Argentina Round-Up

After 21 days in Argentina, one sleepover in the Santiago, Chile airport and one last Starbuck's coffee at my gate, we all felt ready to get back to the real world, despite sadness at leaving the land of delicious vino and cheap steaks. On our last night there we went to dinner together and shared a variety of best and worst moments of the trip, as well as a word that we though described each one of our fellow travelers. It was fun to hear what everyone had to say and it felt like good closure to an unforgettable trip.

My travel buddies at a tango show in Buenos Aires! Rob, Narissa, Kelsi, me & Stetson

To summarize, here are the posts from our three weeks in Argentina:

• Argentina by the Numbers (a somewhat realistic, somewhat humorous attempt to capture three weeks' time)
• Week 1: Iguazu Falls - Vale La Pena, Celebrating Christmas in Mendoza with (many) Malbecs
• Week 2: Salta the Beautiful (and Salinas Grandes!), Chillin' in Cafayate with Canyons & Wine Flavored Ice Cream
• Week 3: Exploring Buenos Aires - Artsy San Telmo, Colorful La Boca, Up & Coming Puerto Madero, Historic Congreso, Evita's Recoleta & Upscale Palermo, Central Downtown (Microcentro)  

Enjoy and thanks for reading! :)

Exploring Buenos Aires: Central Downtown (Microcentro)

I decided to save the best for last in describing the unique and profound history of Buenos Aires. This town has seen a lot of change over the years, and no part of town has been more a witness to those changes than the neighborhood of Microcentro, or downtown. Home to the famous Plaza de Mayo, where mothers of those who "disappeared" during Argentina's Dirty War still march every Thursday, and the adjoining Casa Rosada AKA the White House of Argentina, this is the starting and ending point for much of the historical action in Buenos Aires.

Plaza de Mayo

The expansive Plaza de Mayo spreads out from the Casa Rosada to the town council and Metropolitan Cathedral on the other end. From there the tree-lined Avenida de Mayo runs north until the busy Avenida de Julio and Congreso.

 Casa Rosada 

 Statue of the guy who invented the Argentina flag.

We actually explored this neighborhood on a few different days because it was next to our home base in San Telmo and there was so much to see there. On one occasion we stopped for an afternoon snack at Cafe Tortoni, one of the most famous tango bars in the city and a delicious spot for afternoon coffee. Well worth the 30 minutes we waited in line to be seated!

Warm apple pie with ice cream & planning out the next adventure at Cafe Tortoni!

 The inside of the Cafe Tortoni.

On a different day we stopped in at a museum that I had seen below the Casa Rosada. I had no idea what it was all about when I dragged Stetson and Rob there, but it just looked cool from the outside. After some initial confusion and realization that this building used to be a fort at the edge of the city, we were not disappointed in the many lessons on Argentina's history.

Perfecting the art of "blind museuming" - when you show up the museum because you read about it in the guide book, but don't actually know why you are there. Turns out, there is a lot to learn at the Casa Rosada museum! May 1810 - Buenos Aires declares their independence from Spain.

Juan & Eva Person - Juan is sort of the FDR of Argentina as he is their only president ever elected to three terms and he was known for fighting for the rights of workers.

Bet you didn't know that Argentina not only has a female president in Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, but that she was just sworn in for a second term in December 2011. Who did she succeed to become president? Her husband, Nestor Kircher, who held office for one term, and has since passed away due to a heart attack. Thanks Casa de Rosada museum for the history lesson :)

Exploring Buenos Aires: Evita's Recoleta & Upscale Palermo

While I have been trying to go one by one through each of Buenos Aires' unique neighborhoods, this post in about both Recoleta and Palermo. For a few reasons actually, but mostly because they are geographically next to each other, very similar, and feature lots of museums. Which are awesome to see in person, but not via the internet. So less people pictures means less to blog about.

Anyway - to the north of downtown Buenos Aires are the fancy, high class neighborhoods of Recoleta and Palermo. We took the bus from San Telmo and spent an afternoon in each of them! They are both pretty accessible, although Palermo slightly more so since the Subte (metro) also goes there.

Our adventures in Recoleta took us to the Floralis Generalis, which is this cool sculpture with metal petals that open and close each day. The statue itself has become a well known icon of Buenos Aires, however we joked that they created it with all the coins in Argentina's currency because for some reasons we could never gather enough coins together to get on the bus...

