After two months spent in Brazil and a last crazy week in Rio de Janeiro for the Carnival 2009, we arrived a bit tired in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We are all the same glad to move and about to discover a country that we did not know, and also very excited to stay in Buenos Aires, this city that we heard about a lot. The capital of Tango, art, design and grilled beef has many assets to attract us!
Once arrived, we are welcomed by Matías, a friend of a good friend of mine (yes, you, Anaïs), that we already had met in 2005 and had housed in London when he was making a tour of Latin Europe.
Matías accomodates us at his place like king and queen, and we are as much surprised than happy to discover this ground floor of more than 80m2, with bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and outside courtyard - just for us please! Matías normally rents out this part of house, but for the occasion nicely lent it to us. If you come to Buenos Aires, we strongly recommend that you come over and rent Matias's appartment, it is perfect!! Contact us on loladel@hotmail.co.uk, and we will put you through to Matías.
We gave ourselves 10 days to visit the city, to work a bit, and prepare our next stage: 3 weeks of adventure in the south of the country, Patagonia.
With regards to the people, everyone is white, and it is only very seldom that we stumble accross a black or a mixed Indian. The colonizers, 3-4 centuries ago, got rid of everyone on their passage and it is only far in the country that we can find descendants of Indian civilizations. Put aside of course the Spanish, we can see many Italian descendants, who came in mass and influenced much on the local lifestyles (at the greatest pleasure of Delphine, the pizzas are the second national dish after the grilled meat parilla).
The architecture of the city is very European. We can see in Buenos Aires a bit of Paris (haussmannian architecture in Recoleta), of London (Palermo like Spitafiled for the design, Corrientes like Oxford Street for shopping), of New York (Corrientes, the Argentinan Broadway!), Marseilles (the pedestrian and commercial street of Florida like St Ferreol), and of Madrid (the terraces, the plazas and parks, Avenida Mayo).
Ponctuated with working hours for the travel guide, we spent much of our time discovering this immense city, and quickly fell into the swirl of walking miles and visiting museums, concert halls, stores and various touristic districts:
Recoleta
In the streets of Recoleta, we could feel like at home, in Paris! Large buildings of haussmannian style, flowered parks, and BNP Paribas banks… all is there to make us believe!
We loved the visit of the cemetery, where rest impressive mausoleums and family caveaux. Like houses, the mausoleums are imposing by their size and sometimes curiously show off their coffins inside… Brrrrrh...
Palermo
The district of Palermo is close to home, and we trotted ourselves there on several occasions. It is a residential district very animated by its many restaurants, bars, gardens and garments shops. Around here is trendy and we meet many of the 'bobo like' people, who wear cool clothes but have plenty of money in their pockets.
Many restaurants have developped the new cuisine or cuisine of the world, and by the way show their originality on the bill. If one day you are around, go to Baraka Restaurant, a very sympathetic alternative eating place serving very generous portions. The owner, a friend of Matias, offered us a lunch there. Ask Delphine if she remembers the chocolate cake. At the end of the meal, she will even confess to the chef that his cake was… better than hers!
Palermo is also to be visited on Sundays. Handcraft markets, design shops for cloths and interior, it is a little bit like Spitafiled in London, but better! Buenos Aires is THE city of design, and Palermo its hall of exposure…
After having lit candles and prayed for our families in the church near the cemetery, we went to the famous museum of Beaux Arts, which shelters the largest collections of paintings of South America. The ground floor is dedicated to European painters, and the first floor to Argentinian painters. A true treat. I personally (Laurent) have a weakness for an Argentinian painter, Xu Solar.
El Centro
The centre town of Buenos Aires has all the characteristics of a capital city centre: high traffic, noise, crammed pavements, noise, and noise again. After a stroll in the city centre, we get exhausted quiclky, and come back home in a hurry to return to quiet and relaxing home.
The center is crossed by the broadest avenue of the world, the avenue of July 9, which comprises up to 16 lanes of cars! The avenue is very animated on the sides, and if it is not for the large obelisk which lies in its centre, it is worth paying a visit and see the famous theatre Colon, one of the most famous operas in the world (unfortunately in restoration until 2010).
The plaza de Mayo is the historical place and heart of the city, where many key events of its history proceeded. It is the first place where Spaniards settled, a few kms away from the Rio de la Plata. It is there too that the first government was formed in 1810, and where the Peron couple made their speeches to the crowd standing on the balcony of their casa rosada. On the plaza, also, a basilica which is really worth to be visited. Inside, 14 vaults sheltering all sorts of saints, adored by the porteños who regularly come to see them and pray.
Besides these principal monuments, frankly nothing exceptional to visit. The commercial streets are all the time crammed and to get forward is a real trudge. The business district is populated by suits, ties and high heels. A world that we know very well but that we voluntarily decided to forget!
