A is for Argentina. B is for Blog.
With my feet firmly planted on terra firma, I’ve leapt into virtual space where you can started following my travels at www.luxenomads.com and on Twitter as @LuxeNomads. From here, we can go anywhere. Follow me.
Looking for a warm spot to help bring Spring early, I made my first foray into Latin America. The comparisons between Buenos Aires and Paris are undeniable. The architecture is magnificently European and meals at cafes can linger all day or late into the night as things don’t get started until 10pm*. Copious amounts of coffee, Malbec or Tempranillo available at all hours (so long as you pronounce your double Ls like a porteño). As are all things dulce de leche, which evidently goes with anything you wish to put it on. I’ll mention steak and parillas because they are an institution. And waste not, you can shop for leather (and everything else) til you drop. Temptation is everywhere, especially if you stay in Palermo Soho! Buenos Aires has tango and football in its soul, no where more than Boca. And the spectacularly eternal city within the city, Recoleta Cemetery, is both fantastically eerie and surprisingly captivating. Eternal location, location, location for everyone who was anyone in Buenos Aires, including Eva Peron. Don’t cry for her Argentina, she has a sizable family mausoleum - and should you be interested, the plot next door is for sale!
My friend Lisa joined me from New York, and we approached BA the way we do Manhattan: one neighborhood at a time. With plenty of time to take it at a leisurely pace, enjoying long meals and exploring anywhere interesting along the way. Each neighborhood has a personality unto itself making for a diverse trip. In the historical center surrounding the Plaza de Mayo, where we were treated to a tour of the Casa Rosada, which included President Kirchner’s office(!). That’s Senora President to you. We enjoyed the Sunday Street Fair and Antiques Market in San Telmo, where we also found our favorite lunch spot (Bar El Federal). We strolled along the Rio de la Plata in the beautifully gentrified Puerto Madero - which included crossing the stunning Santiago Calatrava designed Bridge and sipping cocktails poolside at the over, and I mean fabulously over-the-top Philippe Stark designed Hotel Faena+Universe. And finally, we took relaxation to the next level with a lovely day trip to Colonia, Uruguay. Time felt like it stood still in this charming Unesco World Heritage site and was a simple and short ferry ride just across the Rio de la Plata.
Hello Latin America! This was just the tip of an Antarctica iceberg!
*though porteños have dropped siesta from their lives, they haven’t shifted to an earlier dinner hour. They are notoriously exhausted and, though we didn’t experience this personally, unhappy. Enough to have the largest population in the world seeking regular therapy. Evidently, this perpetuates their unhappiness due to the cost involved. Go figure!
03/2011