We’ve spent this past month in a villa with three bedrooms on one side and an open-air, screened-in kitchen/dining/living area on other, all surrounding a pool. We don’t really have any immediate neighbors other than the trees and birds, which is great for critter-spotting and not needing to worry about Theo’s noise level.
Hacienda Barú
There are many cheaper places to spend a month at the beach than Costa Rica. One of the reasons that I was drawn here, instead of one of those many other places, is that I’m fascinated by the country itself. For example, after a (short) bloody civil war, Costa Rica abolished its military entirely in 1948. Its medical care and life expectancy are both ranked higher than the United States, even though it has a much smaller budget to work with. (We had a pleasant and affordable trial of the medical system this week after Theo fell and hit his head while jumping on a bed. He’s fine and is still jumping on beds.)
Arriving in Buenos Aires
We spent the first part of our trip jumping much shorter distances between European countries. Now, in moving from Costa Rica to Argentina, we’ve very quickly shifted regions, climates, and gone from village to metropolis.
Books I Read About Costa Rica While In Costa Rica
Subway Sales
While Buenos Aires is not an inexpensive city, the subway is a bargain at about 50 cents USD. Unfortunately, the subway only stays open until a little after 10 pm. In a city where the residents don’t even eat dinner until 9 or 10 pm – and later on the weekends – this seems very early.
Buenos Aires Market
After almost a week of daily rain, it was lovely and sunny yesterday! To celebrate, we went to the Buenos Aires Market which was held at the posh Palermo polo fields this weekend. (Seriously posh. There was a woman who seemed to be assigned to sweep up the innocuous looking, small fuzzy things that were falling off of the trees.)
Buenos Aires Street Art
Soup
While our cooking patterns adapt a bunch each month depending on where we live and what’s available in the markets, we’ve made at least one batch of soup at every home except Costa Rica. (Heat and ant invasions do not encourage soup-making.)
Bees and Balloons on Bs. As. Playgrounds
The playgrounds in Buenos Aires are numerous, well-maintained, and full of children, especially during the post-school hours of 4 to 6 pm. Going to the playground seems to be woven into the daily routines of many families, similar to what we experienced in Lyon (France) and Stockholm (Sweden).
Mercado de las Puglas
We ended up at Mercado de las Puglas because it was housing a farmers market for the weekend, but I ended up loving the antique/flea/restored-furniture market portion too, even though we’re definitely not in the market for any furniture.
