The Teatro Colón (Columbus Theatre), the main opera house in Buenos Aires, is considered to be acoustically amongst the five best concert venues in the world.

A jacaranda tree

A rainy day in the San Telmo Market

Ian in the San Telmo Market. Move your mouse over the image for a different shot.

More jacaranda trees

Our home for the first few days in Buenos Aires

Allan outside La Recoleta Cemetery

The mausoleum of Eva Perón. Move the mouse over the image for a different shot.

Plaque on the tomb of Evita

Ian in La Recoleta Cemetery

Allan standing in a water sculpture. Move your mouse over the image for the full picture.

La Casa Rosada (The Pink House) is the official executive mansion & office of the President of Argentina. Move your mouse over the image for a different shot.

Allan at the Casa Rosada. Move your mouse over the cursor for a shot of Ian.

Casa Rosada awaiting the arrival of the President of China

Members of Falun Gong protesting the arrival of the President of China.

Another protest in Buenos Aires - this one is because, we were told by a resident, it's Tuesday.

Buenos Aires has some of the widest streets we'd ever seen - this one had about 12 lanes going in one direction.

Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to it its six petals. One of the characteristics of the flower is an electrical system that automatically opens and closes the petals depending on the time of the day. At night the flower closes, emanating a red glow from inside, and reopens the following morning. This mechanism also closes the flower if strong winds blow.

It opens every morning at 8 and closes at sunset, on a schedule that changes according to season.

Allan in front of another jacaranda tree.

License plate in Colonia del Sacramento. Colonia del Sacramento (formerly the Portuguese Colónia do Sacramento) is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the Colonia Department with a population of around 22,000. It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site.

Residential street in Colonia.

Founded in 1680 by Portugal as Colónia do Sacramento, the colony was later disputed by the Spanish who settled on the opposite bank of the river at Buenos Aires. The colony was conquered by José de Garro in 1680, but returned to Portugal the next year. It was conquered again by the Spanish in March 1705 after a siege of five months, but given back in the Treaty of Utrecht. Another attack during the Spanish-Portuguese War, 1735-1737, failed.

It kept changing hands from crown to crown due to treaties such as the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 and the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777, until it remained with the Spanish. It then transferred to Portuguese control again, being later incorporated in Brazil after 1816, when the entire Banda Oriental (Uruguay) was seized by the government of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and renamed the Cisplatina province.

Now part of the independent country of Uruguay, Colonia del Sacramento has expanded to the north and east, but the original Barrio Histórico (historic quarter) retains its irregular, terrain-fitting street plan built by the Portuguese, contrasting with the wider, orthogonal calles in the newer Spanish area.

Ian in front of the Portón de Campo, the City Gate. Move your mouse over the image for a shot of Allan.

Lighthouse

Courtyard in Colonia

Colonial house in Colonia

In the historic quarter of Colonia

Old cars were a common sight in Colonia.

Round Tower in Colonia, now a restaurant, where we had lunch.

Having lunch at the Round Tower.

Streetscape in Buenos Aires

Street in La Boca

Colourful buildings in La Boca, the oldest part of Buenos Aires

A balcony scene in La Boca. That's Evita in the middle.

At a restaurant in La Boca

Our first attempt at tango. Move your mouse over the image for a shot of Allan.

La Boca

La Boca

The view from our room in Buenos Aires

Our last meal at our favourite restaurant in BA before heading to the airport and the flight back to Toronto.