Souvenir hunting

Inside the Catedral Metropolitana, dedicated to Santa Maria de Buenos Aire: St. Mary of Good Air. Note the school sports team who all seem to be number 18.

Guard at the tomb of San Martin, liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru. Argentina's constitution specifies that it has no one religion, but as the cathedral is catholic and Martin was a Freemason, he is buried in a side-chapel, not technically within the building.

The tomb of San Martin, with statues representing the three countries he liberated

La Boca is a poor area with colourful art, which used paint and materials left over from the repair and maintenance of ships in the nearby port where most of the inhabitants worked.

Three national people's heroes; footballer Diego Maradona, Eva Peron and tango singer Carlos Gardel

Interior of a typical tenement, built from scrap materials in the empty homes of rich people, who fled the area during a yellow fever epidemic

El Caminito, a street bought and decorated by a local artist made good, who wanted to give the residents art right on their doorstep

They're very proud of the pope, who comes from Buenos Aires.

Argentina is proud to mark the contributions of its European cousins. This crane is painted in red, black and gold to denote its manufacture in Germany.

The Herrera district, formerly disused dock land is now full of highly desirable residential property. The bridge between these two blocks is the residents' swimming pool.

The cemetery at Recoleta is one of he world's most famous. People are dying to get in there!

This is the tomb of the Duarte family, where Eva Peron wa finally laid to rest, after her embalmbed corpse was stolen and shipped to Italy, where it was buried under a false name to prevent it becoming a shrine and rallying point for the working classes of Argentina.

Names on the tombs reflect the diversity of nationalities in Argentina, this one sounding British.

It was a sign of status to import the materials for a tomb from Europe. Some are built from Italian marble, and this one was made in Glasgow.

British-style red phone boxes seem to be the standard in Recoleta.

Huge rubber trees abound in the squares of Buenos Aires.

This branch is supported by a statue.

The Eva Peron memorial, on the site of the house where she died, with crowds of well-wishers outside. It was burnt down to erase all memory of her.

Magnificent houses are all over the city.

In the evening we attended a tango show with dinner. Coincidentally, the couple who'd been on our tour in the morning were at the next table. We don't often chat much with fellow traveller, \240ur we got on well with them. They were of similar ages to use, to me anyway, and from Billericay, and not once did I mention their fellow resident made famous in the Ian Dury song.

The singing was in Spanish, but the dancing was incredible, and the five-piece band were very talented.

I've noted all the moves for our Milonga Experience in a few days.

Buenos Aires from the River Plate

The rocking motion of the boat is very relaxing.

The map shows the many waterways of the area.

Houses are cheap - US$30-120k - but life isn't easy, especially in winter. All services you'd expect in the city are provided except water, which residents have to buy for cooking and drinking.

You're never far from the smoke and scent of Argentine barbecue, Asado. It's not ideal when you're eating empanadas for your tour lunch.

We went back to Buenos Aires by road, stopping at San Isidro, named after its Gothic cathedral, \240completed in 1898.

Each house has its own jetty.

Approaching Tigre

At the dock in Tigre

Locals queuing for the bouncy castle

Asado

The market at Tigre

I splashed out on a wooden dough cutter (90p) and a wind chime (£4).

San Isidro

Preparing for first holy communion

A puppeteer

Some things on display I wasn't even sure what they were, or why.

Many unique art works are on display

An elderly couple of tango dancers

Alba Llaleq is a group of ethnic musicians from the Chaquense area.

This tango dancer's advanced stage of pregnancy didn't seem to impede her.

A puppeteer

Antique shops in the area offer many old and exotic items, like the one reflected in the mirror here.

A one-stringed fiddle of some sort

Lunchtime

The “pink house”, former residence of Argentina’s presidents, now government offices

Street corner café in Palermo

In hip Palermo, even the opticians’ shops are cool.

And the shoe shops

Less cool is the Jewish quarter, Oncé

The Asado barbecue pit in our restaurant for the night. I had goat, which was delicious.

Libertador Square

The Jewish museum, closed on a Monday for some reason

Argentina flag and Messi masks

Stained glass at Teatro Colon, one of the world’s finest

Statuary

Venus and Cupid, missing two fingers broken in transit from Europe and left unrepaired as a memento of the journey

The auditorium from the best box in the house. The dark boxes in the lowest tier are “widow’s boxes”, so called because this was where recent widows could view the opera incognito during the four years they were expected to remain in mourning.

The gold ring in the dome conceals a platform where up to 16 singers and musicians can stand and deliver music as if from heaven.

In the evening we attended a Milonga. This is an informal evening, common all over Buenos Aires, where ordinary people come to tango. The dancing is improvised and non-competitive, and done purely for the pleasure of the dance and the social aspect.

We had a lesson before the locals arrived, but found it much more difficult than skilled dancers make it look.

