I like bubbles.
In the nicer parts of Buenos Aires, the streets are wide and lined with trees, providing shade everywhere, cafes and restaurants are all over the place, with outdoor seating all about. Things are perfectly safe, outside of the general big city crime, for which commonsense precautions absolve most all fears.
There’s a huge variety of things to do, walking about conveys a sense of sophistication, both from the people and from the city itself, in language, in fashion, and in general taste. Walking up Santa Fe Avenue, the main drag through which one can transverse Palermo, shops abound selling anything you might need, and the names and merchandise are no different than what one might expect from Union Square in San Francsico.
Modest Mouse bellows from the taxi’s radio, t-shirts with Lost catchphrases are displayed in windows, TVs appear to be permanently affixed to Friends, and, in general, the city does not match what one expects from a South American country.
At the same time that there is so much familiar, there is no mistaking that this is a foreign country, and a foreign city, from the architecture to the adrenaline spiking taxi rides to the entire vibe of the place. Things move at a much slower speed, people seem to take their time, savor the moment, and not take their job that seriously. On the one hand, that’s awesome, because it makes things much more natural in general, on the other hand, it means you might wait ages for the cashier to finish up his conversation.
There’s tons to do all over the place, the first week I was in BsAs, there was a Jose Gonzalez concert that was absolutely perfect in every way- small two story club with tables out, everyone sipping wine, soft red lighting illuminating the area, and a great crowd.
Every Monday, there’s a drum concert called La Bomba de Tiempo filled with Argentinian hipsters dancing like crazy to improvised and incredible music, and sipping giant enormous absurdly oversized beers- if people weren’t speaking Spanish, you might think you were in the Mission District of San Francisco… despite the pronounced lack of corduroy jackets.
People are very friendly in general, and incredibly understanding if you speak no Spanish- a quick descupe me, ablo umpoco espanol (Sorry, I speak very little Spanish…) helps a lot. From there it’s just a matter of impassioned miming- words are overrated.
Food is cheap, and delicious- $10USD a person in a group of four or five gets everyone an enormous steak, salad, and two bottles of wine to go around. Outdoor bars are all over, pitchers of beer are cheap, and it’s easy to stay out until 5AM and not even realize it- speaking of which, the very schedule of Buenos Aires is a boon. People usually go to dinner around 10pm, bars only start filling up between 1-3AM. You really can’t beat it.
Not everything’s perfect, because we are talking about a bubble here- the majority of Argentineans live on less than a dollar a day, there are sprawling slums and shantytowns when you drive into the city, in Palermo you are essentially surrounded by the Argentinean elite and expats, and the entire experience is colored by the lens of a $3ARS:$1USD exchange rate- you go to the bank, and your money triples. Prices are mostly the same as in the United States, it’s just that you get to divide by three… with electronics being the notable exception.
But, if you’re ok being in a bubble, I can’t recommend Buenos Aires enough… and here’s the specific recommendations:
Hostel
Hostel Suites- Palermo
Charcas 4752
Great, laid back atmosphere, awesome staff, reasonably priced ($10USD/night), and a patio area for smoking that people congregate and meet eachother in. Just by sitting at one of the tables people come over, have a smoke, start talking, and soon enough you’re in a group of eight people going out to dinner. By the end of the night, everyone knows everyone, and then you are solo-traveling no more.
I planned on staying in Buenos Aires for four days or so once I decided to travel instead of live in Argentina right off the bat, and wound up staying two weeks… a large part of that was just how awesome this hostel was.
Restaurant
Defensa 855
Yeah, suckage I don’t know the name of the place- just tell your taxi driver to take you to Defensa 855 in San Telmo, it’s about 20 pesos from Palermo, and a nice ride in its own right. This is mostly a local Argentinean joint, amazing food, huge, juicy steaks, cheap prices, cheap wine, and a great atmosphere, and just a great place to spend a few hours with friends. I went here twice, and it was phenomenal both times.
Definitely check this place out if you go to Buenos Aires.
Post-Dinner
Plaza Serrano
Bars and restaurants surrounding a playground, at night the plaza is filled with people meeting up and staying out until early in the morning. The restaurants are tourist traps and overpriced as hell, but the bars are reasonable, and there’s something very, very cool about sitting and hanging out in the outside tables that surround the plaza until early in the morning.
Non-Bar Post-Dinner:
La Cathedral
Sarmiento 4066
I don’t know if they actually do in fact have tango here, but I went with a friend from the hostel and it was empty on a Sunday at 1am aside from a group of four Argentineans standing in the corner. However, this just added to the movie-like excellenge of it all- a mindblowingly beautiful building, brilliantly kitschy (and comfortable!) furniture, gorgeous lighting, mood-settingly perfect music, and a cat just kind of chilling in the middle of the spotlight. Great place to go to just talk and have a bottle of wine before heading home. Just incredible.
Bookstore:
Cr
