happy girls are the prettiest: Garden Hopping

So, here's the thing: I'm not one of those tourists who tries hard to blend in and pretend she's not a tourist, but I reallyyy don't like being led around stuffy old buildings by someone who is telling me all sorts of "interesting" facts. While traveling, I'd rather skip the tours and roam around a new city aimlessly; soaking in the sights and smells, tasting the food, observing the people. To me, that just feels like the best way to get to know a new city.
While I was in Buenos Aires, all I wanted to do was wander around the cobblestone streets, drink cappuccinos, eat every alfajore I came across, and keep an eye out for random tango performances. I was traveling with friends, however, which means I had to take into consideration what my friends wanted to do. (Why I was the only one with a raging alfajore-obsession still confuses me hahah!)One day, we all decided to go visit the Japanese Gardens. I was sad to think of all the delicious gourmet cappuccinos I was missing out on, but I knew it would be an opportunity to see something truly beautiful.The funny thing is, on the way to the Japanese Gardens, we stumbled upon the Botanical Gardens, which is known to locals as "The Cat Garden" due to all of the cats roaming around. Let's just say my friend Lara was IN HEAVEN.

As we walked from the Cat Garden to the Japanese Gardens, we passed by the zoo! We didn't go in, but I snapped some good shots through the gate >:)

And we also saw this :( Eveyone hates Americans :(

Finally, we arrived at the Japanese Gardens!

There were a lot of pretty flowers there. It made me think of my friend Jade :) The cherry blossoms were not in bloom though, since it was Winter. I bet it's incredible in Spring.