There are complex rules, varying from place to place, about who can dance with whose, how the man should ask the woman, where to dance, what direction to dance in, and the etiquette of keeping moving on the dance floor to allow others space to dance.

After an hour of recorded music, an 11 piece band played. The music includes tangos, waltzes and milongas, which originate in Africa and have a less melancholy air than tangos. Each dictates a different style of dance.

The bandoneon in an accordion-like instrument, invented in Germany, which is central to the tango sound. Despite this, they are not made in Argentina, but all imported, resulting in a shortage and high prices.

Despite the informal setting and dress, the Milonga evening was as impressive as the tango show the other night, as the dancing is improvised and done by ordinary people, with some couples never having met before.

At the end of the show, many attendees will go on to another Milonga, and it’s possible to dance until 6am, and est breakfast at the last one.

The terrain here is rain forest, as we can see from the plane as we make our final approach.

We stayed at Loi Suites, one of many hotels in the area, all sensitively positioned and designed so that one sees little of them other than the signs. They are built mostly on one level, and hug the contours of the land so that they are barely visible from the road. To get to our room we had to cross two rickety suspension bridges.

The view from the room’s balcony is pure jungle.

We walked down to the river, with Brazil on the other side.

We took the self-operated funicular back up the hill.

We saw lots of horses tethered by the roadsides. They are there for hire.

Inside the national park, a miniature train takes us to the start of the falls tour.

Then an open top bus - well, a flatbed truck with seats fitted - takes us into the rain forest. And it rained constantly, with warm water.

“Awesome” is an over-used word. Those many people who find three or four things awesome per day must have a pathologically low awe threshold. I put Eder to think of awe as something you’d experience once in several years. It’s a term rightly applied to Iguazú Falls, and I make no apology for all the pictures below.

On coming here, Eleanor Roosevelt is reputed to have said “Oh my poor Niagara!”

Over two days we saw the falls from the Argentina side and the Brazil side, and had a boat trip that took us right through the spray of one of the falls. There are no p iTunes as it was too wet to have a camera out.

We were literally wet through afterwards.

Swallows fly around the falls. Their nests are behind the curtain of water, and they dart through the water to get there. Here you can just about see the space behind the water.

The walkways let you get very close to the water. The power of the water is visceral and I was scared most of the time.

This was was probably the best view we saw of the whole spectacle.

Coatimundi prowl the tourist areas looking for scraps of food.

Tongue

I’d have preferred a bass clef, but that’s being picky.

Steak with Yucca chips

Beer from the south

Steak

More steak

Local wines

Empanadas, with the marking on the crust indicating the type of filling

The traditional Asado barbecue pit

German influence

Mixed starter, salmon teriyaki, Pacu (river fish), a beer, a gin and tonic, chocolate dessert, coffees and water, around £45

Maté, the ubiquitous Argentinian herbal infusion, with breakfast.

Another tour party enjoyed their trip on a cropped London bus.

The El Dante sandwich van has been doing business for 40 years, the last 25 under the management if the same lady. We shared a Choripan (Chorizo + Pano, a sausage sandwich) with various toppings.

Inside Iglesio Catedral on Plaza San Martin

A civic area has been created on the site of a former women’s prison. This exhibit commemorates the thousands of women who were imprisoned and killed there.

Babies were taken from them at birth and adopted out, and a recent campaign has worked to make these children aware of their backgrounds and reunite them the families of their biological mothers.

Modern Art

The leading exponent of Córdoba’s local Cuarteto style of music, Carlos ‘La Mona’ (the monkey) Jimenez

La Mona’s rival, El Potro Rodrigo Bueno

The public university of Córdoba

A new government building

Igelesio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus

The church was built to meet the needs of affluent local European immigrants, and the multiple colours and style of columns represent this diversity.

The ceiling displays the night skies for every month of the year.

Mass was going on during our visit.

Estancias Tour

Spanish Jesuits played a major role in building and ”civilising” Argentina. In Córdoba they set up the first university, and soon found they needed to raise money to pay for it. They did this by producing food on Estancias on the largely untapped land around the city.

We visited Santa Catalina, Jesus Maria and Colonia Caroya.

Sant Catalina was the largest, covering an area bigger than Belgium and the Netherlands put together.

Santa Catalina

Our access to Santa Catalina was united as it is privately owned. (They are all UNESCO heritage sites.)

En route to the next Estancia we stopped at the local rodeo stadium. There are regular events here which attract huge crowds and contestants from all over South America.

In Jesus Maria we passed through their famous avenue, 14km long and a site for festivals and celebrations of all kinds.

The estancia at Jesus Maria

Jesus Maria was built by Africans (who we were told weren’t slaves because they got food and board provided - free shackles and beatings also, no doubt) and by local Indians who were taught the crafts of painting and sculpting. We were told that the artefacts there often have the look of the loca Indians as a result.

