Buenos Aires

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On off days went to one of the countries next door, Argentina.

In learning how to understand what I will call "Argentinian", I will say that it's like partially relearning Spanish. #1 is the vos form which does not just apply to your closest friends and family like in other countries - basically only saw the usted form being used for official type signs. #2 is the fact that 3 different consonants all sound like "sh" - "ll", "y" and "j" when used in the middle of a word.

It's pretty fun listening to them, lilting long vowels and all - it's almost like heavily Italian-accented Spanish, which is probably where the accent originates as apparently large numbers of Italian immigrants came to Argentina. Which is why apart from parilla (Argentinian steakhouse, definitely superior to US counterparts) and cafes, the other most common eatery is Italian food which can be seen on any street.

In fact the whole city doesn't feel like it'd be out of place in Europe. It seemed like practically 1/3 of the population is blond-haired.

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Photos

Bife de chorizo
This is obviously not a sausage! Argentine beef - delish

Eating in a parilla
Parilla = steakhouse

la Avenida de Mayo
Widest street in Buenos Aires

Ice cream - turns out to be an Argentinian specialty
this pic was actually taken in Bolivia at a branch, but we had it in Buenos Aires also!

Example of abundant graffiti
This subway line had cars with wood paneling inside

Cafe Tortoni
Famous historical cafe where important figures would come and watch tango. Tango halls are called "milongas".

Jardin Japones
There is a large area of gardens in the city with this being 1 of them.

Graffiti cont
Only saw this once. There was a lot about the Islas Malvinas (or Falkland Islands) that Argentina is disputing British claims to.

More parilla
Their food courts in malls were a lot more impressive than typical US ones. This one unfortunately was style "Americano" - which I definitely did not try!