Home from a fabulous trip. Thanks to anyone who weighed in.
I spent 8 days in BA, 3 in Iguazu, and 2 each in Colonia and Montevideo. Out of those, the only place I'd skip would be Montevideo. You could spend 6 months in Buenos Aires and only skim the surface. I agree with the other September trip report that I expected a grittier city. Instead I found a gorgeous city with so much culture, history, art, architecture, music, and food. (And proud Porteños.) I speak decent Spanish, which doesn't hurt, and walked, took lots of taxis, and took a bus and sube or two.
I stayed in two places, both excellent.
-First 6 days were in Abode B&B in Palermo. Orlando is a lovely host who makes everything easy, accommodating breakfast requests up on the roof. I had a sunny room with a bathtub, and was able to leave my larger suitcase when I went to Iguazu. He sent a driver to get me at EZE for US$15, and Miguel drove me the rest of the trip to Aeroparque and Buquebus and back to EZE.
-I spent the last two nights downtown at Tango de Mayo, which is next door to Palacio Barolo. Beautiful, historic building with a great view from the rooftop. Solid breakfast, pretty lobby, helpful staff, plus they upgraded me to a corner and charged me in ARS, so it will be a ridiculously good deal. Downtown gets deserted at night, and there are a few people sleeping on the street, but it didn't feel unsafe.
Best meals: stick to steak and malbec and you'll be fine.
-I loved Chori and Burger Joint in Palermo.
-Splurgiest meal by far was lunch at Don Julio; I worried they would put a single diner in the corner, but they seated me in the center of the room, by the chefs and gave me the full wine tasting in the cellar. I went with the spring tasting menu, a good deal comparatively at 40,000 ARS (it's 5 courses vs just getting the ojo de befe is 29,000). You can add on glasses of wine, which I did, but bottles are a better deal, plus you'd get older selections. I loved every minute of it, plus they did not hesitate when I asked for a doggie bag. I had enough leftover rib eye for two days.
- However I had a perfectly respectable steak at Parilla Don Benito with no reservation, wine, a huge delicious salad, and a good tip for under 20,000 ARS. The best steak of the trip was in...Montevideo.
- The back room at Guerrin at midnight is such a great scene. I am a thin crust pizza lover, so this was not my style. We got a giant Ligurian wedge topped by pepperoni and prosciutto with a pitcher of sangria.
Worst food was Cafe Tortoni. Fortunately I only stood in line five minutes. Bad food, bad service, and not that spectacular a space. Skip it! I had uniformly weak tea in BA, aside from mate, except at London Walk, where they know how to brew it. Tasty medialunas too. I did love all the cafes and fresh oj (500 ARS for a cup from a machine at EZE) especially the gelato and hot cocoa at Rapanui. I had generally bad luck with non-Argentine food, even in Palermo (mediocre, overpriced ramen and so so Peruvian food). I was amused that the hotel front desk tried to send me to Puerto Madero to eat.
Touring:
I did two walking tours, one a free walk I'd booked with Andres at Guru Walks
https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/38312-the-paris-of-south-america-icons-history-and-myths-of-buenos-aires-free-tour
and then a custom tour I prearranged with Richard http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti..._BA_City_Guide-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Fede.html
Highly recommended, to get a dose of Argentine history, architecture, and politics. And very enjoyable. I love travel research, and there's plenty you can do on your own. But so much of this history and the characters were new to me; Recoleta is a much richer experience when you know who the people were.
Best cultural experiences:
- I had one rainy afternoon, so I got to visit both MALBA and the Museo de Bellas Artes, both very enjoyable with many artists who were new to me. I also loved MAMBA, the modern art museum in San Telmo. Fun to be among lots of locals, including a kindergarden group.
- On a serious note, I went to watch the Madres of Plaza de Mayo march on Thursday at 3:30 and was very moved. Not sure about the guy holding a Julian Assange poster; not all political prisoners are equal, and he hardly deserves to upstage the families of the disappeared.
- I prebooked tickets to see the Rossini opera at Teatro Colon, which allegedly has the best acoustics in the world. I'd say it does. Worth hearing anything there. What a treat. Less fancy than SF Opera, but they do have supertitles en Español.
- I booked a tango evening through AirB&B experiences, which was fantastic for US$60. Meli begins with a lesson. There were two of us tango novices, stepping on each other's toes. We then went and met her dancing friends at a milonga, with a live band, fabulous dancers, and modestly priced drinks. Very authentic, wonderful people, and something a tourist would experience differently without an entree.
Changing money at the cambios was easy and safe. Most of them would have retrieved Western Union for me, but there was no need. No sketchy back alleys, where I have changed US$ in Southeast Asia.
Generally I found people startlingly honest, aside from one taxidriver who overcharged me somehow (probably a night rate). I grew up on NYC cabdrivers who would have yelled at me for a $2 fare. Here, rounding up a 90-cent fare was still appreciated. Restaurant servers chased me down the block when I left 400 ARS in change. Once I realized how cheap taxis were, and how plentiful, I used them more. The Didi app is invaluable if you don't know the neighborhoods well or speak much Spanish; but even if you don't use it to call a taxi, you can use it to estimate time to a destination and rough price.
I hope this is helpful. My main advice is to spend more time in the different neighborhoods and don't overplan.
I'll write up my Iguazu and Uruguay notes in separate threads and link below. I loved both of those excursions.
