Roaming South America

Buenos Aires: Two Days in the Paris of America

October 10, 2026

I arrived in Buenos Aires (Santa María del Buen Aire) via the ferry from Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Buenos Aires is a big city of about 13.4 million. Within that greater metropolitan area is the "smaller" city of Buenos Aires, with about 3.1 million. When I left the ferry terminal and walked to the city center I was rather disappointed in what I walked through. That part of the city is nothing special. Then, as I continued, I passed through some of the historic district, again a bit disappointing - dirty, too many people sleeping on sidewalks. Eventually, I arrived in the city center and things changed a lot - the city became what I expected of BA - very old, clean, and interesting. The city center is loaded with very old buildings and I found to be more interesting than the official historic district. NOTE: You will find people here speak with the Rioplatense accent. This is an accent of Spanish common throughout the greater Buenos Aires area and also heard in Uruguay. If you come across a person with a thick accent, there's a good chance you won't understand them, I sure don't. It's almost as if they're sticking an 'sh' or 'zh' sound between every other syllable. Don't expect to find many who speak a "clean" Spanish, and even fewer who speak English or any other language. I did come across a young woman who speaks very good English, she works in a store that sells wine and other alcohol, but mostly wine. I didn't buy any, and we chatted for a while. I also came across a couple of restaurant servers who attempted to use English, but they were just individual words, not full sentences.

Four small cities, all average cities

September 6, 2026

Posadas, AR and Concordia, AR -

Posadas sits alongside the Paraná River, which forms the border between Argentina and Paraguay. Like Encarnación across the river, Posadas has a beautiful riverfront that stretches the width of the city. Posadas has a population of around 325,000, so it's a medium-sized city, unlike Encarnación, which is a large town. I like Encarnación more. I stayed two nights this time and spent much of the full day with my friend from Encarnación. I visited Posadas in May 2023 and wrote a blog about it, you can read it here.

Two neighboring towns that are completely different

July 20, 2026

Residencia, AR

Residencia, Argentina, is a small city near the corner of Argentina and Paraguay. The population is probably around 300,000. The city was founded in 1878 which means there's no really interesting old architecture. But, what the city does have is a lot of parks and greenspace. It has a long pedestrian-only avenue. Also, throughout the city, especially the city center, you'll find sculptures along the sidewalks. According to the wiki page there are around 500 sculptures throughout the city. I don't doubt that, at all. There are also a lot of murals done in releaf throughout the city, and I have pics in the photo album of many of them. Since 1988, the city has held the Biennial International Sculptures Contest, which is a big enough deal that it is sponsored by UNESCO. When the contest finishes, the sculptures remain in the city along the sidewalks, which explains why there are so many of them.

3 Towns between Salta and Corrientes, AR

July 17, 2026

Joaquín Víctor González

Joaquín V. González, Argentina, is located in north-central AR. It's a small town of about 21,000 people. This is an agricultural town. The local economy is based strongly on soy production, forestry exploitation, and cattle ranching. The town has a couple of banks and a half-dozen or so ATMs, but when I was here over a weekend, at least four of them were out of cash. There's also a casino, a modern supermarket, and a bus terminal. There are a few hotels and other accommadations. There are a couple of plazas and a couple of other parks. The town is flat as a pancake and can be easily walked, as in pretty much all of it, in a couple of hours.

Salta - a Pleasant City in Northern Argentina

July 14, 2026

Salta, Argentina - a city in north-central AR. The original name was San Felipe y Santiago de Lerma in the Salta Valley. The city sits at 1187 meters (3,894 feet) and has a population of about 640,000. Salta was founded in 1582. Salta has a fair amount of its early colonial architecture still standing and in use, many dating back to the early 1700s. Salta has quite a few pedestrian-only streets throughout the city center making it a nice walking city. Most streets in Salta are tree-lined, even in downtown. This is a feature of cities and towns throughout Argentina. The city's high temps range from 20° - 28° C (68° - 82°), averaging 24° C (75° F) year round. The lows range from 3° - 16° C (37° - 60° F), averaging 11° C (51° F). While I was here, the nights dropped to as low as 2° C (36° F) and days were just about as cold.