Buenos Aires: Day Three

I had one more day of sightseeing left in Buenos Aires before returning to Chile. So I decided to visit Recoleta cemetery, which some say is the most interesting attraction in the entire city. I don't know if I'd go that far myself, but it's certainly worth seeing, as the tombs are very elaborate and artistic. It's not dissimilar to Cementerio General in Santiago.

The neighbourhood of Recoleta, where the cemetery is located, is a really scenic (and slightly British!) place to look around.

On my way back to the metro station, I went past Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which is such a huge and impressive building. If I go back to Buenos Aires, I'd definitely like to have a look at the paintings there.

My next stop was the Palermo neighbourhood, where I planned to visit the Japanese garden. However, on my way there, I discovered another interesting place, the Ecoparque. This park recreates the nature that inhabited the area before the city was built. There are lots of animals there, which have either been rescued or are there for conservation purposes. Roaming freely around the park were dozens of Patagonian maras, a species of rodent that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a deer. They were so cute! I also got to see guanacos for the first time, which was great.

I also really enjoyed visiting the Japanese garden, which seems to be a really popular thing in South America. I've never been to one in Europe, but in Chile, there are ones in both Santiago and La Serena (which unfortunately was closed when we visited). Santiago's Japanese garden has the advantage of panoramic city views, and is free to visit! However, Buenos Aires' version is a lot bigger and is also very beautiful.

So that concludes my account of my trip to Buenos Aires. Looking at the pictures is making me wish I was back there already! I really enjoyed my time there and it was so much better than my first trip to Argentina.

Funnily enough, I was considering volunteering for a children's charity in Buenos Aires for my Year Abroad. That was after I'd considered volunteering at a dog shelter in Peru, and also after I'd considered splitting my time between working in Spain and rescuing turtles in Costa Rica... And then I made the rather spontaneous decision to study in Santiago, which I'm very happy I did! But it was great to finally visit Buenos Aires. It's a very different city to Santiago, but I love both of them. I feel like Buenos Aires is best for architecture and Santiago is best for beautiful mountainous panoramas.

I was a little sad to leave Argentina but was very happy to come back to Chile again. I'll be writing a bit about some of the new places I've seen there next!

Read about Buenos Aires: Day One here and Buenos Aires: Day Two here!