Often called the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires reflects the recent developments that have accompanied the country's political and social transition to democracy-developments at once complex and exciting. Buenos Aires's vibrant center is reminiscent of Paris, but its tree-lined avenues and plazas have their own distinct beauty.

Downtown, you can experience the energy of the Plaza de Mayo or stroll the Avenida Santa Fe, the city's most fashionable shopping area. Nearby is Avenida 9 de Julio, known as the world's widest thoroughfare. Students can explore Lavalle and Avenida Corrientes for coffee with the city's artists and intellectuals. Other sites to visit include the Teatro Colón, a world-class Opera House, and the city's popular museums-including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and Museo Histórico Nacional.

City Highlights
Once deemed the apex of the Latin stage, Buenos Aires is currently enjoying a theatrical renaissance. The massive Nacional, Broadway, Opera, and other theatres on the Avenida Corrientes are restored or reopened, South America's cultural capital has begun importing English and American plays and Broadway musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Rent, My Fair Lady, and Les Misérables.

One of the most intriguing tourist attractions in Buenos Aires is a cemetery. In the elegant neighborhood of Recoleta lies the Cementerio de la Recoleta, burial place of Argentina's elite, where patricians, presidents, and other wealthy and powerful notables rest in ostentatious grandeur. Here, one can find mausoleums that resemble Greek temples, Egyptian pyramids, or Gothic chapels.

Argentina's astonishingly eclectic mix of architectural styles includes a clock tower modeled after Big Ben; an Edwardian-styled train station; a Milanese-styled mall; a church that is a copy of the Pantheon in Rome; a Congress building inspired by Berlin's Reichstag; and an office building with wall inscriptions from Dante's Divine Comedy.

Buenos Aires is known as the city that never sleeps and visitors are even able to purchase books late into the night in the bookstores of Corrientes.

Climate
Buenos Aires has a temperate climate. Spring, summer, winter and fall occur at opposite times of the American calendar year and resemble in temperature their counterparts in Atlanta, GA. Winter (June to September in Buenos Aires) is milder than it is in New York City. Frosts are rare and snow has fallen only once in the past century. The climate during spring and summer may be humid, and summer (December to March) can be quite hot.