After trip to the Museo Evita, the kids were awake and we needed a play to run off some energy. We happened to be by Buenos Aires own Botanical Gardens, so we decided to make a quick trip there.
The botanical gardens, is a lovely triangular shaped park right in the heart of Palermo, a hip neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It’s home to 5500 species of tree, plants and shrubs, as well as a number of interesting monuments, statues, and fountains.
The kids were happy to be free to run around on the walk paths. We told my son we were going to a park, which in his mind equals playground. The poor kid kept going down every path looking for the “park”. My daughter had no such issues, happy to be free of the stroller to run the paths and get up close and personal with nature.
All the around the park we saw a number of couples holding hands or ahem… doing more on the benches, people walking and taking in the quiet, or taking in a quick nap (or cuddle) on the grass. What I also found interesting is we seemed to have found the center of the Buenos Aires counter-culture. There were several avante garde groups outside, and a counter-cultural singing circle that my daughter joined in on. Suffice to say, that it felt like Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 60s minus all the psychedelic colors. Since it was late afternoon (6 PM for those not acquainted with Argentinian time) I saw a fair number of people preparing and drinking mate, the national drink. Its the first time I noticed it in force and was impressed to see the process people go through to drink it.
As we were walking toward a large white momoment, my son suddenly took off down a side path, running. When we caught up with him, we realized his excitement. He had finally found the “park”. There was one of Buenos Aires lovely rainbow colored playground, just on the other side of the garden’s fence. He was so proud of himself, we couldn’t say no. So we went to exit the garden to go to the play ground. Turns out, if you are persistent enough, everyone can find something there to enjoy.
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