BUENOS AIRES trip report | martiniaktravel

BUENOS AIRES - The Paris of Latin America - trip report

So much to offer. The capital of Argentina, this grand city combines a European feel with Latin passion. With great art, cultural, and historical museums, live entertainment (especially music and tango), wonderful restaurants, impressive monuments, lovely and grand plazas, unique venues (like an amazing cemetary), and multiple neighborhoods each with its own distinctive personality, Buenos Aires provides a rich, varied and overflowing cornucopia of experiences for a visitor. It is easy to get around the city on bicycles which we used almost daily.

Centro Neighborhood. - We start our visit in the heart of the city. Centro has the historic buildings central to the history of Buenos Aires.

Centro's Playo de Mayo (Mayan Plaza) with the the presidential palace called the Casa Rosada (Rose House) .

Centro's National Congress Building

La Boca. Near Centro is the old port neighborhood of La Boca, originally dominated by seamen, immigrants, and those who catered to them. It stills retains a feel of its roudy and colorful past .

Palermo. This neighborhood has the feel of a Parisian neighborhood. Tree lined streets with many nice boutiques, bars, night market, and restaurants among the residences. And great graffiti all over. This was our favorite part of Buenos Aires.

Performance art. The Malba Museum of art was really an experience. Just one of numerous excellent museums.

Food Great eating in this town. From delicious street food, to lovely restaurants, to memorable desserts, it is hard to find a bad meal in this place. As is our custom upon arriving to a new town, we had a private tour to get the lay of the land. Here our excellent tour guide Mario has us sample a grilled meat sandwich. Delectable!

Steak. Steak is a very big deal in Argentina and there are incredible steak houses in Buenos Aires. Two are reputed to be the best in town, La Brigada, (left) and Don Juio's (right).

Cafe Tortoni. This restaurant is a venerable and popular institution serving excellent food and a great ambiance.

Shopping. In the Centro there are many unusual and interesting shops. In addition to shops like this, Bueona Aires has grand shopping malls, fine leather goods, and haute couture.

Unique venues. El Zanjon, on the left, is an excavation of extensive underground structures. The Cemeteria de la Recoleta is another unusual but very interesting tourist site. Where the very richest and most famous are buried, including Eva Peron - a very popular tomb for locals and tourists.

Faena Hotel . The Faena Hotel is very cool. It is located in the hot new area of Buenos Aires - the old waterfront warehouse district. In this area fashionable apartments, boutiques and restaurants are built in refurbished old brick warehouse buildings. The rooms are spacious and cutting edge. .

Fun hotel! The pool and the poolside terrace restaurant are a lovely place to hang out and recuperate after a day exploring the city. At night, the bar (right ) which is just adjacent to the poolside terrace, is one of the hottest party scenes in town. We dropped in one evening and the singer was literally walking along the top of the furniture, while the bar was turning out drinks at a furious pace, and dancing had spread out to the pool terrace. Lots of fun.

Dance. Of course Buenos Aires is famous for the tango and wonderful performances abound (include and dinner performance at the Faena). Here is a tango in the underground El Zanjon. There are even tango lessons on the sidewalk!