I merely glazed over La Boca in my last post, but the truth about La Boca is a lot more complicated and I think it deserves its own post. Everyone who visit Buenos Aires has La Boca on the top of their list. But we deliberately didn’t visit it the first time because the area isn’t real. It’s a fake representation of BA culture that only tourists would fall for. At least, that’s how I saw it and I don’t necessarily agree with it. I…
Buenos Aires: Take Two
A few weeks ago, I got honest about my feelings towards Buenos Aires, and I wrote about how I will not be returning for a long, long time. It turned out I was a liar, because I returned exactly 2 weeks later. Our long journey back to Southern California from Montevideo was one that took us across 5 countries in 36 hours, including a 7-hour stopover in Buenos Aires. Hmmm… what to do when you’re stuck in a city that you didn’t particularly care…
South America Instagram Round-up
Our South America trip is done. Over. I already miss it a lot, from the guy who belts out Nirvana songs outside my window to spending afternoons in cozy cafes (no, Starbucks just doesn’t cut it). I’m no where near done sharing about South America, but for now I thought I’ll do something a little more fun, while re-living some of my best memories! If you don’t already know, I’m a big fan of Instagram (see my pictures here)! Here is a random selection…
Is Buenos Aires Over-rated?
Buenos Aires was a city I already loved even before visiting. Whenever I thought about it, I conjured up romantic images of quaint French style buildings, cobblestone streets, cute sidewalk cafes, and heavenly delicate pastries. I mean, come on, it’s Paris of the South… what could go wrong? What WOULDN’T I dislike? Yep, I was not wrong and Buenos Aires had all those things and more. The Palermo neighborhood we stayed in had quaint French style buildings aplenty. We walked…
All about ordering steak in Buenos Aires!
“What’s a bife de chorizo?” We ask our semi-English-speaking waiter. “Ummm… it’s hard to explain,” he stumbles. “Chorizo is a sausage.” “Oh ok, so it’s a beef sausage.” We help him out. “No no no. But it’s not a sausage. It’s beef. It’s a very Argentinian thing.” At this point, we are utterly confused. Where I come from, chorizo is a spicy Mexican sausage. So in order to avoid getting something totally weird, we order something else instead. Sigh… As you can see,…
Free Things to do in Buenos Aires
I was surprised to find that the US dollar does not go very far in Buenos Aires (this is during travel in May 2014. And of course, that depends on which exchange rate you are able to get, but I’ll cover that later separately). But the city does offer plenty of free things to do (or very cheap, at least). Here are some of the best free things to do in Buenos Aires, kind of in order of awesomeness, but…
Recoleta Cemetery: City of the Dead
weeping angels // dried flowers // marbled tombs // wooden coffins // roaming cats // silky cobwebs This is the hauntingly beautiful Recoleta Cemetery. For a huge city that draws millions of tourists a year, this cemetery remains the #1 attraction in all of Buenos Aires. It has to be something special, right? Visiting cemeteries has never been on my list of must-do travel activities, so I was feeling quite skeptical as I set off to find out what’s so special about a cemetery. As soon…
How to get fat in Buenos Aires
Over my past few weeks here in Buenos Aires, I have developed an intense love-hate relationship with the food. You see, perhaps you picture gigantic slabs of meat and massive racks of ribs when you think about Argentinian cuisine. I did too. We’d both be right, but only partially. While I have had some of the best, and largest, meat of my life here, I’ve also learned that it’s not steakhouses (parrillas) around every corner and a hunk of beef…
Buenos Aires Zoo: is it worth a visit?
D can attest to the fact that I have not stopped squealing at my pictures of the adorably cute Patagonian mara ever since our visit to the Buenos Aires Zoo (seriously, I have its picture as my phone wallpaper and I squeal every time I turn on my phone). But those little unique creatures weren’t the only good reason for spending an afternoon at the zoo. In this Part 2, I am sharing some pictures and information about the gorgeous zoo itself. The…
Buenos Aires Zoo: Close Encounters with the Patagonian Mara
Put me anywhere with animals, and I’m like a kid in a candy store. But I do have mixed feelings about visiting zoos. On one hand, it makes me sad to see tigers behind glass, or a condor in a cage, when they should be out in the wild. But on the other hand, where else do I go see animals when I’m not anywhere near the wild?? I don’t plan on going on an African Safari or to the…