Paris of the South

Buenos Aires can certainly claim this title with its colonial structures, wide avenues, alfresco dining, reliable metro, leafy plazas and countless monuments. It really is like being somewhere in France or Spain, particularly having come from Bolivia, which is about as far from Europe as you can get.

Our plan was always that we would get to BA, travel around for a few weeks, and then settle there for a couple of months and do an intensive Spanish course. This is my second visit to the city and I was quite excited about getting to know it. The plan has since gone out the window, for two main reasons. Firstly, since arriving, we’ve really felt it in the financial department. I think this is accentuated again by our Bolivian experience, where everything was cheap as chips. There’s also the constant temptation of good food, bars and shopping to which it’s very easy to give in and spend up. Secondly, Argentinean Spanish is quite different to the Spanish spoken in other Latino countries. For example, normally, the word ‘parrilla’ (grill) is pronounced ‘par-ee-ya’; here it is pronounced ‘par-ee-sha’. And ‘pollo’ (chicken) usually pronounced ‘po-yo’, is ‘po-sho’. This is unique to Argentina and considering we’re going to many other Spanish-speaking countries, both here and in Europe, we’ve decided it would be more practical to learn a more common dialect elsewhere. At this time, elsewhere is back in Bolivia, probably Sucre. There is, however, always the possibility that I might pack in the law thing, stay in BA and become a dog walker, very tempting considering I want to adopt every stray I find (we saw one guy walking about 15 dogs at once!).

Given that our time is limited, we still certainly plan to make the most out of BA. We spent a good four days with Jules, which was tainted by a suspicious case of food poisoning after a hostel ‘asado’ (various cuts of coal-cooked meat), coupled with Jules’ near death by pisco sour (the national drink of Chile and Peru) – that stuff is potent! Stomachaches were put aside however, and we soldiered on. We walked the streets and boutiques of Palermo and spent hours
wandering the San Telmo antique markets. We strolled down to La Boca, past the famous Boca Juniors football stadium and to the colourful birthplace of Tango. We also got to the Recoleta cemetery, best known for being the resting place of Eva Peron (Evita). She was the rags to riches wife of the President of Argentina and influenced the introduction of many social and economic programs for the working classes in the 1940s. Her global profile was probably also raised by the very average film ‘Evita’, starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone’s taken advantage of the great food and wine on offer here. My favourite was a juicy steak at a place called ‘Desnivel’ in San Telmo. I also introduced the girls to my favourite Argentinean salsa, chimichurri, a delicious mix of herbs, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. I tried to make it once back home, but it just wasn't the same.








Jules being here for only two weeks has conveniently turned into a great excuse to play tourist. So far we plan to hit the tourist-hub of Iguazu Falls and also explore Uruguay. Stay tuned.