Porteño for a Week
There’s always a game I play anytime I travel. “Can I live here?” I can’t help it. I’ll fantasize about moving to a different city in the world for a year or two. And often unconsciously, I'll start comparing everything to my life at home. Wow, the streets are beautiful. You have work-life balance - what’s that? Hey, the subway and buses actually show up on time! Ugh, the coffee sucks. Wait, spicy food isn’t a thing here, not even Sriracha?
Buenos Aires passed that test during our 6-day visit there. The city is picturesque, its people (aka Porteños) are diverse and friendly, and its energy for everything - from music to sports - is infectious.
Inside and out, Buenos Aires is a stunning city
Two things shaped our experience in Buenos Aires. First, our trip luckily aligned with Carnival. With each neighborhood putting on a different festival or parade, the city’s spirits were high all week. Second, we had our first visitor of the trip - my mom! Young at heart, she brought along an enthusiasm and open mind that made Buenos Aires even more memorable.
Carnival celebrations near Plaza de Mayo. Little kids spraying foam everywhere and different South American countries performing. Bolivia’s dance team crushed it.
Ok, the highlights.
We stayed in an AirBnB in Palermo, a lively neighborhood with bars, restaurants and cafes that warped me back to NYC. If you visit BA, stay here. We experienced a few new concepts like a self-serve wine bar at Ser y Tiempo and a closed-door restaurant at Trientasillas, a not-so-covert supper club that offers a secret tasting menu at rotating locations. And finally, after a long spell of empanadas and Italian pasta (your life down here if you don’t eat red meat), we had our first asian food of the trip at The Night Market. The restaurant hosts multiple “food trucks” inside that serve up everything from dumplings to ramen to yakitori. And yes, they had Sriracha and even offered a spicier homemade version of it. Should have bottled that up for the rest of the trip.
Dinner at Trientasillas during our first night in Buenos Aires
San Telmo and La Boca are two other neighborhoods we loved visiting.
San Telmo’s market has a little bit of everything. On Sundays, it's lined with vendors selling antiques, art, and the best empanadas and dulce de leche-stuffed churros we had. You can also watch tango at the nearby Plaza Dorrego. Our day flew by there.
San Telmo’s Sunday market
La Boca is an old working-class neighborhood on the mouth of the city’s river, Río de la Plata. Although it should be avoided during the evenings (it can get seedy), it makes for a great afternoon. We took a walking tour to visit its mural-filled streets, colorful buildings, and of course the famous La Bambonera Stadium, home to the city’s favorite soccer team the Boca Juniors.
Colorful streets of La Boca and the Boca Juniors stadium
Speaking of, it’s important to know that fútbol is religion in Buenos Aires. How serious are they about it here? We went to a local soccer match (Racing Club v. Estudiantes) and were blown away. Before the players even got onto the field, every single person in the stadium was on their feet belting songs like Sunday gospel for their beloved Racing Club. Not a drop of booze was sold in a half-mile radius of the stadium and it still got rowdy. Guards surrounded the field in case a call went wrong or Racing lost. We didn't see a single fan from the opposing team - too dangerous in the past, so it’s been banned. Those 90 minutes were electric and had us converted. There wasn’t a moment we felt unsafe though and I highly recommend going to a club game in Buenos Aires with Juan and Killian through AirBnB Experiences.
Goooaaaal! Don’t think we sat the entire game.
And of course, the tango. We caught a lot of it, both the music and the dance, during our visit. But the best experience was going to a milonga, where professionals, locals and tourists alike will dance Argentinian tango to live music until the early morning. We went to Salón Canning not knowing what to expect and found ourselves hypnotized by the footwork, fashion and entire social scene. It’s traditional and forward at once, as bodies spanning generations seamlessly greet, mix and become one on the dance floor only to find themselves new partners on the next song. We also saw a tango show later in the week at the historic Café Tortoni, which we found a bit touristy but fun for the price.
Milonga and tango show. Just…damn.
We hit plenty of other things during our time in BA, including the MALBA museum, the Recoleta Cemetery in Retiro, and traditional Argentinian pizza at El Cuartito. But that still barely covered the sprawling city. Guess I’ll have to come back here again to visit or, who knows, maybe for something longer ;)
Iguazú Falls next!
