9 de julio avenue – the largest street in buenos aires

my best friend and i try to travel internationally every other year (money well spent!), and our very first trip was to chile and argentina in 2008.  buenos aires was an obvious stop, and it captured my heart.  such grandeur – the architecture, the food, the tango…it was not at all what i had been expecting (i lived in venezuela for year and naively thought all of south america – yes, an entire continent – was similar).  i returned to buenos aires last year for work, and the city’s hold over me was confirmed: this place is the real deal.

a few of my must-sees (and my hope-to-again-sees):

• shop/dine/drink in palermo – kim and i stayed in palermo at the lovely otra orilla bed and breakfast (i do hope it is still around).  the area is a bustling, leafy, cobble-stoned district with narrow streets lined with shops, restaurants, bars, etc.  bar 6 and olsen were two of my favorite bars, though there are many to choose from.  and definitely try a parilla, a brazilian steakhouse.  the steak is fantastic (argentines claim the best in the world, but argentines claim a lot of things :)), and is delicious with a bottle of malbec.  just don’t go too early – not much is open before 9pm (difficult if you’re there for work!).

vodka and bites from olsen in palermo

• trolley ride – i have this crazy thing for trollies (if you’re ever in dallas, you really must take the mckinney avenue trolley through uptown to the arts district), and buenos aires did not disappoint. we took the a-line and i was transported back into a much more glamorous age.

• recoleta cemetery – words cannot adequately describe this place, though ‘magical’ may be a start.  rows of crypts, mausoleums, crosses, stone paths, giant  memorials to those of the past, locked to visitors, but with glass doors that afford a glimpse inside to the stained glass windows, alters, crucifixes, marble stairs leading downward into a subterranean shelter – some hold photographs, some are covered in cobwebs with floors of dirt and leaves, others are new, shiny, marble, carfully polished, well-kept.  the area is four blocks and one could get lost in the narrow paths.  eva perron is buried here, within the duarte family mausoleum, and followers place flowers within the door in remembrance.

strolling through the recoleta

• dirty war protest – the dirty war occurred in the 70s and 80s, and the government is still silent on the killings of many of its people, most of whom were left-wing activists, journalists, students, and geurillas.  mothers of people killed in the dirty war still march through the plaza de mayo every thursday demanding information and closure.  the madres have had a bit of scandal in the past several years, so march with them at your own risk, but it’s worth a visit to see them march, hear their stories, and learn a part of history that isn’t in all of the textbooks.

the protest march path of the mothers of plaza de mayo

• san telmo market – read more from my “favorite markets” post here.

• malba – the latin american art museum of buenos aires is incredible.  i adore latin american art, especially that of frida kahlo, diego rivera, and fernando botero.  i  found at the malba new artists i enjoyed like leon ferrari, carlos federico saez, and maria teresa ponce.  i sat for awhile at the museum, listening to music from the 1920s, and then walked the streets surrounding the museum that are lined with lush parks and embassies.

the malba museum in buenos aires

who should go: culture junkies, those who wish they were around in the 1920s and 1940s

what to pack:  nice clothing – argentines are sophisticated and fashionable.  leave the beach gear at home and instead bring some chic walking shoes

what to watch: nine queens (nueve reinas)

the main path at recoleta cemetery in buenos aires