Buenos Dias, Buenos Aires!

My favorite experiences on this trip were…

1. Snacking on sweets with dulce de leche, particularly the brownie version at Chungo
2. People watching and a lunch of empanadas and salad at Chez Cafe Resto in San Telmo
3. Wandering through the stalls at the Feria de San Telmo in Plaza Dorrego on Sunday
4. Eating Argentine BBQ with proveleta at Lo de Jesus in Palermo
5. Buying Tango shoes at Comme il Fault
6. Shopping and exploring Palermo around Goritti & Thames
7. Giant portions of Malbec everywhere
8. Learning to make empanadas (corn and beef) with Teresita, especially the wine and sampling at the end of class
9. Watching the Tango show at Esquina Carlos Gardel, just skip the dinner
10. Sampling chorizo and champagne while waiting for a table at Parilla La Cabrera for dinner
11. Blue skies and sunburns while visiting sleepy streets of the barrio historico in  Colonia, Uruguay via the buquebus
12. The coffee, the beautiful breakfast dining area, and the wonderful staff at Hotel Ultra
13. Charting a course through the rain in El Cementerio de la Recoleta to see Eva Peron’s family mausoleum
14. Rocket (arugula) salad with loads of shaved parmesan at Bar Abierto in Plaza Serrano
15. Havanna alfajores! Try this homemade version from the From Argentina with Love blog

Check out more photos here, and I put together a slideshow to music since there are so many pictures! Enjoy!

Home Base

We arrived at Hotel Ultra in Palermo Soho to find an MTV shoot happening in the lobby… Our room wasn’t quite ready so they showed us into the dining area to have some breakfast and coffee, which was included in our very reasonable room rate and much needed after the almost 11 hour flight. The staff at Hotel Ultra was exceptional! Ariel, Sergio, Pamela, and Nelson were all very friendly and incredibly helpful in making arrangements and planning details of our trip. And, their English was excellent, which was a relief, since my beginner Spanish was regularly employed (and exhausted) outside the hotel.

We really loved staying in Palermo, and I would definitely do it again. Next time I’ll definitely get more inside scoop from the Trendy Palermo Viejo blog too since I discovered it after returing.

Rainy Days

Rain can definitely complicate a vacation, especially a day of sight seeing.  We enjoyed the unique experience of wandering El Cementerio de la Recoleta in the drizzle, but here’s a list of Rainy Day Activities in Buenos Aires expertly put together by the San Telmo Loft Weblog, in case you find yourself in need of it. It would have been nice to have while we were there, but we still had a great day and thanks to Twitter and @SmittyTabb we also discovered Galerias Pacifico where we bought the Havannas alfajores!

For Next Time

I always finish a trip with a few notes of things that I would like to do when (or if) I return again. The desire to see new places seems to win out over my desire to revisit, but since we never know where our paths will lead us, here are my notes for my next trip to Buenos Aires:

• I would have liked to spend a little time in the Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), but there’s so much to do in the city and this didn’t fit in.
• I’ll check out a famous cafes like, El Preferido de Palermo (cash only) at Jorge Luis Borges & Guatemala, reportedly a favorite of Francis Ford Coppola while in Palermo Viejo.  It was recommended for milanesas and papa fritas along with Felipo (cash only) for ice cream at Jorge Louis Borges and Costa Rica in Palermo. We had hoped to hit them for an early dinner and a little dessert right before we headed to the airport for our 10:30 pm flight (!), but by that point we were out of pesos.  Hopefully, our loss can be your gain!
• I’d also plan on exploring the Guia Oleo, which provides restaurant information online for Spanish speakers, in the hopes of getting off the beaten path.

Tagged as: argentina, buenos aires, colonia uruguay, Havanna alfajores, Hotel Ultra, palermo, recoleta, south america, Travel