Oh, the Places We'll Go

When we were in La Paz, Bolivia, we had the opportunity to meet some family members of our good friend Estefania. Estefania is Bolivian but had been living in Colorado for many years. When she heard that our travels were taking us to her home country, she generously offered to introduce us to her cousin Ale. Ale was a super fun gal and invited us to her little sister’s first communion brunch where we proceeded to meet more of Estefania’s family including other cousins, aunts and uncles and even her grandparents.

Well, as it turns out, Estefania’s sister lives in Buenos Aires, so we were once again hosted by her family. Ninon is Estefania’s younger sister and we met her over at her apartment in the energetic Palermo neighborhood. Ted and I went out to dinner with Ninon and her friend to an amazing parilla (steakhouse) in her neighborhood – it was one of the best steak dinners we’ve ever had.

I was curious to where the night might take us after dinner, as BA has a ridiculous nightlife scene with crazy clubs that don’t close until 6am or later. Since I had never met Ninon before, I wasn’t sure if that is what she had planned for a Saturday night or not. Ted and I are not big clubsters (big surprise there), though I was willing to give it a go if that is what Ninon had in mind.

Well, as it turns out the club was not in out future and we instead headed over to a house party of one of Ninon’s friends (phew!). Though there are a lot of differences between our people and counties, the good old fashioned house party is surprisingly familiar anywhere you go – everything from not really knowing anybody, to the majority of people congregating in the kitchen; from a few guys hanging out around the keg in the backyard, to folks in the living room dancing to 80s music. To their credit though, a house party is not immediately over in Argentina once the place has run out of booze and the dance floor had a much higher percentage of men dancing than we see at home.

And though we didn’t think we were up for a 6am night, it was certainly after 5am by the time we got ourselves back to the hostel. Thank you Ninon for showing us a fun time!

Sadly, we did not bring our camera this night, so no photos of Ninon or the party

Buenos Aires (BA) is gigantic. Over 1/3 of all the people in Argentina live in or near BA, and that is an incredible statistic considering the large size of the country. Like all cites, BA has different neighborhoods that each have their own character and feel. The wonderful part is that, in general, the city is very safe and quite easy to get around. We spent our time in BA seeking out different neighborhoods each day to try and get a feel for each place.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we stayed in the San Telmo neighborhood which is a laid-back part of town with an alternative, artsy vibe. We spent a number of days wandering the cobblestone streets and markets of this older, classier section of town.

San Telmo

Another day we walked and walked for hours. We past governmental buildings, plazas and fountains; we crossed the widest street in the world (14 or 16 lanes across); we walked through the busy and popular pedestrian mall and shopping area on Avenue Florida. And when we couldn’t walk no more, we popped on the cheap Subte (subway) and 20 minutes later we were back at our hostel.

Cruisin the streets of BA

Flor de Metal artwork

One of the nicer neighborhoods in town is called Ricoletta. They have a famous above ground cemetery there (similar to New Orleans) where Buenos Aires’ elite have been buried for centuries including Argentina’s much-loved Evita (Eva Peron).

Ricoletta Cemetary

Old theater-turned bookstore

On a Saturday morning we headed over to Palermo where BA’s beautiful, wealthy, and fabulous go out to brunch. After coffee and some people-watching we wandered over to an area where there were some indoor and outdoor markets selling everything from clothing to food to artwork. The indoor markets were very cool as they were set up temporarily within the walls of popular bars and nightclubs that weren’t open at that time of day. It was pretty unique to see individual artists displaying their work among booths and drink bars.

On our last day in town we headed to Boca which is known for its colorfully painted buildings and outdoor art displays. Though the section of town was pretty to photograph, it has lost a lot of its charm and authenticity. It is now a cheesy tourist trap in a 2 block by 2 block area. The ‘real’ part of the Boca neighborhood is apparently unsafe for tourists to wander freely.

La Boca

La Boca

So, the city is huge and diverse, and there is no way to possibly see it all, ever I could argue. Though we just scratched the surface of this big, energetic place, we can hands down say we saw enough to love it but left plenty to see for a future visit.