A week in Buenos Aires

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BA is a town we have both wanted to visit for some time, and due to its distance from Central America we were uncertain if we would make it all this way, but a spur of the moment decision to fly straight down there and reverse our trip made sure we would arrive in BA with some energy and cash left.

We had heard rumours of massive steaks and cheap wine, which is enough to get us excited at the best of times, but after a month of rice and beans we were ready to eat (and sample the local beverages)!

We mixed our stay between the Palermo and San Telmo districts with 4 nights in each. San Telmo is a more grungy (possibly up and coming) part of town. It is filled with bars and steak houses. Our first trip to a steak house was all it was billed to be. Initiall we thought this isn’t that cheap here, steak is about $10, same price as the Ivanhoe (local Manly pub for the Scots reading). When we both ordered our mains we were told, ‘oh no, 1 of those is enough for 2’, not long after, a massive plate of meat was off the grill and on the table... heaven. The next 7 nights were a repeat of the above.

Palermo is certainly the upmarket part of town, and to any parents thinking of visiting BA, this would be the area for you. Super nice places to eat, drink and have a good time.

We did a couple of walking tours to get a feel for the long and confusing history of the city, in particular the comings and goings of various dictators, military rulers and the Peron’s from the capital. We also saw Evita’s tomb in the humble family plot and visited her family established museum.

We decided from here we may as well go the whole hog and head further south to Patagonia and loop through to Chile, which is a lot further south than we had given it credit for, rather than the short bus ride we were hoping, it’s a further 3 hour flight, well south of the tip of NZ or Tassie. After a week of gluttony, 3 weeks of trekking awaits!

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