One last adventure

It has arrived: our very last day in Argentina. Hard to believe that almost a month ago we were packing our suitcases to board a plane and travel more than 5,000 miles south on a ten-hour overnight flight to Argentina. But here we are, ready to do the same thing heading north to the U.S. instead. It's always bittersweet to conclude a vacation, with those dueling thoughts of "sad to leave" and "excited to go home." We are ready, though...I think.

Our flight doesn't leave until the evening, so we had a decent part of the day to experience one last adventure or two. Below are some photos of our morning and afternoon, walking around downtown.

A view of the Avenida 9 de Julio:

A final Obelisk viewing (and for the record, I did some research: the one in Washington  D.C. is more than twice as tall!).

A very strange name for a store, don't you think?

Our final McDonald's viewing. Which is saying a lot, because it seems like there is a McDonald's every block...sometimes twice, and they are always packed:

We saw a great sign in a Kiosco (small convenience store), obviously said is a sarcastically-mocking tone: "Hey skinny kid, if you aren't 18, don't ask for a beer." For the record, yes the drinking age here is (officially) 18. Though puberty seems to be a much more common measure.

We found a great little mall as well, with a phenomenal play area for kids. Since many hours of travel await us, we spent the better part of our late morning here:

We also of course had to have one final Pope Francisco reference, probably the most popular image in Argentina. Below, a restaurant announces "Beef Francisco Style." Not sure if the Pope is getting the proper royalties or not, considering this tiny restaurant on a small side street probably has no direct line to the Vatican.

Oh wait, one more Pope Francisco sighting: the huge 9 story-tall, block-long billboard. Not sure how we missed that one earlier.

Ten pesos to anyone reading this who can spot the Camino de Santiago reference in the photo below, taken a couple blocks from our hotel. Five additional pesos if you know what the Camino de Santiago is (which all my Spanish students should!):

After grabbing a quick bite for lunch (beef and french fries, of course), we walked back to our hotel to let the girls take an afternoon nap on some of the fancy couches in the lobby.

Pauli and I ordered a café con leche from the bar, and here we are circa 1 minute ago posting our final blogs from Argentina:

So with a bittersweet sigh, I am signing off and will see you upon arrival once again in the Northern Hemisphere, many hours from now.

Un abrazo fuerte desde Argentina. ¡Qué nos veamos pronto!