Welcome to Amelia's 5 hour walking tour of some of the parts of Buenos Aires she has never been

Finals are over and I finally have some more time to enjoy the city stress-free, so I did what I've always wanted to do this entire trip- take the collectivo to a random barrio I haven't yet been, get off at a place that looks interesting, walk around wherever (get lost), and eventually attempt to find my way back. And it worked! (Obviously since I'm writing this)

I ended up taking the collectivo to Parque del Centenario in Caballito, a very porteño neighborhood that I have not yet had the pleasure to visit. I walked around a bit and enjoyed the circular park with a large central duck pond, what looked like to be kids on a school field trip, and used book vendors. The weather wasn't the greatest but it was still a nice way to de-stress and not think about Argentine history or Spanish literature analysis. 

Parque Centenario

Yeesh lose some weight, pigeons!

I began to walk down a busy street that looked like it would have interesting stores on it. It was mainly restaurants, bakeries, and supermarkets, so not very interesting. But again, just walking around in the neighborhood was relaxing (and it's not like I was going to buy anything anyway). I kept walking for maybe 10 or so blocks until on my right I saw a semi-slummy neighborhood over a bridge. Turns out it was Almagro. Whoops. I decided not to take the bridge and instead headed over to what I assumed would be a main street, which ended up being closer than I expected! Using my awesome city skills, I chose a collectivo that would take me to the center of town by the Congressional building, because that was one building I had not yet visited but wanted to since the architecture is pretty incredible. On my way over from Plaza de Mayo (with Casa Rosada and the Cathedral), I decided to stop in at a cafe and grab some tea and enjoy doing absolutely nothing with my day. I then made it to Plaza de Congreso, and got to re-create a picture I had found earlier online.

Plaza de Mayo, if you forgot what it looks like

The mounted police are in town

Search online and you'll probably find this photo as one of the top hits for "Buenos Aires"

Fricken pigeons are everywhere. 

After admiring the statues, flowers, and buildings around the congressional plaza, I caught a collectivo back home and enjoyed a tomato, basil, and olive pizza with the host family. 

I was no where close to the actually dangerous neighborhoods, don't worry mom and dad.