The area between Palermo and Recoleta is filled with some of the cities most beautiful and spacious parks, including the Jardin Botanico, Jardin Zoologico and the Jardin Japones. We didn't spend a lot of time in them, but I liked the idea of having this very green part of the city to contrast with the area around downtown.

A pedestrian bridge over one of BA's many busy avenues.

 The underside of the bridge - cool, huh?

Floralis Generalis - where all of Argentina's monedas (coins) have gone.

 A Gossip Girl-esque shot on the steps on the Museo Nacional de Artes Latinoamericas.

The real star of the show in Recoleta is the cemetery - and not just the cemetery, but it's very well-known occupants. This cemetery is the resting place of some of Argentina's most famous people - including Evita. During our time in Argentina I learned a lot about Evita (Eva Peron). She is most famous for uniting the working classes of Argentina, together with her husband and president, Juan Peron. From what I gathered they must have been quite the power couple back in the day, and rightly so.

 Wandering through Recoleta cemetery with Stetson.

The entrance to Recoleta cemetery.

One of many inscriptions covering Evita's gravesite. 

Our last stop in Recoleta - the main store for Ateneo Bookstore. This giant bookstore is built in an old theater and features a coffee shop in the back on the old stage. So cool!!!

After enjoying all Recoleta had to offer us, we were off to Palermo the next day! This neighborhood further subdivides into area's named Palermo Soho, Palermo Chico and Palermo Hollywood...but I didn't really ever learn the difference. Basically if you are looking to go out to a place with lots of restaurants, bars and discos in the same place, then Palermo is the spot. It is also the spot for upscale shopping, and while all the transport in Argentina left me without the desire to spend many pesos, I did find a cute brown purse and just enjoyed wandering all the shops in general.

Our day in Palermo first began at MALBA, one of the cities most famous museums. Lucky for us, Stetson/Kelsi did their research and we went on a Wednesday and only paid half price for our otherwise $24 peso tickets. Win. We spent about an hour wandering the museum before making it to Mark's Cafe for one of our best lunches of the entire trip. A delicious deli/cafe/heaven in Palermo, Mark's cafe was a much welcome break from all the typical food of Argentina. My blue cheese salad with fresh fruit and toasted nuts was fantastic - you must go there if you ever find yourself in Buenos Aires. Sadly, there are no pictures of Mark's as we were all too busy enjoying the food and atmosphere!

MALBA - Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires

 Inside the three level museum.

 

A snapshot at some of the art to see in MALBA!

Taking a break from shopping in Palermo.

 ...only one more Argentina post to go! Downtown BA, here we come...

Exploring Buenos Aires: Historic Congreso

Monday was our first day in Buenos Aires that was not dedicated to celebrating New Years, so we headed for one of the main tourist things we wanted to do in the city - explore the historic Teatro El Colon (El Colon Theater) in the Congreso neighborhood. Located just across the 14 (FOURTEEN!) lane Avenida de Julio from downtown, this neighborhood is home to some of Buenos Aires' most famous architecture. 

On the map you can see the busy Avenida de Julio with the obelisk in the center of it. Congreso is the neighborhood located above it on the map.

Starting things off with a coffee! 

After our first metro experience in Buenos Aires (which was randomly free since no one was there to take our pesos), we arrived at the obelisk in the middle of Avendia de Julio. Built to commemorate the foundation of the city, this iconic BA statue and the surrounding Plaza de la Republica give this area a very "Times Square" feel. There are even giant billboards and a very large McDonald's for the full effect. The obelisk stands at 67.5 m and was completed in only 31 days time! The obelisk also stands in the exact location of the demolished Church of St. Nicolas, where the Argentina flag was first hoisted in Buenos Aires in 1812. Pretty cool history, huh?

 My friends admiring the obelisk of BA.

From the obelisk, we headed over to the Teatro Colon, just two blocks away. This newly restored theater turned 100 years old in 2008 and is well known for excellent acoustics and 20th century architecture. We paid for the expensive, but well worth the pesos, $110 ARS ($25 USD) tour in English and learned lots of other details about this fine place.

 Teatro Colon

Inside the theater. Red velvet chairs on the main floor are spread out in the shape of a horseshoe in front of the stage.

Finishing our walk around Congreso we saw other notable buildings, like the Palacio Baralo, which was created to illustrate Dante's Inferno, the Palacio de Aguas Corrientes, and the Congress building in the Plaza Congreso (pictured below).

 From Congreso, we were headed north to see the ritzy neighborhoods of Recoleta and Palermo! Stay tuned...

