Our stay in Buenos Aires didn’t get off to the best of starts. In the first half hour we both became victims of a very nasty bird dropping incident that left us begging for early access to a shower at our hotel. People say it’s good luck, and as it turned out the rest of our time in BA was fantastic.
On our first night we went to Fuerza Bruta, a show that plenty of Argentinians (and tripadvisor) had highly recommended to us. We didn't really know what to expect but in the end the show, which we would describe as a much edgier (and cheaper) alternative to Cirque du Soleil, was a really enjoyable and memorable experience.
The other, more famous, night time activity in BA is tango, which tourists can generally see in one of two ways - either go to a tango club in the suburbs to watch the locals strut their stuff or buy tickets to a more formal tango show downtown. We ended up doing both, visiting La Catedral del Tango for the more authentic experience then getting dressed up and going to El Viejo Almacen to see the oldest tango show in town.
On our first night we went to Fuerza Bruta, a show that plenty of Argentinians (and tripadvisor) had highly recommended to us. We didn't really know what to expect but in the end the show, which we would describe as a much edgier (and cheaper) alternative to Cirque du Soleil, was a really enjoyable and memorable experience.
The other, more famous, night time activity in BA is tango, which tourists can generally see in one of two ways - either go to a tango club in the suburbs to watch the locals strut their stuff or buy tickets to a more formal tango show downtown. We ended up doing both, visiting La Catedral del Tango for the more authentic experience then getting dressed up and going to El Viejo Almacen to see the oldest tango show in town.
We had come to expect good food in Argentina, and this trend certainly continued in BA. Our favorite meal was a two pound steak from a fine dining restaurant, which we got at a 40% discount because we were happy to eat before 8pm (which was perfect for us but way too early for the locals). Our best value meal was a delicious Choripan we bought from a street vendor in town. We also enjoyed some beautiful pizza and fish from a couple of local favorites, both of which were heavily decorated from floor to ceiling in soccer memorabilia.
Buenos Aires is as soccer mad as any city we’d visited, and the iconic Locos Por El Futbol bar proved to be as good a place as any to watch the Champions League final. While in BA we also went to the inner city suburb of Boca to tour the stadium of the famous Boca Juniors side.
During the day we visited plenty of tourist hot spots, including El Caminito (a colorful street in Boca), La Recoleta cemetery (the final resting place of Evita), Floraris Genérica (a large flower-shaped metal sculpture), the San Telmo markets (a Sunday-only market that stretches for a dozen blocks in the city) the Obelisco (a national monument that served as a good reference point whenever we got lost), and the Casa Rosada (or pink house, the Argentinian president’s office).
During the day we visited plenty of tourist hot spots, including El Caminito (a colorful street in Boca), La Recoleta cemetery (the final resting place of Evita), Floraris Genérica (a large flower-shaped metal sculpture), the San Telmo markets (a Sunday-only market that stretches for a dozen blocks in the city) the Obelisco (a national monument that served as a good reference point whenever we got lost), and the Casa Rosada (or pink house, the Argentinian president’s office).
There is also plenty to see just outside of BA. After a short drive north we caught a boat from Tigre, through the small winding rivers of the Parana Delta back to Buenos Aires. To the south of BA is La Plata, where we caught up with one of Cindy’s friends from Santa Barbara and visited the most impressive cathedral we’ve seen outside of Europe.
We spent more time in Buenos Aires than any other city on our trip so far, but we still left wishing we could stay longer. This very European city has a lot to offer, including beautiful architecture, great restaurants and really friendly people, and we’d both name it as one of our favorite cities in the world.
We spent more time in Buenos Aires than any other city on our trip so far, but we still left wishing we could stay longer. This very European city has a lot to offer, including beautiful architecture, great restaurants and really friendly people, and we’d both name it as one of our favorite cities in the world.