April 3, 2014 - Thursday. Buenos Aires, Argentina

APRIL 3, 2014 - Thursday,  Buenos Aires, Argentina

BOTTOM LINE:
Walked to the Botanical Gardens, US Embassy and Zoo

NOTEWORTHY:

BACK STORY:
We both woke up thankful that we got to sleep in and not be rushed off for another tour.  Having a leisurely breakfast was a pleasant way to begin the day.

In mid morning we took off to walk down to the Botanical Gardens and National Zoo.  The streets were busy and seemed safe.  The distance was about eight city blocks. The streets seemed clean, but again the graffiti splattered on historical buildings was appalling.  It stole the enjoyable character of the buildings and neighborhood.  Not only graffiti littered the area, but there apparently was no doggie do-do pick-up city ordinance.  We dodged piles of poop all along the Botanical park fence line.  We could not find the entrance so we walked down to the US Embassy and over to the business offices.  I attempted to take a picture of the Embassy sign.  A guard yelled out, "Senora, NO!" and waved his finger at me. Glad for the security, but a bit  embarrassing!

US Embassy

Cutting back to our street we came across the only entry into the free Botanical Garden.  I mentioned to Bruce that our criticism of cleanliness and upkeep of parks, zoos etc is based on US standards which are pretty high. I don't want my "normal" to become critical but where's the pride???  I didn't even want to consider going to the zoo for fear of seeing poorly cared for animals.  The Botanical Garden had one entrance to control the entering and exiting of people. I'm not quite certain what they are trying to protect inside the gates. Although plants were labeled, many were mislabeled and the park was very untidy.

We took the time to walk and identify some plants.  One of the sweetest things that I witnessed was a well dressed elderly woman who walked up to a large tree and hugged it!  I didn't want to intrude so when she finished I said, " very nice."  She came over and said that she like the exchange of energy!  Gotta love it!

For our last night in Buenos Aires we went to have grilled meat at Mingo's one more time with a glass of red wine...a nice end to our Argentina visit!