In the heart of neighbouring barrio Barracas is Pasaje Lanín, a small residential cobblestoned laneway with its humble houses covered in brightly coloured murals and mosaics – urban art in all its kaleidoscopic splendour!

It’s essentially an open-air art gallery conceived by local resident and wonderfully named artist Marino Santa María. He decorated his own house in 1990 and soon his neighbours began inviting him to decorate their own homes and, eventually, with government and even UNESCO assistance, 35 houses in the laneway were decorated.

It’s a charming sun-filled spot in an otherwise urban jungle and I can’t help but think of our own little laneway and neighbourhood back in Sydney and the quirky (us included of course) residents, making our own piece of kaleidoscopic splendour, though for us it’s the greenery of our gardens and blooms of our flowers. Feel homesick now…