One thing that struck me when I first arrived in Buenos Aires — and strikes pretty much everyone else — was the wonderful architecture. Being a sketcher, of course, I noticed it even more.

Among the really beautiful buildings are the many “palacios” that were built by wealthy families of the past — actually, “wealthy” doesn’t begin to cover it, which is apparent in some of the sumptuous homes. Some are used as office buildings, luxury hotels, grand apartments. Some are simply museums.

The one I saw today, Palacio San Martin, was bought by the Argentine government from the Anchorena family, and today belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I guess because of that, we were allowed to take photographs only outside, in the courtyard and the doorways, but nothing inside. That’s a pity, because they were jaw dropping. Here are the outside shots I took.

I have actually been meaning to sketch this building for, literally, years. I decided to go half an hour early for the tour and do it. Half an hour? What was I thinking? I’ll have to go back at least one more time to finish it. I’ll post it here when it’s done.

This is all I managed to get done — have to go back to finish it another day.