Life Through My Eyes: The Latin American Paris

It is said that Buenos Aires is the Latin American Paris. I can see why. It looks a lot like Europe, but with an edgy Latin American twist, and a futbol fan here and there.... ok, maybe everywhere.

Keith and I were fortunate enough to spend 3 full days in this beautiful city. We opted to forgo the bus, train, and car options so that we could mix it up with the locals on foot and bike. This allowed us to conquer Lonely Planets Buenos Aires Top 10, and burn off some Argentinian food!

Taken in front of the large BA that sits in front of the Obelisco between the busy lanes of 9^th of July Ave, the largest avenue in the world. The Obelisco was dedicated in 1936, the 400^th anniversary of Spanish settlement, and symbolizes Buenos Aires much as the Eiffel Tower represents Pairs.

Day 1: Stretching the Legs

The first day we were a little on the tired side. We arrived to Argentina around 8:30am (3:30am PST) after about 14 hours of travel. I was in such a daze leaving the airport that I wasn’t paying attention and some dude ran over my bright red 120L Patagonia bag while I was holding it. I have some sweet tire marks on it now! I suppose that’s one way to get your hiking clothes pressed. Despite the incident we made it to our hotel, Casa Calma . The room wasn’t quite ready yet, so we took advantage of the central location and hit the town.

The Convento de San Francisco in Lima Peru was on of my favorite sites. I figured since I happen to have an infatuation with skeletons, I’d enjoy Buenos Aires #1 tour recommendation, the Cementerio de La Recoleta. Picture a cemetery, that’s not it! Cementerio de La Recoleta is more of a miniature city full of elaborate mausoleums. This is where the most elite are buried, paying about 30 thousand a year in taxes alone. Ironically this is also the home of Eva Peron's final resting place. I say final because she wasn’t originally buried there, and she was no friend to the elite. Eva was first lady, and a major advocate to the poor (and hated by the rich). She fought for public education and health until she tragically died of ovarian cancer at the young age of 33. I only wish we could have a first lady like that in the US! I imagine she is rolling in her grave at the thought of being buried amongst the elitist.

Cementerio de La Recoleta

Day 2: Bike Tour

The best way to get oriented to a city, as well as learn a bit of history, is to partake in a city walking or biking tour. Keith and I booked a full city excursion through Bike Buenos Aires. The 7-hour tour took us on a full city adventure to see all the major sites. Small world, yes, one of the guides was actually born and raised in San Jose. How is it that he became a BA resident? Well, it is the Latin American Paris after all. It turns out he set out to travel, met a lady, and the rest is history! The world became even smaller when a fellow SF resident and Apple employee was part of our 11 person tour. Ha

As soon as we were given bikes, we went cruising around to all the top sites.

Keith Bike Paco

My Bike Ofek

The Group!

We didn’t get to see a game, but we were able to see the Boca Juniors oddly shaped yellow and blue stadium. It turns out not everyone wanted to sell their land to build the giant infrastructure, so they improvised with the half built Ikea looking structure. ha. The sweetish IKEA colored structure was no accident. The team had decided to adopt the colors of the next ship that sailed into the port, Sweden it was, and the colors were born!

El Caminito is La Boca’s most famous street of colorful houses. This was the place many poor immigrant men called home, or at least rented a bed between the long working shifts. The city is built of many scraps found on ships, and later a local artist convinced the residents to paint their homes bright colors in an attempt to give the town a facelift.

We had the opportunity to indulge in a local staple, Fernet. Fernet is made up of 70% Coke and 30% Fernet. Quite yummy.

Just in case you want to try!

Puerto Madero was once a landfill with construction rubbish left over from Eduardo Madero's failed port project. The area was later cleaned up, and is now the home of the Reserva Ecolgica Costanera Sur as well as international investment. The area now resembles that of the Financial District in SF, and financially out of reach for any local to live.

