Happy New Year from Buenos Aires!

Caminito in Buenos Aires

My friend Sarita and I took an overnight flight to Argentina to arrive the morning of New Years Eve in Buenos Aires.  The two of us go way back and have previously traveled together across multiple continents in the past, so I was very excited when she agreed to join me in South America!  I've never been to this continent before and I've heard great things about this Buenos Aires in particular.  It did not disappoint.  We partied over New Years, enjoyed tango shows, walked through each of the 5 famous neighborhoods of the city and even took a day trip to Uruguay while we were here.  I'm glad I'll get another shot to enjoy this huge city because I fly home from here in February.

Happy New Year!

Our first day in Buenos Aires was LONG.  We made our way through customs, checked into our AirBnB, got settled in, walked around our neighborhood of Palermo where at empanadas for lunch, ran errands (because the next day was a holiday and everything would be closed), and quickly realized that a siesta would be necessary if we were going to party with the locals for New Years.  It's a good thing we took the power nap because we didn't get back home until 5AM the next morning.  And the streets were still throbbing with music.

Drinks from the balcony.  You can see Plaza
Serrano in the background, full of people

It turns out that the locals don't celebrate New Years like we do in America and Europe.  Argentinians routinely start eating dinner 10PM, so staying up until midnight during their summer vacation seems so . . . normal.
Instead, they treat New Years like another Christmas or Thanksgiving: a big meal with all the extended family.  That means the only people in the restaurants and bars are tourists until just before midnight when a few locals venture out after their family gatherings.  We reserved a table for dinner right on Plaza Serrano and befriended the couple next to us from New York.  They were full of great tips on the city, and we all enjoyed the spectacle of the drum band (from Brazil?) who started playing in the plaza a few minutes before midnight.  The band attracted people from all over the plaza, dancing and swaying in the blue-lit streets.  Although we didn't show up for dinner until 10, the place didn't really fill up until after 2AM, when we were moving to the next stop: a club where we could drink and dance.  Turns out we met another couple (of guys this time) from New York.  At least one of them was fun to dance with.  People gradually filled Plaza Serrano below us, standing or sitting on the concrete walls, talking and sometimes lighting of the random firecracker.  Most of these folks probably didn't go to bed until the sun came up.

So many parks in Recoleta!
They were huge and full of people
the next day.  On New Years Day
there were crickets and the
die-hard joggers

The two of us slept in until the luxurious time of noon the next morning.  (I think this country will finally break me of my bad habit of waking up between 6 and 7 every morning.)  We finally ventured out around 2:00 and confirmed that everything was closed for the holiday. (even McDonalds and Starbucks!)  So we went to the neighborhood of Recoleta, where we admired the hauntingly beautiful mausoleums in Cemetorio de Recoleta and the wide open spaces of the parks in that neighborhood, including the massive trees and huge Floralis Generica.

In front of one of many
allies on the streets
of the Cemeterio Recoleta 

Evita's grave

One of many sculptures
in this city of
Mausoleums

Floralis Generica

That night, we went to a tango show.  This huge production happens every night for tourists, and showcases some really talented dancers, singers and a live band!  We had a so-so dinner but they kept pouring Malbec and the dancers were really good, even if the girls didn't like to wear many clothes.  A video of one of the more dressed ones is below.  They kept us entertained for almost 2 hours and we finally got home a little after midnight to sleep a few hours before venturing to Uruguay.

Before the show

The ensemble cast and band who played
above the stage all night long

When we got back from Uruguay (see separate post), our ferry landed at the top of Puerto Madero.  The Argentines have poured millions dollars into this neighborhood since the 1900s and the huge locks are surrounded by restaurants and skyscrapers.   We strolled along the water, enjoying the boats, the architecture of many of the constructions, including old cranes and warehouses converted into new uses and the Puente de la Mujer. Reportedly, it swings open to allow ships through. There were street performers dancing tango and plenty of locals skating or rollerblading down the sidewalks.

That night, we met up with a coworker who's been working in Buenos Aires for a little over a year.  He took us to a great restaurant and SpeakEasy hidden behind a flower shop.  It's a little surreal to walk into a walk-in freezer door and down stairs to a very good bar.  The food was good, the drinks were good, the company was good . . . we had a good time!  One funny anecdote came out of the evening that I will never forget . . .Argentina celebrates Friends Day.  It's a day for friends to get together and celebrate being friends.  Cool concept, right?  It turns out that Friends Day is linked to the day that Americans first walked on the moon.  Why?  Supposedly it is because this was the day everybody gathered around the television together to watch our first steps.  Even I couldn't tell you what day Neil Armstrong took his first step.  So random!

La Casa Rosa

Our last day in BA was spent wandering through the 2 remaining famous neighborhoods before heading to the airport.  First, we hit up the Sunday San Telmo feria.  The long street market starts at the Casa Rosa and runs for maybe a mile to the Plaza Dorrego  through a quirky part of the city.  The street market is largely artists and craftmen/women selling their wares while the Plaza hawks mostly antiques and old trinkets.  Ironically, we unintentionally ran into 2 other Sunday markets that day and each one had it's own flare.  San Telmo was by far the largest though.  Then we hit up the last of the 5 BA neighborhoods on our hitlist: La Boca.  This neighborhood is famous for it's colors, the Pope's visit, and the invention of Tango.  In fact, you can get pictures with Tango dancers anywhere along the colorful street Caminito.

San Telmo Feria

The colorful facade of
La Boca

.  .










We had fun in Buenos Aires and I'm curious what it would have felt like with people.  The city was mostly shut down while we were there - first for the New Years holiday, and generally because mot people close up shop for their summer vacation month of January.  Many stores and restaurants were closed.  It gave us a chance to wander the streets and appreciate the architecture and the ever-present graffiti.  I know it's strange to folks who know graffiti from the famous New York City cleanup, but it's considered an art form here and famous graffiti artists often draw significant commissions.

One mystery that we never solved was: When do Argentinians sleep?  If they're routinely starting dinner at 10PM (and maybe going out afterwards) then waking up to be in the office by 9AM  . . . they must be made of stiffer stuff than I am.  I only survived in BA with my daily power nap.  Another mystery . . . why do Argentinians love their platform shoes?  We saw them everywhere.

There's definitely a lot more to see and do in this vibrant city and I'm looking forward to coming back.


Next Stop: Iguazu (or Iguacu in Portuguese)