Loving Buenos Aires

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We are in a neighborhood called Palermo Viejo in a studio condo ($300 USD/week--found it on Craigslist.com). Think Hawthorne District (Portland, Oregon) but older and edgier. It is a ridiculously charming city, in the European sense. Visually, it is like mixing San Francisco, Portland (Oregon), and Madrid, Spain, but it is cheaper to be here. A four course dinner for two with drinks costs $50 USD. The food is amazing and diverse--Argentine, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian, and Italian. The produce is fresh and alive and your taste buds will jump for joy as if the fruits and veggies were picked today. We had an honest California style burrito yesterday (California Burrito Company -411 Lavalle, Centro). There is colorful graffiti everywhere (full murals), the buildings are charming and old, the people are friendly despite our inability to speak much Spanish. We mime our needs and get along fine. We are ordering Cappuccinos so we don have to figure out how to mime milk in our coffee (actually, I know the word leche but it is fun to imagine how we would mime it).

My sister Kathleen just emailed me "all I need to know" in Spanish:
1. Dos margaritas por favour. (Two Margaritas please.)
2. Donda las banos? (Where is the bathroom?)
3. Donda la playa? (Which way is the beach? Kath, we are in Buenos Aires, not Mexico.)

We are Irish. What did you expect?

You can wander about all day with a camera and never run out of targets. Blue skies are above with tree-lined streets and parks every few blocks with people jogging and walking their dogs. The public transportation works and there is a middle class here using it. There are metered taxis at every turn, at $1USD for the first 200 meters, and 10 cents (USD), thereafter.

La Boca was originally a ghetto where workers from the docks used left-over colorful paints from the docks to paint their homes. It is also said to be where the tango was born. Others also lay claim to the origination of the Tango. But if it is anything like the USA, much of the most colorful culture such as dance and clothing, comes from the poorest people and neighborhoods. The colorful pictures below are from La Boca, on a street called Caminito.

The wealthy homes shown below are north of Ave. Pres. Figueroa Alcorta on Ave. Ortiz de Ocampo, which is the neighborhood just south-east of the Jardin Japones (Japanese Garden).

You must see Palermo Viejo, Palermo Hollywood, and Palermo Soho. You must walk Ave. de Mayo from Plaza de Mayo to Plaza de Congreso. You must walk from Plaza de Mayo on Reconquista to Sarmiento left, to Florida right. Tour Palacio San Martin if you can figure out what day the tour runs.

Karita has sent us on a walking tour of Recoleta Cemetery (resting place of Eva Peron). Off we go.

Happy Diwali to our Indian friends.

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Comments

[Miranda ten Oever]

belts
Hi Dan & Kim, We're in Buenos Aires right now! Thanks for the tip about Craigslist, cause we found a great apartment with pool and gym!! Where did you have that great belt from?? The leather one?? We forgot the name of the area! Thanks, Miranda and Wolfgang (Holland)

[A Travel Story]

Hi Miranda
The area is called La Boca. All the taxi drivers will know where to take you. Once there, look for the street vendor booths. They will make the belts custom to your waist. Have fun. When are you guys back in Holland?