Buenos Aires 6

It was my last day in Buenos Aires and South America. The flight was in the evening so I had the day to visit parts of Baires I had left out over a month ago. I discarded clothes I didn't want to take home and checked out, carrying only a daypack. I got breakfast at the supermarket.

I caught the subte (what porteños call their subway) to LN Alem station for Puerto Madero. These were former dockyards turned into an upmarket district with dwellings, offices, shops and restaurants. (I believe that more edifices and landmarks have been added in the years since my visit.)

The Catholic University of Argentina was situated there as was the museum ship ARA Presidente Sarimento. Students were out enjoying the sunshine.

I didn't note the history of this large propeller unfortunately.

This is the old customs house, if I read the name on the building correctly.

I walked back to the city and encountered Galerías Pacífico again. I couldn't resist taking more pictures of the beautiful interiors. This is the central fountain you saw before, from above. There were many smartly dressed people shopping. I spent some of my remaining money on CDs.

I went to Guerin and had some pascualina and anchoa pizza for lunch. Italian immigration has had a lot of influence on Argentinian cuisine.

At Plaza San Martin there was a memorial to the Malvinas war (the Argentinan name for the Falklands). Similar to Chile, it took a crisis, in this case a military misadventure, to put cracks in a dictatorial regime.

This is how I like to remember Buenos Aires, sitting in a park in the porteño spring at a perfect 24C with cool breezes. It was a day on which one really feels happy to be alive. I couldn't have asked for a better send-off from the Queen of the Plata.