i'm a week late in posting about buenos aires, but better late than never. another weekend, another overnight semicama bus trip- this one was under 10 hours, which was great. marit and i set off on friday evening armed with warm socks and melatonin, and arrived in the capital around 6:30 on saturday morning.
cold, sick, and tired, we nevertheless spent all day from around 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. exploring as much of the city as we could manage. our hostel, where we stopped to drop off our bags in the morning, was situated in barrio microcentro, a neighbourhood downtown where many of the city's tourist locations are located.
buenos aires is stunning architecturally. microcentro looks like a strange mix of paris and d.c., and the entire city oozes old-world charm.
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| one of the few spanish-style buildings that i saw. after gaining independence from spain in the early 19th century, porteños veered away from that style of architecture. |
our first main stop was plaza de mayo, a large square that was the site of the 1810 fight for independence. it was unfortunate that we weren't there on a thursday, because every thursday the abuelas de plaza de mayo congregate to stand vigil for the desaparecidos of the dirty war.
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| posing in front of a human rights sign. |
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| a memorial about the falkland islands, or islas malvinas as the argentines refer to them. |
on one end of the plaza, flanked by political graffiti, is la casa rosada, argentina's white house.
after taking copious photos, we headed north, walking through barrio retiro (known for its parks and green space) en route to recoleta, an affluent neighbourhood full of history.
in recoleta, we decided it was an absolute necessity to make a mid-morning pitstop at la biela, the famed cafe where the authors borges and casares used to hang out. apparently, la biela is also famous for being a hangout spot for formula one racing champions in the 1950s, but i think it's fair to say i'm a bit more interested in the cafe's literary history. today, la biela is a tourist destination along the lines of cafe de flore or les deux magots in paris, but we did see a satisfying number of locals enjoying their coffee there as well.
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| cafe con leche was overpriced but worth it. |
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| my bros jorge y adolfo. |
eva peron's grave is there, and all you have to do to find it is follow the crowd of people.
for lunch, i got in touch with my third cousins who live in buenos aires and whom i had never met. they were so, so sweet to marit and me; they picked us up and we went out to lunch at their friend's upscale italian restaurant in las cañitas. the food and the conversation were great, and it was incredible how generous they were towards me purely on the basis of being related. family ties are an amazing thing. i'm so glad i made the effort to contact and make plans with them.
after lunch, they dropped marit and me off at MALBA (museo de arte latinoamericano de buenos aires) in barrio palermo. we were exhausted but still ended up spending around an hour exploring the museum, which contained art from well-known latino artists such as frida kahlo and diego rivera alongside argentine artists i had never heard of before- some of new ones i discovered included nicolás garcía uriburu, luis felipe noé, and more.
in the early evening, we were tired and headed back to the hostel, seeing a few sights along the way.
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| el teatro colón |
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| evita's face is everywhere.
the next morning, we headed over the weekend feria in san telmo, an old neighbourhood full of cobblestone streets, colonial buildings, and gorgeous street art.
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| look me in the eyes and tell me this doesn't look like paris. |
afterwards, we took a taxi to the barrio of la boca, home to the boca juniors fútbol team.
la boca is a mix of high and low; it is a working-class neighbourhood and is rough around the edges, but yet contains one of the most highly-touristed streets in buenos aires, calle caminito. caminito is known for its brightly-painted buildings, abundance of tango clubs, pizzerias (there is a strong genoan heritage in la boca) and scores of shops peddling boca juniors apparel. we were warned, however, not to venture onto side streets, because the barrio turns from crowded and touristy to barren and dodgy very quickly.
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| selfie time. |
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| the only proper photo of the two of us all weekend... oops. |
afterwards, we continued attempting to at least see as many parts of the city as we could by taking a cab to puerto madero, a formerly industrial area on the waterfront which is now debatably the most expensive block in the city.
puerto madero reminded me a lot of southwark in london, with its sleek high-rises and posh restaurants superimposed over what used to be a gritty riverfront area.
then we headed to barrio norte for lunch, where we used my 1% of remaining iphone battery (!) to look up the address of a health food restaurant we had heard about. marit and i were both irrationally excited to eat something a bit different for a change.
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| a gratuitous photo of my tofu curry. |
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| happy camper because ethnic food and tofu. |
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| it was an adorable restaurant and shop- they also sold baked goods, smoothies, and all kinds of healthy specialty foods. |
with only a few hours remaining in buenos aires, we stopped in congreso on the way home to see the national congress, which is identical to the capitol building at home, except for in this terrifying shade of grey.
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| pigeons everywhereee. |
after that, we packed up our things and caught an overnight bus home to CBA! two days was most definitely not enough time in buenos aires. i could easily spend another week just sightseeing in and around the city, and i would happily live there, sipping cafe con leche, following fútbol religiously, and riding the subte like a real porteña.
until next time,
xo
m
