In 2009 I went to Buenos Aires for the first time. Before going there I gathered some interesting information about the city and things to do there. I’ve shared these tips with some friends and finally I’ve set myself to write this post. It’s going to be a long one.
WALKINGS
My friend Eva was living in Buenos Aires and gave me the tip about the
walking tours. The first one I did started in the morning and was more historical and political. It starts in front of the Congress building and ends at the Obelisk on Avenida 9 de Julio.
The second one is called Aristocratic Buenos Aires and shows the rich part of the city. It starts at Plaza de San Martín, at Retiro neighbourhood and ends in front of the Recoleta cemetery (where Evita’s mausolea is located). At San Martín Square there is a monument for the soldiers that died in the Malvina or Folk Islands war between Argentina and England.
Both tours take about two hours and are in English.
On Sundays, there is a cool market in San Telmo. One can find antiques, clothes, souvenirs and other things to buy. But even for those not interested in buying things, it’s worthy to visit and walk around. There is live music and some interesting characters like the Wind Man (a guy dressed in a funny way as if the wind was blowing his clothes – when I was there, I didn’t see the Wind Woman, because she had just got a Wind Baby) and the tango dancers.
The open market goes from 10 am until more or less 5 pm.
The Pasaje San Lorenzo is a very tiny house that belonged to and ex-slave. I read one can do some guided tour inside, but it was closed when I was there.
Caminito is one of the most famous images from Buenos Aires. It’s pretty colourful and there are restaurants, tango shows and lots of souvenirs stores. I think one should go there and see it, but I don’t think it’s so cool.
Close to Caminito, there is the stadium from Boca Júniors, aka La Bombonera. There is a museum inside and they offer different tours: museum and field, only field, only museum. In front of it, there are many stores selling football shirts and mugs and so on.
Both Caminito and La Bombonera are located at La Boca neighbourhood.
Close to the Recoleta cemitery, there is the Centro Cultural Recoleta. It’s open from Monday through Friday, from 2 pm until 9 pm and on weekends, from 10 am until 9 pm. There was a Berlin bear when I was there. As I love Berlin, this put a big smile on my face.
Where the avenues meet and Avenida del Libertador turns into Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, there is the Floralis Generica. It’s a huge metal flower with “petals” that are closed during night time and open during the day. It was a gift from the architect Eduardo Catalano.
Puerto Madero is a modern harbor and a beautiful area for a walk. Close to it there is the Reserva Ecológica that’s also good for a walk and a nice place for a picnic, especially by the river.
Cólon Theater (at Cerrito Str.) and Palácio dos Tribunais (Lavalle Square) were closed probably because of the flu.
I didn’t visit these places, but I’ll write about them anyway. At Palermo neighbourhood, there is the Planetarium Galileu Galilei and the Jardin Botanico (Botanic Garden). The Jardin is open every day from 10 am until 6 pm and it’s for free.
Jardin Botanico – Avenida Santa Fé, 3951.
Planetário Galileu Galilei – Avenida Sarmiento y B. Roldan.
MUSEUMSMuseu Nacional de Bellas Artes or National Museum of Fine Arts is pretty interesting. It’s at Avenida del Libertador, 1473. It’s open from Tuesday through Friday from 12:30 until 19:30 and on weekends from 9:30 until 19:30. And it’s for free.
Malba (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) is for Latin American art. It has more modern stuff. It’s at Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, 3415.
I wanted to see also the Museu de Arte Moderna in San Telmo, but because of the H1N1 gripe, it was closed. I also couldn’t go to the museum in Casa Rosada (the Pink House) at Plaza de Mayo.
FOODWhen it comes to food, Buenos Aires is well-known for steaks and I had heard from a friend of mine she realized she’ll be vegetarian for the rest of her life after going to BsAs. I went to two veggie restaurants there. Lotos wasn’t very good, but Spring was delicious.
Another option is the Arab restaurant Habib, in San Telmo.
Spring – corner of Jorge Luis Borges and Charcas, in Palermo neighbourhood.
Habibi – Humberto Primo street, 527. Between the streets Perú and Bolívar.
At almost every corner of the city there is a Havana Café. Paradise!
BOOKS
I love to read and I was so happy to find
Walrus bookstore at San Telmo. It’s a very good place to buy second-hand books in English. There are books in other languages as well, but most are in English.
El Ateneo is probably the most famous bookstore in the city. It used to be a theater and the building is so beautiful! At the back, where the stage used to be, there is a good café. Avenida Santa Fé, 1860.
MUSIC
La Bomba de Tiempo is a percussion group that makes very nice music. They play on Mondays and it’s normally very crowded.
SHOPPINGCórdoba and Florida streets are famous for their stores. At Called Florida there is also Galeria Pacifico, a shopping mall.
WEBSITESMi Buenos Aires QueridoOh Buenos AiresWhats Up Buenos Aires
