Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Argentina: Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls

Tango in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Soft and oil pastels on paper. 
I recently returned from Argentina - it was my first time below the equator - and brought these drawn memories with me.

Buenos Aires felt like a sprawling cosmopolitan collage of a city, with a mish-mash of architectural styles from different time periods. La Boca, a kitsch touristy neighborhood filled with street vendors, paper mâché toys and tango dancers, was the most fun place to draw: a fauvist dream come to life.

Restaurant in La Boca. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Watercolor and pastel on paper.
Tango dancers in La Boca. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Watercolor and pastel on paper.


We stayed in Recoleta neighborhood, and frequented this square near the old cemetery, to eat, have a coffee or an ice-cream break, or to watch the sunset.

Gigantic Fig (Rubber) Tree, which is actually classified as a shrub, because there's no central axis (trunk). These gargantuan shrubs surround Recoleta district in Buenos Aires.


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Iguazu Falls National Park, which was a short flight from Buenos Aires, is a remarkable wonder of nature. The magnitude of Iguazu waterfalls (and there are many, comprising one giant conglomerate) is truly awe-inspiring. We spent a long day at that park, walking various trails all around the Falls, amidst many colorful butterflies, wild birds and animals, and fragrant prehistoric flowers (I lamented not being able to draw a fragrance... because some of those flowers were just intoxicating).

I've been recommending to put Iguazu Falls on everyone's bucket list. It's so worth the shlep :)

That orange triangle at the bottom is a boat with brave souls who ventured to take the lower trail and experience the waterfalls from underneath. One of these boats capsized in front of our eyes. I was not brave enough to go on the lower trail. Instead, I made some drawings. 

Showing this butterfly my drawing.