Exploring Buenos Aires: Up & Coming Puerto Madero

During the day in between Iguazu and Mendoza, we had some time in kill in Buenos Aires as a result of flying to Mendoza, not driving as originally planned. So, naturally Stetson led us on a little walking tour around Buenos Aires' newest neighborhood, Puerto Madero. 

Set on the Rio de La Plata riverbank, this neighborhood spans the length of the San Telmo, Microcentro and Retiro neighborhoods. Home to lots of beautiful hotels, restaurants with an international flavor, and buildings by several well-known architects, this is one of the trendiest places in Buenos Aires. Also - fun fact - all the streets in the neighborhood are named for women, and the pedestrian bridge that connects Puerto Madero to the main city center is literally named Puente de la Mujer, or Bridge of the Woman.

Crossing over from the Microcentro neighborhood into Puerto Madero 

Puente de la Mujer - Bridge of the Woman

Women, overlooking the bridge in the background - obvio.

Walking on the bridge. 

Stetson captured this statue in Puerto Madero.

For me, Puerto Madero didn't exactly wow me as it seemed sort of a going out/touristy neighborhood lacking history and that authentic feel of downtown/San Telmo. However, my second experience in Puerto Madero was much different and I LOVED it. Thanks to some last minute blog reading on New Years Eve, I figured out that Puerto Madero is the location for all the fireworks on NYE in Buenos Aires. Setting off fireworks at midnight on NYE is not as you might imagine in the United States. Here every man, woman or child is setting off random fireworks along the street, on bridges, next to crowds, etc in celebration of the new year. Not exactly safe, but definitely exciting to witness as 2011 became 2012! As we ran the last few blocks to the riverfront from our place in San Telmo, we made it just in time to witness the epic fireworks show and feel a little bit of that festive air that comes from being with a big crowd of people on the brink of something as magical as a new year of possibilities.

 Kelsi, Narissa, Rob and Stetson watch the fireworks!

Hooray 2012! 

Crowds of people on the Bridge of the Woman.

A little dark... but all smiles as we head for 2012!

Exploring Buenos Aires: Colorful La Boca

Day one in Buenos Aires was New Years Eve day. After getting settled in San Telmo, we headed for a walk to stretch our bus weary legs. Our walk led us to the next neighborhood over, La Boca. Tourists are often warned against La Boca, saying that it is a sketchier neighborhood where you are not to wander from the main streets. Living in Colombia, we tend to take it pretty seriously when told to avoid something, so we tried to make our visit as safe as possible. We walked on the main streets from Parque Lezama, on the border of San Telmo and La Boca, and headed for the waterfront before making a right to end up at the famous Caminito. In addition to walking on main streets, Saturday was a great day to visit since there were tons of people around, especially in the area of Caminito. 

Map of Buenos Aires (north is to the right). La Boca is further south than the other neighborhoods, and located on the waterfront bordering San Telmo.

El Caminito is basically this two block stretch of colorful buildings that feels a bit touristy nowadays, but has legitimate roots. Way back when this (even then) poorer neighborhood was filled with people who wanted to take pride in their homes, so they painted their homes all sorts of bright, fun colors.

The start of the Caminito.

Soccer is never far away when you are in Latin America!

Laundry hangs between homes in colorful La Boca.

More homes & shops.

Even the paintings are vibrant! 

 This band of drummers wandered the tourists filled streets and filled the air with festive notes.

A few blocks from the Caminito is La Bombonera, the stadium where Buenos Aires' famous Boca Junior soccer team plays all of its home games.  While we undoubtedly saved a ton of money by not attending a Boca Juniors soccer game (they are not in season), our trip to the outside of the stadium made me wish we had been inside. There is just something about the passion that people in Latin America have for soccer that is so catching!

Club Atletico Boca Juniors

A "Hollywood Walk of Fame" of sorts outside La Bombonera, the Boca Juniors stadium. This star is for Diego Maradona, Argentina's most famous soccer player (before the days of Messi) and arguably one of the best players to ever play the game. He is also a controversial sports hero, as he served a 15 month suspension for testing positive for cocaine in 1991, but is still highly regarded by the people of Argentina and known worldwide for his "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup.

While even a short visit made it evident why guidebooks and tourism agencies tend to warn people away from this neighborhood, I think it remains one of my favorite places we visited in Buenos Aires. There is something to be said for the character that comes from a place like this - that feeling of pride in where you live and what that place represents.