Argentina: Buenos Aires (Japanese Garden)

Winter is on its way down here in Argentina, and while where we are located the conditions will not  be anything like the those of brutal Minnesota winters, standard seasonal characteristics are setting in: fewer hours of daylight (the sun now rises just after 8am and sets around 6pm) and cooler temps (the kind of cool where you wear a sweatshirt during the day and maybe turn the heat on at night). Since it appears that the winter has finally ended in Minnesota, we are more anxious than ever to head north to warmer and sunnier days. The only hindrance is the fact that we are still waiting to receive Emi's passport back from the embassy (more than a fortnight after the visa was approved, but who is counting?) 

So in the ever-expanding meantime, let's continue our tour through the parks of Buenos Aires. Today we'll take a stroll through the Japanese Garden. This park--which was created as a gift to the city of Buenos Aires from the Japanese community in Argentina in 1967--features koi ponds, Japanese-imported plants, a tearoom, a restaurant, and a museum that houses Japanese artifacts. We had fun walking on the floating docks over the lakes and watching the fish below.   

Speaking of which, the koi in this park are huge! We noticed that they grew in size as we made our way down the dock, which brought us to the conclusion that they must be divided into sectioned-areas of the lake according to size and/or age. Keeping the koi company were a number of ducks who were swimming their merry way across the water. The bonsai trees were trimmed to perfection, and we also appreciated the information about the geography, history, and culture of Japan scattered throughout the park. More than just a nice place for a photo-op, the garden doubles as an indoor-outdoor museum!

Emi standing next to "Mount Fuji"

Enjoying the zen in the midst of the urban chaos

View of the lake from the pagoda above

They say that this is the largest Japanese-style garden outside of Japan. We did not get to experience any special cultural events while we were there, but they were advertising drum performances, meditation sessions, art classes, and culinary classes, to name a few. We also did not see any special visitors while there (as far as we are aware), but the garden has been visited by Japanese emperors, princes, and other high-ranking officials throughout its years. I doubt there is a park in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires that is not worth visiting, but this is one I would definitely recommend seeing!