What's New, Buenos Aires?*

* I'm sorry, I'm unable to say "Buenos Aires" without bursting into the Evita Soundtrack.

After our relaxing detour into Uruguay, we headed back to Buenos Aires to get a another taste of the city. We stayed in the Palermo neighborhood, which is filled with shops and restaurants and cafes. Though it's a bit removed from some of the major sites of the city, it was a good jumping off point for just living like a local (well, a local with a lot of free time).

Bar in Palermo, temporarily turned into a daytime marketplace

Crowds wandering around Palermo

One of our favorite spots was 'Nikki's Bar,' just a few blocks away from our hostel. We quickly became addicted to the delicious cappuccinos and sweet medialunas.

On our last stay in Buenos Aires, a bunch of the museums and famous buildings were closed to tourists due to the Easter holiday, so we were psyched when the Congress building was open for tours.

We showed up five minutes after the tour was about to start and hoped we were on the right side of the building. Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcomed us into the building, and the tour guide gave us a lovely tour... all in Spanish. I barely caught 5 percent of the tour. But, as a bit of a nerd, I was interested in hearing more details about the building and how their legislature works. As the tour ended, we thanked the tour guide and asked if they ever did tours in English. Yes, he said, and as a matter of fact, one was starting on the other side of the building in just five minutes.

Library ladder in the library in the Congress building

We ran around the building and at and sat until finally, nearly an hour later, the tour begins. We hear him say: "Welcome!" We think: "Phew!" We follow him into the building and then he says, in Spanish: "And that's the last word you'll hear me say in English. Stay with the group, please."

So yes, we ended up taking the tour of the Congress building twice, in Spanish. And of course, I still know next to nothing about their legislature.

Second time around

Thankfully, we managed a bit better during the (English) tour of the Casa Rosada, which is where the Presidential offices are located.

The building was pretty neat, with tons of gorgeous artwork and some more modern quirkiness.

Virgin Mary in the Presidential office building

The President's office

Very modern area of the building highlighting Argentinia's icons from pop culture

Mirror shot

Before we left Argentina, we wanted to get one more awesome steak dinner. When we were hiking in El Chalten, we met a young college student on the trail who raved about a great steak restaurant in Buenos Aires. We were skeptical. We learned our lesson in Bariloche that not all rumored favorites are as amazing as they are promised to be. But then, we heard this famed restaurant, La Cabrera, had a major happy hour-- 40% off all of the food and drink. So of course we couldn't pass that up!

And wow-- it was definitely one of our favorite meals in all of Argentina. The place was filled with tourists, but every bite was delicious. The steaks were served with all kinds of dipping sauces and sides, and we savored our delicious Argentinian wine.

On one of our last nights in Buenos Aires, we decided to tackle the infamous tango. Some friends we met in Puerto Madryn (no, not the penguins) recommended the Armenian Cultural Center to us. It seemed like kind of an odd place to take a tango lesson, but it was a really neat experience with a mix of locals and tourists.

The instructors demonstrating tango. They were better than we were.

See above.

Crowds dancing tango

We took a half hour class to get a feel for the basics and then danced a bit of tango, swing, and just good ol' rock and roll for the rest of the night. We couldn't have asked for a better way to close out our Argentine adventure.

-R

Hello, Buenos Aires!*

*Yes, you should be singing the title of the post, just like Madonna

I don't know if you could tell this from our posts, but we've spent a LOT of time in the wilderness. We've climbed more mountains in these two months than we'd climbed in our lives pre-trip. We've camped a bunch, breathed in tons fresh air, drank straight from glaciers, and generally gotten covered in a lot of dirt.

Perhaps that's why we were so psyched to head to Buenos Aires-- not only was it a welcome change from the great outdoors, but it was a giant metropolitan area with a variety of food (sushi, anyone?), new energy, and, unlike many of the trekking towns, it has more Argentinians than tourists.

The Congress Building in Buenos Aires. It's modeled after the U.S. Capitol

Evita, not a man eating a hamburger, as a tourist we met thought

The city definitely has an energy to it. Everything seems to move in hyperspeed-- cars especially-- perhaps due to all of the little shots of espresso everyone drinks here! There's graffiti everywhere, protests in the street at least once per day, and performance art on the trains. It was a refreshing change from the quaint little towns filled with only outdoor equipment shops and ice cream stands.

For our first 5 nights in town, we stayed in the downtown area, right down the road from the Congress building and Plaza de Mayo, one of the most important places in Buenos Aires' history.

Nope, not the Washington Monument!

The Casa Rosada, the President's office building.
Yes, it's lit up pink at night.

We also visited Evita's grave. A bit morbid, yes, but the Recoleta Cemetery, where she's buried, is a really neat cemetery for the rich or famous of Buenos Aires. Some of these gravestones were bigger than houses. Unfortunately, our pictures have gone missing for now, so if you can't use your imagination, check the official site for pictures.

One night, we also stumbled into a tango performance, which was incredible. Apparently you can see or dance the tango any night of the week while in Buenos Aires.

Awesome old theater converted to a bookstore/coffee shop.
This would be heaven if I could read Spanish.

An encounter with an old-fashioned elevator. This is my "acting confused" face.
I expect my Oscar any day now.

Sipping a cafe con leche at one of Buenos Aires' oldest cafes

Residents and tourists going through the Stations of the Cross
 on the streets of Buenos Aires

Hanging out in our favorite park near Plaza Italia

During Holy Week and the run-up to Easter, the city began to clear out. So, we decided to be like locals and join them! We took a small break from big city life to jet off to Uruguay for a vacation from our travels.

-R