Listening to visitors pronounce ‘Buenos Aires’ is enormously entertaining. People from Britain say ‘Ahhhres’, giving the word the sophistication it deserves. People from the USA say ‘Air-rays’. It’s a simple switch for them: just adding ‘rays’ to the already familiar word ‘air’. Curiously, travelers don’t seem to confuse ‘Buenos’, but there is already enough intrigue about the city. Buenos Aires itself is even more entertaining to travelers than its name, and everyone should visit.
This is my second time in the city; the first being over 40 years ago. I don’t dance the tango, I don’t eat pondorous beef meals (though the person walking next to me might like to.) But, now as 40 years ago, I find endless ways to entertain myself. This is one city where anyone can feel like a Porteño – a resident of Buenos Aires.
Some cities are strategically breath-taking, placed in an area of great beauty, like Bogotá, Colombia. Others may be located in a convenient area, like Panamá City, Panamá. Some communities spread like wildfire, consuming geography without apparent logic, like my former hometown of Pasto, Colombia. And some cities, like Buenos Aires, plot their own thoughtful development with grace and beauty, replacing topography with a vibrant and classic style that begs people to visit and effortlessly impresses them when they do.
We arrive from Lima and I pull out our hotel information. I am not always good at selecting places to stay. We are thrifty sorts, and like to get as much for our money as we can, but while we look for safety and value, location of the hotel is always our first concern. Can we walk to the places we want to see? Are there restaurants and stores close by?
The taxi driver knew the hotel right away, without the need for an address, which is a credit to him, and gives me hope that this time, I picked well. It is a hot day in Buenos Aires, and we drive into a neighborhood with a canopy of green extending over the city streets. The taxi pulls up along a shaded sidewalk to a shiningly clean hotel with ornate stately features. Melia Recoleta Plaza. It is classically beautiful, and I decide immediately that if I only explore this one building while in Buenos Aires, the trip will have been worthwhile.
The hotel has taken over a structure that was once a rooming house where Eva Peron lived. With curving staircases, gleaming wood accents, polished marble tile floors, this place acts as a living museum. Placards placed on framed photographs tell the history of Peronista Argentina. In black-and-white, next to the period architecture of the building itself, a history lesson begins before I unpack my bags in the room.
The area of Recoleta is home to our hotel. Even if tourists didn’t need to visit Evita’s grave in La Recoleta’s cemetary, they should come to see this neighborhood. The graveyard itself is a walking history tutorial, with cultural lessons displayed on tombstones. Decorations and poetry add details. Outside the cemetary, the shaded streets and the welcome of the cafes make walking a simple pleasure here. Carrying our map, we are stopped several times by residents who offer help with directions. One recommends that we visit the artisan fair in the park. We do, and find a huge gathering of craftpersons and shoppers. We are entertained for hours. Since I have decided that visiting Buenos Aires requires more than seeing the interior of the hotel, I now wonder if I really need to leave La Recoleta. The area is peaceful and inviting, surely sufficient for any visit.
But I do explore farther. El Ateneo Grand Splendid is just outside La Recoleta. In 2019, it was named the most beautiful bookstore in the world by National Geographic. When I walk into the store from the sidewalk, I wonder about the hype surrounding this famous place. I like bookstores, and have high expectations for the well-known ones. This one opens up from a fairly normal city street. It’s fine. But number one in the world?
And then I see the interior and understand. It’s so filled with architectural beauty that it’s difficult to focus on the literary works of art. This is just one more spot in Buenos Aires that can occupy an entire visit.
Of course, there are more. The walk to a popular shopping street, Calle Florida, from our hotel is a long one. In the heat, I wonder if my insistance on walking everywhere is wise. But how else do I see the sights I want to see at the pace I want to see them? The reward is in the shops along the street and the vendors with their goods on the sidewalk. And, of course, along the way, we stop in the shaded parks near the Casa Rosada, where the city’s political history has unfolded.
Every neighborhood we pass through and each restaurant and shop we enter, we encounter friendly, helpful Porteños. When we take a short break to sit in the shade of Plaza de Mayo, twice people approach and offer help with directions and recommendations. It seems to me the people of Buenos Aires want us to visit and enjoy the city they very obviously love.
That is the lasting impression I take with me from our second visit. I can stop worrying about pronouncing the name right. The important thing to remember is that Porteños love their city. This emotion spills out to welcome visitors like myself.
It sounds enthralling! I’ve always been in love with the Evita story. I shall probably sing ‘that’ song all evening now. Thanks a lot, Susan 🙂 🙂 Wishing you happy days!
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RJo – She was one for the storybooks, wasn’t she? It was especially interesting to see all the black-and-white photos at our hotel and watch the transformation in progress. Keep singing – Cheers, Susan
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Walking? History? Bookshops? I’m enthralled.
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Anabel – Me, too! Truly, the bookstore alone would have occupied me for days. It was almost too much to take in at one visit.
Cheers – Susan
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I loved reading another chapter in your life filled with small walks. Your words painted images in my mind and I felt like I was walking beside you. I greatly enjoyed my walk! Anita
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Anita – I am so happy to walk with you! It’s the places around the world that really bring the walks to life. Sooo many walks….
All the best – Susan
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This was a lovely trip down memory lane for me. Thank you. We too stayed in Recoleta (but in an airbnb) and loved the area, but like you explored all over the city during our 3 weeks there. We copied the locals and called it Buenos Eye-rez.
Alison
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Alison – What a place to visit, and you took your time with three weeks! Did you ever get out into the pampas? I don’t know why that one word wraps up the American tongue so. It’s entertaining to hear us attempt it. Even speaking Spanish pretty well, Eye-rez takes some effort 😉 Happy spring to you and Don – Susan
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Happy spring to you too. We didn’t get to the Pampas. We went straight from BA to Patagonia. It’s such a huge country. And continent. We went to South America for 6 months and only saw half the continent.
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Alison – it’s a big world, and one of the advantages of inpendent travel is picking your own pace and places. (…we spent two years in South America, and only saw 1/10th the continent!)
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Like you I have visited BA twice now and love it. While it has surely been through hard times over the years it remains a proud city of class. Few in the world can compete with it.
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Hi Rambling – Thnkas for dropping by the blog. I completely agree with you – Buenos Aires is a great city to visit. Full of interesting attractions and welcoming people. Cheers – Susan
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Ooooh! We stayed in Recoleta, too, and found it our favorite area! Good choice, Susan.
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Beth (and Joe) – walking around that neighborhood was such a relaxing but interesting time. Whoever planted all those gorgeous trees knew what it took to escape the heat of summer.
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A wonderful place, thank you for sharing.
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Lakshmi – I’m so glad you came by – and I agree with you about Buenos Aires 🙂 – Susan
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Enjoy Buenos Aires. I hear it is lovely. Only been once years ago, on business. Spent 3 days locked up in meetings. Day and night. Only one good dinner, and I escaped for a walk half an hour. Need to go back.
Hasta luego
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Oh, going to a beautiful city and getting locked up in meetings doesn’t make any sense! Go back – you, especially, would love it 😉
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I had no choice. I was running an international study on food in Latam. Sending execs to Chile, Venezuela. We were doing focus groups non-stop in B.A. And then hop on the plane to Sao Paulo…
I will try to programme it before they have yet another crisis.
Hasta luego Susan.
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Your route has taken you far south & east! Cuz-O
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Great post Susan, makes me to visit Argentina even more : )
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Thank you so much, Alani. I do hope you get to Argentina one day. It’s a wonderful place. – Susan
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