So after 15 hours on 2 different flights and very little sleep, Carlytron and I arrived in the devastatingly adorable city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The travel books are right. Its like a tropical version of a European city where the very old and the very new are blended across an oddly harmonious landscape.
Here is what we have done so far:
Saturday
We took an eight hour nap in the afternoon and then went to dinner at La Dorita in the Palermo Hollywood district where we had steaks which were amazing and cost the equivalent of 10 US dollars each. Afterwards, we stopped by Bach Bar which is a lesbian bar close by where they were having an 80’s night! We heard lots of Madonna but found we were the only ones in the mood for dancing!
Observations:
+ Sleeping for 8 hours in the afternoon is something neither of us have done since we can remember.
+ Buenos Aires locals, or portenos, don’t go out to eat until well after 10pm and not until 11-midnight on weekends.
+ Bars don’t even get interesting until 2 in the morning and are open until 6 or 8. And they call New York City “the city that never sleeps”!?
+ Lesbian bars are boring in every city. (Sorry ladies, you know its true)
+ Many people do not speak English, so bring your phrase book and brush up on key phrases beforehand. Its fun to try to bring my Espanol back from its 7 year hiatus.
+ “The lesbian haircut du jour is the neo-mullet.” -Carly
Sunday
Our hotel, Hollywood Suites and Lofts located in Palermo Hollywood was a great find. We wanted a place that felt like an apartment with the convenience of a hotel and we found it. The hotel has a rooftop pool, a little terrace attached to the rooms and a kitchen. They also bring your breakfast straight to your room! So Sunday we called to the front desk and 10 minutes later our breakfast was at our door. Genius.
We left our hotel at around noon and slowly discovered that what we thought was the new “city that never sleeps” is actually just the “city that sleeps all day”. The streets are dead on Sundays and many of the shops are closed, which made us sad. So we decided to forego the shopping and go do something touristy and super gay.
The Evita Museum is a cute little place where you pay around $5 to get in and see artifacts from the life of Eva Peron and watch their impassioned political speeches from the balcony of the Pink House, the main government building in the Plaza de Mayo which is right in the Center of Buenos Aires. You can also view the fabulous outfits and accessories that Eva wore, proving that even spiritual leaders/activists don’t have to sacrifice fashion! This made us want to shop even more.
We continued on to the Recoleta Cemetery which is like a city for the dead basically. Above ground burial chambers line rows and rows in this gated labyrinth of stone. Its so beautiful and so creepy. We also stopped in at the Design Center to check out some designer furniture that we can’t afford for the apartment we don’t have yet.
The afternoon was spent at the pool and at night we ate brick oven pizza from a local restaurant. There is much Italian influence here in Buenos Aires which means lots of amazing Italian food like pizza, pasta and gelato!
Today is Monday and we plan to finally shop and see some tango tonight! Stay Tuned!
Very nice piece! And the photos where beautiful of course!
I am glad you all had fun. So did you feel is Argentina expensive?
So, umm, whatcha gonna buy me? ::hopeful look::
Seriously, though. Great writing and pics. Glad y’all are having fun!
Robin, you take the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen! Thanks for sharing.
Buenos Aires is great. The people, the music and the food: all amazing. I’m looking forward to the next updates :)
as much as i despise london in other ways, its lesbian bars were really fun. “candybar” even had an “indie stripper” night for the gay ladies. sweet.
When thinking of Buenos Aires, am I the only one who immediately thinks of Starship Troopers? Just me? Ok.
I do. Do you want to live forevaaaahhh?!
Wish I knew you guys were headed there! I could’ve given you a heads up on how everyone sleeps and no one goes out until super late. When I lived there at age 11 I went out to party at 9pm and didnt come home until 11:30pm. It’s definitely different!
Danq. Tha eplace loos paboulous. Glad you’re habing fung!
hahhahaa… oh Cesar.
So I”ve only looked at the pictures so far and am already jealous..have an amazing time!! and no injuries like Riese’ k thanks
Buenos Aires tropical???? I would say Brazil is tropical, but Buenos Aires? Please remember that after the Equator if you continue going south it gets colder and colder… Winters there are not like the East Cost, but they are pretty chilly… in fact it snowed in Buenos Aires three years ago!
Ok, well, I think LA is tropical. I’m from NY. LOL
the name sounds tropical enough to me
Ah, this looks amazing! My friend went to Spain once and she also said that people stayed out till 5 or 6 in the morning. That is seriously a long party.
@Alissa: yeah I also went kinda O_o with Bs Aires being tropical, of course the temperature must be really good right now since it’s spring and summer is comming soon.
Also it kinda surprises me that people don’t know that there was a big European immigration to South America, not just to the USA or Canada.
What kind of camera are you using for those shots?
There’s a saying in Buenos Aires that “Porteños are Latin Americans who talk like Italians, act like British, and think they live in Paris.” As stated by Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel’s “Passport to Latin America.”
I went through a phase where I wanted Samantha Brown’s job very much. Just saying
Ridickulus Chatter
you are making me want to boycott (girlcott??) new york/ hitchhike to another country somehow / get potentially assaulted/ go on vacation!
Hey, Argentina is a gay friendly country. People there is fine with it. I mean, you will see gay couples and you won´t think it is weird.
Last year I rented an apartment in buenos aires which was in the neighborhood of Plermo, a gay friendly place where people is open-minded.
That is my view!
Tiffany