Unexpected Sunshine in Patagonia

Thirty hours and three flights including one very long overnight flight from Atlanta later, my sister Amanda and I stepped out into a rainy Buenos Aires morning. The customs line was short (a small miracle), and our Kallpa host was waiting with water and sanitizing wipes, which felt like the most thoughtful welcome gift imaginable at that point.

We were staying in Recoleta, and we got very lucky - our room was ready for early check in! That left us with two choices: nap, or get out and see the city. We chose the city.
It happened to be Sunday, which in Buenos Aires means the San Telmo street fair. It runs for about 13 blocks, and we wandered all of them.

There were handmade crafts, leather goods, and more mate cups than I knew existed. Mafalda, the beloved Argentine comic strip girl, peeked out from every other stall. We fueled up on empanadas

and then made a very important stop at La Vaca Lechera for alfajores, where we bought one of every flavor. (Research purposes, of course.)

The rain was getting heavier at this point, so we grabbed an uber back to our hotel to dry off and let the worst of the rain pass.

When the sun peeked out in the evening, we decided to explore Recoleta and Palermo by foot. We found Floralis Genérica, the giant steel flower by Eduardo Catalano, though it was under repair while we were there.

We passed the grand columns of the Law School, the Monument to Bartolomé Mitre and the Monumento de Francia a la Argentina.
Then we ducked into the National Museum of Fine Arts, which is free and well worth an hour.

By evening, the jet lag finally caught up with us, so we grabbed a quick dinner at a pub and turned in for the night.

But we had already tasted, walked and people-watched our way through a full day of Buenos Aires. Not a bad way to beat jet lag!