I spent 8 days in BA, 3 in Iguazu, and 2 each in Colonia and Montevideo. Out of those, the only place I'd skip would be Montevideo. You could spend 6 months in Buenos Aires and only skim the surface. I agree with the other September trip report that I expected a grittier city. Instead I found a gorgeous city with so much culture, history, art, architecture, music, and food. (And proud Porteños.) I speak decent Spanish, which doesn't hurt, and walked, took lots of taxis, and took a bus and sube or two.
I stayed in two places, both excellent.
-First 6 days were in Abode B&B in Palermo. Orlando is a lovely host who makes everything easy, accommodating breakfast requests up on the roof. I had a sunny room with a bathtub, and was able to leave my larger suitcase when I went to Iguazu. He sent a driver to get me at EZE for US$15, and Miguel drove me the rest of the trip to Aeroparque and Buquebus and back to EZE.
-I spent the last two nights downtown at Tango de Mayo, which is next door to Palacio Barolo. Beautiful, historic building with a great view from the rooftop. Solid breakfast, pretty lobby, helpful staff, plus they upgraded me to a corner and charged me in ARS, so it will be a ridiculously good deal. Downtown gets deserted at night, and there are a few people sleeping on the street, but it didn't feel unsafe.
Best meals: stick to steak and malbec and you'll be fine.
-I loved Chori and Burger Joint in Palermo.
-Splurgiest meal by far was lunch at Don Julio; I worried they would put a single diner in the corner, but they seated me in the center of the room, by the chefs and gave me the full wine tasting in the cellar. I went with the spring tasting menu, a good deal comparatively at 40,000 ARS (it's 5 courses vs just getting the ojo de befe is 29,000). You can add on glasses of wine, which I did, but bottles are a better deal, plus you'd get older selections. I loved every minute of it, plus they did not hesitate when I asked for a doggie bag. I had enough leftover rib eye for two days.
- However I had a perfectly respectable steak at Parilla Don Benito with no reservation, wine, a huge delicious salad, and a good tip for under 20,000 ARS. The best steak of the trip was in...Montevideo.
- The back room at Guerrin at midnight is such a great scene. I am a thin crust pizza lover, so this was not my style. We got a giant Ligurian wedge topped by pepperoni and prosciutto with a pitcher of sangria.
Worst food was Cafe Tortoni. Fortunately I only stood in line five minutes. Bad food, bad service, and not that spectacular a space. Skip it! I had uniformly weak tea in BA, aside from mate, except at London Walk, where they know how to brew it. Tasty medialunas too. I did love all the cafes and fresh oj (500 ARS for a cup from a machine at EZE) especially the gelato and hot cocoa at Rapanui. I had generally bad luck with non-Argentine food, even in Palermo (mediocre, overpriced ramen and so so Peruvian food). I was amused that the hotel front desk tried to send me to Puerto Madero to eat.
Touring:
I did two walking tours, one a free walk I'd booked with Andres at Guru Walks
https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/38312-the-paris-of-south-america-icons-history-and-myths-of-buenos-aires-free-tour
and then a custom tour I prearranged with Richard http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti..._BA_City_Guide-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Fede.html
Highly recommended, to get a dose of Argentine history, architecture, and politics. And very enjoyable. I love travel research, and there's plenty you can do on your own. But so much of this history and the characters were new to me; Recoleta is a much richer experience when you know who the people were.
Best cultural experiences:
- I had one rainy afternoon, so I got to visit both MALBA and the Museo de Bellas Artes, both very enjoyable with many artists who were new to me. I also loved MAMBA, the modern art museum in San Telmo. Fun to be among lots of locals, including a kindergarden group.
- On a serious note, I went to watch the Madres of Plaza de Mayo march on Thursday at 3:30 and was very moved. Not sure about the guy holding a Julian Assange poster; not all political prisoners are equal, and he hardly deserves to upstage the families of the disappeared.
- I prebooked tickets to see the Rossini opera at Teatro Colon, which allegedly has the best acoustics in the world. I'd say it does. Worth hearing anything there. What a treat. Less fancy than SF Opera, but they do have supertitles en Español.
- I booked a tango evening through AirB&B experiences, which was fantastic for US$60. Meli begins with a lesson. There were two of us tango novices, stepping on each other's toes. We then went and met her dancing friends at a milonga, with a live band, fabulous dancers, and modestly priced drinks. Very authentic, wonderful people, and something a tourist would experience differently without an entree.
Changing money at the cambios was easy and safe. Most of them would have retrieved Western Union for me, but there was no need. No sketchy back alleys, where I have changed US$ in Southeast Asia.
Generally I found people startlingly honest, aside from one taxidriver who overcharged me somehow (probably a night rate). I grew up on NYC cabdrivers who would have yelled at me for a $2 fare. Here, rounding up a 90-cent fare was still appreciated. Restaurant servers chased me down the block when I left 400 ARS in change. Once I realized how cheap taxis were, and how plentiful, I used them more. The Didi app is invaluable if you don't know the neighborhoods well or speak much Spanish; but even if you don't use it to call a taxi, you can use it to estimate time to a destination and rough price.
I hope this is helpful. My main advice is to spend more time in the different neighborhoods and don't overplan.
I'll write up my Iguazu and Uruguay notes in separate threads and link below. I loved both of those excursions.
