Peace and Quiet

Ahhh ~ The protesters are gone, it is quiet, the police are still here but they just smile at us and give the Pup a pet and watch us go safely along the way . The Embassy still has quite a bit of protection around it but the parks are freshly mown, the air is full of the scent of cut grass and the scent of flowers in the trees .. since most people are preparing for tomorrow or out of town, we have the parks and what feels like the town, to ourselves.

We started our walk by passing the Embassy and looking out over the parks, as far as I could see, big fat clouds, a nice breeze to keep us cool and hardly any people ..   ahhh quiet .

We wandered through  Palermo Chico , past beautiful apartments and homes. This is where I really want to live, small crooked streets that have petit hotels, private homes / mansions and very nice small apartment buildings. All quiet, very clean and very prosperous looking.
The Spanish Embassy and the Embassy for Saudi Arabia and a few others are in this area.
I never see any protesters around that area. It must always be pretty quiet... sigh ... quiet.

We decided to just go wherever we felt like going, so it was a long meander through this neighborhood and that, past the Japanese Gardens, a fantastic, serene,  beautiful garden in the middle of this city.

Back on the little streets in Palermo where there are cafes and playgrounds for small children and walled in gardens and flower stands on the corners.
Very small, elderly ladies stop on the sidewalk and launch into long , laughing, boisterous discussions with their "girl"friends, young people walk along, holding hands, stopping for kisses every few steps.. young parents pushing a pram come along, looking in the window of the Real Estate offices.  Are they looking for a place that is not too expensive, close to where they live now but with a bedroom for the child? or perhaps, with an elevator  and maybe a garden?

We stop every few steps, it seems like, to admire the architecture of a building, the flower boxes in a window, the window displays in a shop. And then there are the other people who stop us to talk to us about Pup, their dogs want to say hello, I see a small charcoal grey kitten on a wall, eating food out of a little take out bowl that someone has placed there for him.

I stop and admire the 1930's architecture of an apartment house that resembles the Empire State Building in style. And a few doors down, a 2 story house with beautiful wrought iron balconies, mostly covered with flowering vines and a huge impressive wooden door.

Around the corner back on Libertador, the wide wide avenue that leads us back to our home, we walk past the grand homes. Art Deco buildings next to Art Nouveau with a few less attractive 1970's style buildings. But mostly they are older and very beautiful, with large trees in front and nice views.
This is where I would like to live.

Pup enjoys it all, especially when we stop at "our" cafe for coffee and cake and the waitress brings Pup a big bowl of water. Never mind that the dog without a leash keeps coming over and wanting to be more than a friend with Pup, we all manage to have a nice cool rest in the shade and then set off back through the parks and home.

All in the peace and quiet of a Saturday in Buenos Aires ... ahhh.. quiet.