The Traveling Martens

Buenos Aires, Argentina

November 2006

We left Brasil and flew into Buenos Aires. We were really looking forward to seeing the city which is known as the Paris of South America. We took a taxi in from the airport, checked into our hotel, and stepped outside to see our friend Manuel, who lives next door to us in Miami, and who had come down to visit some of his family there. We went to lunch with Manuel and his cousins and then started exploring the city.

We were staying at the Marriott Hotel on Florida Street, which is the shopping area of downtown Buenos Aires. After Argentina's currency collapsed a few years ago when the country defaulted on its debt, Argentina became a very cheap place. Prices are starting to rise again, but Mel bought several great silk ties for $7 apiece and custom suits and leather are cheap also.

Buenos Aires neighborhoods - Palermo Hollywood, Palermo Viejo, San Telmo, Puerta Madero

The real bargain though is the food and wine, especially the wines from Argentina's Mendoza and Malbec regions. You can literally have mounds of different steaks and meats piled in front of you at the table and down a couple bottles of wine for less than $10 a person. It was almost funny to go out with our friends there and have twelve of us at a long table and just keep ordering more meat and wine for hours. It's also comical how late people eat dinner here. Restaurants will still be empty at 10 pm, we would often eat at 11 or midnight. Our first night, we went to a very upscale restaurant in the Palermo Hollywood neighborhood. It had huge doors out front and polished wood covered the entire restaurant inside. The Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Viejo areas are full of boutique clothing stores, little bars, and restaurants ranging from open air benches on the sidewalk to trendy, upscale restaurants. The San Telmo area is full of older markets and restaurants and is known for its tango shows. We also went to visit the Recoleta cemetary (Cementerio De La Recoleta), which is where Eva Peron is buried. The cemetary is a tourist destination because of the impressive burial vaults there. The cemetary is like a park with a maze of sidewalks and trees between the giant stone vaults. With their intricate carvings and designs, they look like mini mansions. The city is laid out with several nice areas ranging from the older downtown area, to the more residential areas like Palermo, to the Puerto Madero area (port area) which is now being rebuilt with brand new buildings and expensive, shiny glass condos. Buenos Aires is known for its beautiful architecture, full of old buildings with European styling. Most of the residents are of European descent and there are lots of beautiful people. Everyone dresses in style and wears very nice clothing.

Sunday Barbecque and Futbol Game

On Sunday afternoon, we went to our friend Manuel's uncle's home in a pretty neighborhood for a big barbeque. They have a nice home with a pool and giant grill in the backyard. Much wine was drunk and lots of meat was eaten, with about 15 of us sharing a table on the patio. Then we went to a futbol game (soccer for Americans) with the local River team playing against their rival Chicago. It was the most impressive sporting event we have ever been to. The enormous stadium was filled with chanting and singing fans. The guest team's fans have to sit in a special section of the stadium which is surrounded by 12 foot tall barbed wire and armed guards to prevent fights between the two sides. After the game, we got up to leave, but our friends told us to sit back down, it would be a while. The gates to exit the stadium are locked for the home team fans, while the visitor fans are escorted out to their buses and driven miles away before they let us out. Unfortunately, the visiting team had won so they didn't want to leave without singing and celebrating their victory for another hour.