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Great travel blog on Argentina with lots of Tips - SolSalute.com

I think La Boca is ok during the day for the most part. At night I wouldn't go in that area based on what my friend that lived in Argentina told me. A few years ago right after Covid he was there around sunset and he watched two guys on a motorcycle steal a tourists nice SLR camera right off of him. He tried to resist as the guy took the strap off his neck. He got punched and they grabbed his camera is what my friend told me.

He would have helped but he was across the street and it happened very quickly. I just don't really see the appeal of that area from the sounds of things. You go once or twice and you never go back is what I heard.
 
i wonder if she still walks around La Boca like she did in 2018: "Is La Boca Safe? In general, La Boca and its surrounding neighborhoods are a little more dangerous, especially after dark." https://solsalute.com/blog/what-to-do-in-la-boca/

i keep hearing that's one of the main spots to avoid for non-locals
Well, I think there is probably a bit of truth in everything but I've generally found that Porteños exaggerate everything. Especially the ones that have left Argentina and moved to the USA or Europe. They always exaggerate how dangerous BA is. Any time I travel on vacation in a Spanish speaking country I will speak Castallano as I learned to mostly speak Spanish in Argentina. I took it in high school and some in college but didn't really pay attention. It was only after I started traveling around the world in the late 1990's during my "3 Years to Live" years that I really wanted to get fluent. (And that was mostly to communicate with beautiful girls!).

During those years I worked hard to learn Spanish and also Portuguese as I had an apartment in Rio and was going back and forth from Dallas to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Let's just say those were some fun years!! - Here is a chapter from my Autobiography - https://x.com/BuySellBA/status/1703892732065038827?s=20

Anyway, getting back to the point about when I would run into Argentines anywhere in the world even if they didn't live in Buenos Aires for a decade or more they would always talk about how dangerous it is. I'd be like WTH? They were curious and would be the first one to say something about Argentina as I use Vos and pronounce the two ll's different like Calle. I'd tell them how they are completely wrong about the safety and that I lived there 9 years and go many times a year.

Porteños always exaggerate things and especially safety. I've seen far more incidents of crime in Paris. I've been to Paris about 30 times in my life. Some stints for 6 weeks at a time. It's another city I really love. But I have seen more crime in Paris than Buenos Aires. La Boca isn't my cup of tea. I agree you go once and that is it.
 
Paris is a shithole (not just because it smells like sewage) with aggressive 'refugees' from islamist backgrounds from Africa that swarm tourists and pressure them into 'buying' stuff. i couldn't get out of that city quickly enough ~2013

Stockholm had no-go areas for Swedish police when i was there in ~2016 because of Muslim-only neghborhoods. there were 'protests' with huge plazas filled with 'refugees' (military-aged males who were already receiving gov't benefits...but not enough?) and it was pretty scary

contrary to my USA brainwashing from childhood, i felt WAY safer in Belarus ~2017 than i did in downtown Tampa FL last month. there just aren't cops anywhere, and the hoodrats are everywhere. people sometimes act like walking around Buenos Aires is even close to walking around Beirut Lebanon at night (i've done both; i'd take BsAs for the 6 neighborhoods i've seen here, annnnnnnyyyyy day). and for how much people love Dubai UAE, you can't even hold hands with a girl if you aren't married, and unless you're at a prostitute hotel, you have to have a marriage certificate to share a room with your partner. yet people go to Dubai all the time (too much human-trafficking of Filipino and Ugandan folks for my tastes)

it's like Mexico, anywhere away from the border; there aren't just cartel members stabbing you and robbing you in BsAs. i certainly wouldn't let a female friend walk alone in the city center at 4am, but i also would be much more wary of doing that in Los Angeles or Phoenix than BsAs. i see old ladies and single women walking around at midnight and they look local and unworried
 
Paris is a shithole (not just because it smells like sewage) with aggressive 'refugees' from islamist backgrounds from Africa that swarm tourists and pressure them into 'buying' stuff. i couldn't get out of that city quickly enough ~2013

Stockholm had no-go areas for Swedish police when i was there in ~2016 because of Muslim-only neghborhoods. there were 'protests' with huge plazas filled with 'refugees' (military-aged males who were already receiving gov't benefits...but not enough?) and it was pretty scary

contrary to my USA brainwashing from childhood, i felt WAY safer in Belarus ~2017 than i did in downtown Tampa FL last month. there just aren't cops anywhere, and the hoodrats are everywhere. people sometimes act like walking around Buenos Aires is even close to walking around Beirut Lebanon at night (i've done both; i'd take BsAs for the 6 neighborhoods i've seen here, annnnnnnyyyyy day). and for how much people love Dubai UAE, you can't even hold hands with a girl if you aren't married, and unless you're at a prostitute hotel, you have to have a marriage certificate to share a room with your partner. yet people go to Dubai all the time (too much human-trafficking of Filipino and Ugandan folks for my tastes)

it's like Mexico, anywhere away from the border; there aren't just cartel members stabbing you and robbing you in BsAs. i certainly wouldn't let a female friend walk alone in the city center at 4am, but i also would be much more wary of doing that in Los Angeles or Phoenix than BsAs. i see old ladies and single women walking around at midnight and they look local and unworried
I'd totally disagree about Paris being a shithole. I actually love Paris but every time I go it seems like it's worse and worse but I will always love that city. Great restaurants, great bread (I love bread). Beautiful architecture. I could walk around for hours and hours and just stare at the beautiful buildings and architecture. That's what I love about Paris the most. NOT the people as they are not the funnest and the happiest. But I don't think I could ever get tired of going to that city.

Even in Recoleta one of the things I love the most is the French style architecture on many blocks. I lived in a high end building on Avenida Alvear and just loved it! But I'd take Buenos Aires any day over the week vs. Paris. To me, there is NO city like Buenos Aires.

I've been all over the world. I also love Mexico quite a bit and will get my passport this year. I've been a Permanent Resident here for the past 6 years. As I write this, I'm looking out at the ocean from my beautiful apartment here in Mexico! Life is good!

Here is my view:IMG_1263.JPG
 
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