botanical gardens – Trouspinet travels

¡Hola! This time I am writing from Buenos Aires (BA), at the start of a month-long trip around Argentina that I invite you to follow on my blog. I have an ambitious schedule aiming to cover most of this huge country and part of Chile, with the aid of seven internal flights. I am little worried that if anything goes wrong – like a single cancelled flight – my whole plan will fall apart. I arrived on the overnight flight from London via Madrid, and to my relief my bags arrived with me, and I got through immigration and customs very quickly. One less thing to worry about. My plan for today is simple – chill out to recover from my flight and prepare for the next stages of my trip.

During the long taxi ride in from the airport was struck by the mix of architecture in the city. There are many skyscrapers, but also grand old buildings like the Congress…

And crumbling but pretty older buildings like this…..

My hotel room was not ready yet, so I spent some time chilling in the Botanical Gardens. The part of Buenos Aires where I am staying is called Palermo and has lots of parks and gardens.

I got my Argentine Sim-Card, and then some local currency – Pesos. There are two exchange rates in Argentina. The official rate is what you get if change money in a bank or bureau de change, or if you use your credit card. It is about 160 peso to the US$. The unofficial rate is 290 – almost twice as good. This great deal is available from shady and risky money changes in parts of Buenos Aires…….and with Western Union money transfers. WU is very popular here, and there are offices all over town. I found the one closest to my hotel, but they only had enough money for one of my two transfers…….- and in small denomination notes. Still it was enough for the next few days, and I enjoyed a reviving coffee with my newly purchase pesos.

A much needed coffee and one of several wads of pesos from Western Union

I checked back into my hotel at one, and after a short rest, set off to explore the city. First I found the 3^rd of February park, a favourite haunt for Portenos (residents of Buenos Aires). It has rose gardens, lawns where people play football, and a lake where you can rent boats.

The lake in the 3rd of February Park, Buenos Aires

After the public park I visited the Japanese Garden. I was not sure quite what it was doing in the centre of BA, but it was a nice place to explore.

From there I headed to the Museum of Latin American Arts to see some really good displays of contemporary art.

My last stop was an early dinner at a wine bar with a pavement terrace – of which there are lot, because both the weather and the wine are very good in Argentina.

Wine, Food, and Al Fresco restaurants – three things Argentina does very well

I enjoyed tasting some fantastic Argentine wine and food before heading back to the hotel for an early night. The time difference between Buenos Aires and London is only 3 hours, but even so my body was telling me it was past midnight.

I was happy with my first day in Argentina. The sights I had seen had been pleasant rather than memorable, but I had really liked the atmosphere of Buenos Aires. The people are very friendly and seem relaxed and happy. They spend a lot of their time in the excellent open air cafes and restaurants – and so would I, with food and wine this good. My carefully-planned route takes me around the country without returning here before the very end, but I am looking forward to reporting back in more detail on this pleasant city.

Next Post: The Quebrada de Humahuaca

Today I planned to finish the NC500 route. First, the road led to Inverewe, where a beautiful garden has been created in Scotland’s far north. It is home to some sub-tropical plant species, that can survive because the Gulf Stream keeps the climate surprisingly mild in winter. The designers of Inverewe also had the idea of using a forest of Scots Pine to provide protection from the strong, cold Scottish winds. In addition to exotic plants from Australia and South Africa and other far-flung places, Inverewe also has traditional Scottish plants like rhododendrons and azaleas, which were just starting to bloom. I spent a happy hour wandering around, and then found a discrete corner to have sandwiches for lunch – I wasn’t sure if picnics were allowed in the gardens.

Different aspects of the gardens at Inverewe

From Inverewe, the road again became narrow, with spectacular views of the sea.

I often had to squeeze past other cars and thought that it was good to be driving the NC500 in May – in high season, the road might be too busy to enjoy. At Kinlochewe, the NC500 turned off down the Torridon valley, with more mountains……… and an unexpected friend standing right by the side of the road, unperturbed by passing cars.

Form Torridon the road climbed back into the mountains, where I met more friends.

Then I descended into Applecross, a pretty village by the sea with a very good restaurant, where I stopped for afternoon coffee. From there. I drove up and back down the steep Bealach na Bà pass, with its nerve-jangling hairpins bends and far-reaching views.

Next the road followed the side of Loch Carron….

…before reaching a place called New Kelso where I had first started the NC500 over 500 miles and three days earlier. I had done it!

The rest of the day was easy. I travelled back towards the Kyle of Lochalsh on a road I had already driven once. It looked very different in the sun, particularly Eilean Donan Castle.

I passed the Five Sisters again, driving east rather than west this time, before reaching Invergary, where I had booked a room in the Glengarry Castle Hotel as a special treat. Nearing my destination at the end of another long day, I met with one last surprise – the old bridge leading to the hotel had collapsed.

I soon found the other way to reach the hotel , checked in, and had an excellent dinner, after which I drank coffee and wrote my blog in the “morning room”, enjoying the ambience of staying in a real Scottish castle.

It had been another long day’s driving, but I had completed my mission. The car was still intact, although the wheels and suspension had been through a serious workout. I had hundreds of photos and even more memories of the NC500 – possibly the best road trip in the world.

Previous Post: Tackling the West Coast – Day 1

Next Post: A more relaxing day

Tag: botanical gardens

A Bear in Buenos Aires

Tackling the West Coast on the NC500- Day 2 – Inverewe and the Bealach na Bà pass