They courtyard at Colonia Caroya is planted with the distinctive purple Lapocha trees.

It was here that I experienced another first; a light aircraft overhead with a public address system urging people to attend the forthcoming circus.

The catedral, with its shadow drawn on the square

Shopping Arcade

Other nations’ graffiti always looks more sophisticated than ones own

Wine bottle trees line many of the city’s avenues

Evidence of integrated German immigrants

That’s all flesh under there. Argentina has 1.22 head of cattle for every head of population, when we arrived at any rate: I feel I did a lot to redress the balance.

I told you about Milonga before. We came upon one in Plaza San Martin

Watching the couples, most appear to not know each other, but coordinate perfectly for the minutes they dance together

The commitment and talent are very evident.

A corner of Los Molinos

Villa General Belgrano was founded by German immigrants in 1932 and had retained and enhanced its German character to the extent that they celebrate Oktoberfest, and have German breweries, restaurant, bakeries and butchers.

Many of the residents are descendants of the sailors from the Graf Spee, who were interned here after the ship was scuttled in the River Plate off Buenos Aires.

Die Hauptstraße

The municipal buildings

Tourism is big business here. 15,000 tourists squeezed into the town for 2018's Oktoberfes, and there was still Germania left in the shops when we arrived.

La Cumbrecita

High in the mountains, this community was founded by a German-speaking dentist from Cordoba in 1934. The town is ecologically governed, with cars only allowed in and out during strictly controlled two hour time windows, one in the morning and one in the evening.

The Alpine character of the community was evident from the moment we crossed the bridge into it.

Strict building control insists that all new properties have the distinctive peaked roofs.

The steep hillsides present architectural challenges, and give spectacular results.

Bizarre Cultural Juxtapositions 'R' Us

Goulash and Patagonian Weißbier for lunch

After a devastating storm, the stumps of broken trees, rather than being removed, were sculpted in situ to stand as memorials to the loss.

To ensure the community was attractive to all, the church is strictly ecumenical.

One trunk and branch make the fisherman, another trunk the fish.

Mountain stream

Was??

Roadside restaurant

Built to resemble a cuckoo clock that resembles a house. We weren't around to see the glockenspiel in action.

Tribute to the founders. I had indeed been thinking as we entered the village, "There will be Edelweiss".

One of our best meals was at San Honorato, built in a former bakery. After ordering, guests are invited down to their cellar, where they can sample local wines and delicacies.

Our host was as entranced as we were, happily slurping the food and wine with us.

San Honorato's dining room, with open plan kitchen

Here I had cross-cut beef ribs, with about as much meat as I would cook for four people. It broke my heart to leave about half of it, though finishing it would probably have done at least as much damage.

Cordoba's synagogue

Modern sculpture, or a classical sculpture of a very strange woman

There are loads of dogs, owned and street dogs.

Street dogs seem to be accepted by most Cordobans. One street trader famously organised a scheme whereby traders take it in turns to put out food for them.

Memorial photos of women "disappeared" during the military dictatorship

Cordoba's architecture is very varied.

Locals watching a street entertainer

Natural Science Museum

Memorial to the sinking of the General Belgrano during the Falklands war

Different culture, different branding rules

A souvenir that should be good for starting fights back home

An 18th century crypt, abandoned due to political shifts, and rediscovered in the 1980s during road works on the major street above

There had been a festival of some sort, and the crypt was decorated accordingly

What it was about we don't know, but the use of bright colour, even in a religious context, is typical of what we saw all over Argentina.

We saw a few political demonstrations. This one was demanding equal pay for female manual workers in the food industry.

The centre of Córdoba is bisected by La Cañada, a canal offshoot of the River Squía. The water level is highly variable, depending on rainfall in the hills around the city. It has streets either side of it, and is arched by trees, creating a pleasant shade.

Córdoba makes very little of the canal itself. There aren’t any barges or houseboats, and nothing like the hub created at London’s Camden Lock. Perhaps this is because it’s water level is too variable.

I mentioned earlier the dark days of the military junta. El Museo Provincial de la Memoria is in the former offices of the security forces where enemies - real or imagined - of the junta, and even people who’d come to enquire about them were held, interrogated and tortured. Many were never seen again, often becoming victims of so-called death flights, where they were simply thrown out of aeroplanes into the Atlantic.

There was very little information in English, but we were able to understand what went on there and some of the individuals’ stories. The video shows one room decorated with photos of everyone known to have disappeared from this centre.

There were centres like this in many towns across the country.

It seems to be traditional for the schoolchildren to wear white coats.

I ordered the dish of the day for lunch, a “meat salad”, expecting a couple of slices of ham and some lettuce. What arrived was a T-Bkne steak.