| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | 4) San Telmo. A barrio of cobblestone streets, antique |
| Cross the street and everything changes. Buenos | | | | stores, and colonial area mansions. In the early days of |
| Aires, more than most cities of a comparable size, | | | | Buenos Aires, the Spanish and upper-crust criollos |
| gives you the feeling of a patchwork quilt city — | | | | established themselves in this area and built grandiose |
| a city which is defined by its neighborhoods (barrios). | | | | buildings with interior patios. When those moneyed |
| If you ask a porteño, one of Buenos Aires residents, | | | | citizens fled San Telmo and took off for Recoleta to |
| where he’s from, he won’t say Buenos | | | | escape cholera epidemics in the late 19th century, the |
| Aires — he’ll give you his | | | | mansions were abandoned to squatters and San |
| neighborhood’s name. And if you ask him which | | | | Telmo was transformed into the center of Buenos |
| barrio is the best, any self-respecting porteño will tell | | | | Aires bohemia. Recently, interest from visitors, foreign |
| you that his barrio is. | | | | and Argentine alike, has brought gentrification to the |
| It’s best to take this advice lightly and sample a | | | | barrio. This means security, once a sore spot, has |
| handful. | | | | improved, but prices have shot up as well. |
| The barrios commonly visited by tourists and travelers | | | | 5) One place where it is still best to watch your wallet |
| include, in descending order of popularity: | | | | though is La Boca. As a matter of fact, it’s |
| 1) Recoleta. Buenos Aires’ equivalent of New | | | | really only recommendable to visit the tourist area of El |
| York’s Upper East Side or London’s | | | | Caminito where the Argentine Federal Police have |
| Knightsbridge. Fancy, ornate and posh. A quick list of | | | | been stationed to watch your back. This little street, |
| things to see and do include the cemetery, the lobbies | | | | with its bright colored houses, has very nearly been |
| of the five star hotels (of which the Alvear is the most | | | | touristed to death. Still, no visit to Buenos Aires is |
| ostentatious), and Avenida Santa Fe’s shopping. | | | | complete without a visit to the fabled street of garish |
| 2) Palermo. Known for its parks as well as its | | | | colors. On game days, the soccer stadium in La Boca |
| restaurants, bars and colorful little shops. When | | | | is another major reason to visit the barrio. |
| Palermo is mentioned as the best place in Buenos | | | | When you come to Buenos Aires, though, do yourself |
| Aires to go out, it’s probably Palermo Viejo and | | | | a favor and try to break out of the established tourist |
| Palermo Hollywood (two micro-barrios) that are being | | | | routines, if only for a little while. Just a few |
| referred to. They’re BA’s hippest places | | | | recommendations of the lesser visited barrios, where |
| to be seen at the moment, where you can take part in | | | | your fellow-citizens and fellow travelers are less likely |
| the city’s crazy nightlife that doesn’t | | | | to be tagging along with you, include: |
| even begin to slow down until the sun’s already | | | | Las Cañitas in Belgrano. Restaurants, restaurants, |
| risen. (A proper Buenos Aires night out should finish | | | | restaurants galore (plus, it’s a stone throw from |
| with breakfast.) | | | | Palermo). |
| 3) Downtown (Microcentro). This is where Buenos | | | | Almagro. What San Telmo used to be, Almagro still is: |
| Aires’ suits go on a business day. It’s the | | | | Bohemian. Check newspaper listings for tango |
| center of the nation’s economy, a place of high | | | | concerts, independent theatre and other events in the |
| rise office buildings, narrow crowded streets, and | | | | area. Meanwhile, the cafe Las Violetas, on the corner |
| exhaust fumes. For the tourist without business | | | | of Rivadavia Avenue and Medrano street, is amongst |
| concerns, it’s almost entirely devoid of interest | | | | the most beautifully restored historic cafes in the city. |
| (though you wouldn’t know it from the large | | | | Mataderos, an outlying barrio where the city’s |
| numbers who flock there). Towards San Telmo, in the | | | | butchers still ply their trade, is also a find, not so much |
| older part of the downtown area, there are sites to be | | | | for the barrio itself but for the Sunday afternoon |
| seen, however: the Plaza de Mayo, the Casada | | | | market which takes place in the barrio’s main |
| Rosada (the Pink House, Buenos Aires’ | | | | square. This market is not to be confused with the |
| equivalent to the White House) and the Manzana de | | | | markets in San Telmo or Recoleta. |
| las Luces are all worth a visit. | | | | |