Buenos Aires in bloom

Spring has definitely sprung here in Buenos Aires. Although if you are a native northerner like me, it pretty much feels more similar to summer in the Midwest than spring. The weather has been near perfect for the last few weeks: upper 70s-low 80s and sunny almost every day with cool evenings down in the 60s. The leaves, flowers and accompanying pollen are out in full force. I love the mix of trees and plants here- there are palm trees and tropical flowers next to types of trees that I would see back home.

My favorite tree is the Jacaranda. It has the most beautiful, vibrant violet colored flowers that brighten up the city. The only thing that could make this beauty even better would be if it smelled as good as it looks! As far as I can tell, the blossoms do not have any scent.

There are lots of other pretty things that I see on my walks/runs through the city:

Unfortunately, the one day I went to "El Rosedal" (a beautiful park nearby that has a gorgeous rose garden, lake, and walking paths) with my camera it was closed. This is as close as I could get to the roses before a guard blew a whistle at me and yelled something in Spanish.

The ants here seem much more ambitious and organized. They create what looks like a highway system of tracks to/from their nest. If this happens in parks in Chicago, I never noticed it before. Perhaps the grass is just shorter and more sparse here so it's easier to spot?

The purple fleck in the bottom right corner is an ant carrying a piece of a Jacaranda flower along one of the tracks to the colony. I thought my mom would enjoy my keen attention to nature and appreciate this detail about the ants! :)

 There are some beautiful, exotic flowers along the walkway to our building. The pink and red flowers remind me of Hawaii.

I almost forgot that today is Thanksgiving! Although it doesn't feel like typical Thanksgiving in the States, I am thankful for the warm, wonderful weather and beautiful surroundings in our new home!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!