the boi begins in buenos aires

10/1/08 (argentine style)

We turn a corner into the prime square of Palermo SOHO and lo and behold, the rumors are true. I find myself standing in an isle of a Parisian style patio bar, in between tables of beautiful Argentine girls that would make Henri Toulouse-Lautrec feel like he picked the wrong city to lust himself to death. This is going to be the beginning of a beautiful adventure, I say to my boy Smiley standing next to me.

I don’t want to make it sound like all I’ve been preoccupied with since I arrived in BA 2 days ago is the women, but lets be real, it’s a substantial issue.

This city is fairly incredible. Like big cities throughout the world, it has neighborhoods of varying character. I’m starting my stay in the middle of the city in between Congreso, where the National House of Congress lies, and downtown. It’s been a great place to be initially because I can walk to almost any area of the city starting from my pad. The first day, Smiley and I walked to San Telmo, the home and birthplace of the world famous tango. San Telmo is rustic and a little dirty, but sincerely so. If it was full of granite sidewalks and apartment lobbies with marble floors, the neighborhood would be lying to itself. We spent the afternoon there, so we missed out on the dinner to late night vibe that San Telmo thrives on. We’ll be back, oh yes, we’ll be back.

That first night we went out to Belgrano to visit with some of Smiley’s friends. There were about 7 Americans there when we arrived, and about 4-5 argentines. The hostess, a middle aged woman named Annabella who Smiley’s friends live with, said it best (in a luscious Argentine accent no less), “Too many Americans tonight.” I didn’t disagree, but as it was my first night and my mind was till 40 thousand feet in the air, I didn’t mind either.

The best part of the night was her house. We entered through a rustic gate, so rustic it almost didn’t open, and walked down a brick corridor with sprawling plants on all sides of us. After turning a corner, we entered into the center of the house which was an open air brick patio. Each of the indoor rooms could be accessed through this main patio/room. It was full of live greenery, and just perfect. Annabella said that the house was built in the 1920s. It was a wonderful place.

Yesterday we explored through Recoleta and Palermo, two of the nicer, classy neighborhoods in BA. Recoleta is a little like the Upper East Side or something, the granite sidewalks and marble floors fit right in. Palermo is where we spent most of the time and it was well worth it. We skipped the shops that it’s famous for, and went for the food and drink that we knew we could appreciate with a little more vitality. We stopped in that first bar I mentioned in starting this piece, sat for an hour, listened to the Rolling Stones and Bob Marley, drank 2 litre bottles of beer, and spent 10 pesos.

We left there for a traditional steak dinner at a famous Parilla named La Dorita. It was a bustle of activity, and we knew immediately we were in the right place. Dinner was wonderful, good wine, people watching, scrumptious steak, Argentina.

These first two days have been a great jumping off point. This city has more to offer than one could hope. That night in Palermo while running through the rain back to the bars after dinner, helping Smiley from slipping with his sandals made of waxed foam, giggling through two bottles of malbec, it was apparent that this should be a superb trip.