St Telmo
St Telmo is a district a little bit too touristic to my taste, but is nevertheless worth to be visited. Sunday, an enormous antique market with many street artists performing shows, painting, dancing and making music to attract crowds of tourists and Sunday strollers. Architecture on the other hand is authentic. St Telmo was the old fashionable district of the city, where lived the middle-class and aristocrats in immense colonial houses. Following devastating epidemics of yellow fever, the district was suddenly abandonned. The inhabitants fled towards the new rich districts, Recoleta or Palermo, and the immense houses, left away. Today, even if they aged much with time, these houses remain imposing and astonishing to look at, because in total contrast with the nearby district, the city centre, with all its modern, tall and rich buildings. The district became now very bohemian, artistic, and shelters many tango bars and milongas (touristic though).
With Matias, a la casa chorizo
Our host Matias took care of us really well. In addition to have lent us his large luxury suite, it also made us discover some areas of the city and gave us many advices to avoid common tousitic traps. Nothing better than to visit the city with a local!
The first week end, Matias organized an asado (Argentinian BBQ) on its enormous roof terrace. In the menu braised meats, the well known parilla, around a good table, wine and a group of friends. A treat! The evening was crowned by a surprise cake with dulce de leche, bought by Delphine for my birthday on March 1st! We then ended up in a nightclub, Coco Lyche. I personally adored, I was so excited to get some vibes of underground clubbing, as I used to in my previous Londonian life.
La Boca
La Boca is a popular area in the south of the city, at the edge of a river and where many abandonned factories now pile up. Not far from this dirty and polluted disctrict, a small attractive touristic district: Caminito. This area must be the most touristic place of the town: souvenir shops, dancing shows on terraces, photographic memories with dressed up tango dancers or Maradonna look alike, portrait painters as in Montmartre… in short, what we commonly call `Touristland' with Delphine. Though despite this artificial side, a district with undeniable charm hides behind : like a small village out of the city, La Boca still keeps its authenticity and intrigues us by his history…
In this place formerly devastated by floods, the inhabitants had been accustomed to live in small precarious houses made of wood and tin, sometimes even installed on poles. The district, which looked like a poor and grey shantytown, was seen reviving one day, when a young and optimist inhabitant started to paint houses on their outsides. Pink, yellow, green, blue… colors with brightness and happy tons which made the district leave away from its sadness. Following the initiative of the young painter, the inhabitants started to paint their houses in the same way, and gradually transformed the district offering it the charm that it still has today.
During the week, with Matias and his girlfriend Violeta, we went to see an alternative tango concert, it rocked!! The room was packed and with the dark environment and the large hanging luminaires, we felt like in a boxing hall the night of the big match.
Matias then drove us by night in his car around Puerto Madero and the City Centre, and looking at the surroundings told us various anecdotes and stories about various things. The evening finished around a good ice cream with dulce de leche, at 2am in the Bergano district.
Another night, after a football game with his friends (I scored!), we went to eat a parilla in a local popular restaurant. The meat was melting in the mouth, and once again we treated ourselves very well! The asado by traditon is always shared in family or with friends.
Buenos Aires, a city like in Europe
The guidebooks did not get it wrong. At first sight, we would believe to be in Europe, in a capital made of large avenues, old and modern buildings, department stores, flowered parks, with a population of crushing white majority.
Like we had had to adapt to the transition Africa-Brazil, we also had to adapt to the Argentina-Brazil transition, or rather Brazil-Buenos Aires, as we will see later that in Argentina, there is Buenos Aires… and the rest.
We got into the city with our classic backpackers looks: dirty baggy trousers, flip flops, tee shirts, big back packs in the back and tired eyes, and we quickly realize while walking in the streets that we are a bit off tendance... The porteños (inhabitants of Buenos Aires), in total opposition with the Brasileiros, like to wear nice and classy clothes and show them off. The men are in nice trousers, women very elegant, nice haircut, with on their nose large Dior or Gucchi shiny sunglasses. Finished the barechested and the bikinis in the street!
Lastly, for our last evening, we invited Matias and Violeta in a pizzeria. We discovered on the occasion a pizza made with spinaches and ... bechamel sauce. It was good, but quite heavy. The next time, I think that I will stick to the classics!
After the pizzeria, Violeta and Matias told us goodbye and gave us bags of winter clothes in preparation for our 3 week expedition in Patagonie! So sweet!! We realised later that without these cloths, we would have died frozen!
It is true that the Argentinian people can seem cold and not very accessible, but Matias and Violeta, on their sides, accomodated us like kings and filled us by their generosity! Thanks to them we adored our stay in Buenos Aires, and leave with superb memories in mind…
To thank them, we have made a little video clip: 'Pata crazy'. Check it out on the videos sections.