We enjoyed riding along the stretch of nature preserve before stopping on the promenade for a tasty food truck Bondiola Completos (pork with ham and egg) lunch!

Puente de la Mujer (Bridge of the Woman) is the barrios signature monument, represents a couple dancing the tango.

Plaza de Mayo is the political, social and symbolic center of Buenos Aires. It is surrounded by the Casa Rosada (the pink house) where the presidents office resides, as well as the cities main cathedral where Pope Francis use to hold mass.

Plaza San Martin is where the cities obligatory equestrian statue of Jose de San Martin resides. He is not only known for liberation of Argentina, but also Peru. Keith and I can now say we’ve seen multiple Plaza de Mayos and Plaza San Martins. Many public figures are controversial, but San Martin is indeed loved by all.

Since biking is tiring work, we took to another Argentine favorite, Mate. If Argentines get upset about anything, it’s the way foreigners make and drink their Mate. We were lucky enough to have someone teach us the correct methods of partaking the drink! Mate tastes a bit like tea, and is known to warm you up and keep you caffeinated throughout the day. No no, not like coffee. Coffee quickly perks you up, and lets you down just as fast. Mate gradually energized you, maintains, and gradually brings you back down.

Keiths Mate

If you’re looking for someone on a Sunday, they are likely at the San Telmo street fair. Here you can find household goods, antiques, arts and souvenirs. The street fair actually began as a way of trade amongst neighbors during economic hardship. This part of town was once the home of the cities richest, until a yellow fever epidemic left them seeking higher ground and leaving everything behind. The new tenants took advantage of the abandoned housing and the furniture.

Biking and walking San Telmo were fun, but it was time to get some Dinner! We headed to El Federal. I may or may not have accidentally ordered an entire bottle of wine. Luckily Keith helped me finish it off.

The currency kills me every time!

Day 3: Biking Palmero

We enjoyed biking BA so much that we asked to take out the hotel Bamboo Bikes. We cruised all around Palermo and the beautiful Parque 3 de Febrero. The park looks a bit like Golden Gate Park with its sweeping green spaces, small lakes with paddleboats, gazebos and a rose garden. It is said that Charles Thays, a French botanist and landscape architect, used London’s Hyde Park and Paris’ Bois de Boulogne as inspiration. I haven’t been to either, so GGP is all I have to compare it to. I will say that Parque 3 de Febrero trumps GGP in that it has a Velodrome!

My sweet ride

Dynamic Duo

The Floralis Genérica is a gargantuan solar powered flower sculpture located in the center of Plaza Naciones Unidas. It is one of those marvels, like The Bean in Chicago, that you just have grab a selfie next to.

Museo De Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, or for short, MALBA. You may not be able to get through a name this long, but unlike the name and the MOMA back home, this is an art museum that can be tackled in a day. It contains some of the best works by classic and contemporary Argentine artists. With so many artists confronting social issues in their works, it is impossible not to gaze at the MALBA walls without acknowledging the need to advocate for change.

Despite being a beef capital, I was able to get an amazing veggie sandwich and fruit smoothie at the museum café, Ninina.

Tix!

My Man, A Bike & A Museum

Evening 3 Tango

A visit to BA isn’t complete without experiencing a Tango or two. This sensual dance can be seen on the streets, as well as at the most elite theaters. The streets were actually the first to embrace the Tango back in the 1800’s when large amounts of immigrant men were arriving from Europe in search of work. Women were scarce, so the men danced together while they waited for their paramours to become available. It wasn’t until much later when the elite embraced the Tango.

Keith and I were fortunate enough to see Rojo Tango on the intimate stage of the Faenas cabaret room. The blood red curtains and candlelight set the tone of the show while the audience is brought back to Tangos cabaret roots before being catapulted into the globally influenced wonder Tango is today.

We had a wonderful 3 days in the lovely Buenos Aires. Tomorrow we are off to El Calafate to meet our Patagonia trecking mates! Bye Bye BA!

Thank you for reading,

JenniferMarie