Buenos Aires, Argentina
December 16-January 4, 2016
Buenos Aires the capital city of Argentina, is known as the :"Paris of South America". It certainly tries to live up to its nickname with their love of music, food and dancing...Its a sexy, lively city and it buzzes with activity. It's commonplace to find shops closed and people napping come late afternoon. Their evening meal begins around 10:00pm and socializing and nightlife commence afterwards and continues well into the early hours of the morning. People love their firecrackers and after a while, the continuous explosive bangs just blend in with the hum of activity. We had a great opportunity to live 3 weeks in a shared apartment and became immersed in the culture of a traditional neighborhood. A highlight for us was spending time with a local fellow we met who shared his perspective of Buenos Aires and of Argentina. The people love their city and you can definately sense their pride. But like other large cities, it suffers from poverty, drugs and other crimes and Argentina is trying to sort out its own political and economical troubles as a country. Still, its a place that grows on you. And though we generally don't like "big cities" we rather enjoyed our experience here!
Our Accommodations - Shared Apartment in Almagro Neighborhood
Our first night in Buenos Aires was spent at a lovely place called Chillhouse Guesthouse. Lucky for us the helpful owners also have a rental residence which they use for long-term stays and we were able to score a room for our 3 weeks in the city. We really liked being part of a traditional barrio (neighborhood) where we could have a more authentic experience.
Things we liked about Buenos Aires
Making New Friends
One of the greatest joys of travel is meeting people and the memories and connections you make with them. While we were in Ushuaia we met a wonderful fellow named Nacho and when we reached his home city of Buenos Aires we had the chance to get together at his apartment. He cooked us a lovely meal followed by an evening of drinks and chatting including an enthusiastic discussion about football (soccer) and Diego Maradona, a famous Argentina football player. We learned about the city, local life and Argentina itself and gained insight that comes only from this kind of local connection. He even escorted us home at 3:00am to ensure we arrived safely!
The Special Character of Barrio La Boca
La Boca means "the mouth" because the neighborhood is situated at the mouth of the river. La Boca is an old neighborhood with Italian history but mainly it exists because of the shipyards and the people who worked them. Its a rough and run down place that is unsafe to linger after dark but it doesn't stop the hoards of tourists descending upon it during the daytime at weekends. Its a colorful barrio with a vintage feel and you can catch a glimpse of tango being performed at local cafe's.
San Telmo Sunday Market
The neighborhood of San Telmo had one of the largest Sunday markets we'd ever seen and it was pretty impressive with a large variety of artists selling their original wares. The neighborhood itself was also full of character pairing its old history vibe with new innovative shops and restaurants. A funky place to spend some time.
Ice Cream and Panaderia's (Bakeries)
Luckily for us, Argentine's love their ice cream and pastries. Our favorite "cono" was a mix of half vanilla and half "dulce de leche" (similar to carmel). A popular breakfast item is "medialunas" which are croissants with a bit of sweetness on top and we ate a lot of these!
Parks, Cafe's and Leafy Streets
Sprawling cement covers much of the city but Buenos Aires had many huge parks and green spaces making it a nice retreat from the bustle of activity. The cafe culture is pretty big here and in the neighborhoods of Recoleta, Palermo and the Riverfront there's an endless supply of cafe's spilling out onto the streets.
The Architecture
Buenos Aires had a lot of beautiful old buildings, some with amazing carvings and intricate work.
The Recoleta Cemetery
This famous cemetery contains the graves of notable people such as Eva Peron ("Don't cry for me Argentina..."), presidents of Argentina, the granddaughter of Napoleon and nobel prize winners. The cemetery is sprawling and felt like a small village. The sheer size and detail of the grave sites was amazing and in 2013 CNN named it among the top 10 most beautiful cemeteries to visit..
Celebrating New Years in a Different Part of the World
We brought in 2016 with movies and munchies at our Buenos Aires residence followed up by a mega display of fireworks exploding around the city! We always take a moment to reflect on how grateful we are for our friends and family back home and for the new people and places we encounter during our travels. The fact that we experience all of these things together is what makes it all so special. Here's to an amazing new year!