I woke early and had breakfast with Katherine, who said that all had gone well with Bob’s surgery the night before and that he’d be released this afternoon. They did have to change some flights and will stay an extra 2 days, but all things considered everything seemed to have worked out all right. She headed off to the hospital and Liz and I headed out to see the street art in the neighborhoods of Palermo and Chacarita.
Local and international street artists are attracted to Buenos Aires thanks to its abundance of abandoned buildings and blank walls, which make perfect canvases for inspiring murals.What makes the city even more attractive is that there are almost no restrictions on where they can paint in the city. There’s no need to obtain authorization from the local authority, and all you need is the consent of the property owner. In the last few years, Buenos Aires has developed a reputation for being a capital for graffiti and street art and is one of the best cities in the world to see huge murals that have been painted on the walls of its buildings and houses. We had a taxi take us to a cemetery which was said to have some wonderful murals along it’s outside wall.
There were a few good paintings and we enjoyed seeing the cemetery as well. Hundreds of very ornate vaults are side by side, with no regard for any style consistency. They reminded me of the stupas in some of the Asian countries I visited — massive and tall and ornate and obviously well tended. Leaving that area, we discovered a few streets with great examples of graffiti on the walls of buildings and shops. Colorful, some themed (one whole wall of Simpsons cartoons), and a few political or with social commentary, it was a visual feast.
And then we were done with walking — the cumulative miles were at last catching up to us, so we headed back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon before the red-eye flight that night. We had a chance to say goodbye (for now) to Bob (who looked pretty good), and Katherine, before we grabbed a taxi to the international airport over an hour away.
And that was the end of our journey through South America. This time.
