Full days in Buenos Aires

Our visit to Buenos Aires is reaching to an end, one more day left. Girls are sad to leave as do I. Lizzy said she wishes our flight back is overbooked and we “need” to stay for more days. This is music to my ears! I am loving that the family is loving Buenos Aires, faster and more than I expected for their first visit. Part of the reason is my outstanding mood this week, I am sleeping 9+ hrs a day, my readiness is consistently above 90, which never happens. I am the YES mom when I am here, saying yes to all their asks (sweets, more playgrounds visits), and we are always out and about when it’s day time. Girls love walking around just as I do, and Buenos Aires is the most walkable city I know. Grandma and daddy get exhausted easily and the moment they get back to our airbnb, they need to take a nap. hahaha… me and the girls, we keep going and going until it’s dark and too cold. I LOVE IT!!!

We’ve fell in love with Mafalda, an Argentinian character that is funny and wise. We read few lines of her comics and bought the collection. It’s the best way to learn castellano and Argentinian sense of humor. Sofia and I take turns to read, Lizzy listens, trying to understand. Why it took me so long to remember sharing Mafalda with them?!

I’ve introduced them tostadas! Sofia said: I can’t go back to regular grilled sandwiches anymore. hahaha…

I’ve taken them to visit where I grew up. The place that I lived the most in Buenos Aires, in San Telmo, not the fancy neighborhood.

and the mini market my parents owned and I worked every summer.

The street I grew up. Sofia, looking at it, said: I can’t imagine you living in a non-fancy place. Well… that’s where I came from, I said. Sofia went silent, to her own thoughts, holding my hand a bit stronger.

each of us is getting some sourvenirs. I saw mine and immediately felt I needed to have it. A ceramic mate with a cat saying: que bajon! (what a downer)

we also visited la boca stadium, per daddy’s request

and caminito

we tried a mousse store near where we stayed and all agreed it was tooooo sweet

playground everyday is a must!

we visited Chinatown, which used to be THE highlight of my week, to go there, pick up a snack and get some chinese TV video cassettes. Look what we found, a poster requesting blackpink to come to Buenos Aires!

I took the family to my favorite restaurant, palitos, to try my favorite dish from over two decades ago, something I ate every weekend for so long.

I honestly couldn’t believe I was there with my daughters. Sitting there reminds me the state of mind I was two decades ago, the future, the uncertainty and excitement about how my life could turn out to be. I wouldn’t imagine in million years how actually it turned out.

Chinatown, used to be two blocks frequented by most chinese people, now into a touristic destination full of locals.

As we went to a Chinese market, full of customers, I asked Sofia would she rather have a shop like this one and earn way more than me, or have my job? She said definitely I want your job. Why? I thought she’d say it’s more prestigious as it’s office work, more respected by the society?! No. She said because having a shop would be so stressful. Anyone could open a shop in front of you and steal your business.

Girls also got to try to authentic freddo ice cream

We also watched how to train a dragon in Spanish, explored the ferias in recoleta, visited more shopping malls (alto palermo, paseo alcorta), ate empanadas everyday, tried the best italian food (la parolaccia), visited kioskos multiple times a day, rode the local bus, chat with taxi drivers, and even the neighbor in our building. The family agrees that Buenos Aires looks like Paris. Walking around is one of the best thing to do.

We are flying back tomorrow 3am. Fortunately we’ve decided to come back in September to make this departure less sad. Next trip, we will go a level deeper into the life in Buenos Aires.