour if that gives you an idea of the scale of this city. Buenos Aires is the 2nd largest city in South America (after Sao Paulo, Brazil) with over 13 million people. This is another reason why there is an increasing demand on the Subte and why Porteños are pushing for it's expansion. Why we crossed this road isn't the question, it's how long it took.