"Buenos Aires - crazy and lovely" a Buenos Aires Travel Page by vtveen

Buenos Aires was our first stop on an around the world trip (2005) and the first South American city we ever visited. So it has a special place in our hearts. So we decided to come back for a second visit (2009) before heading to the northwestern provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

Our impressions are now based on a two stays of about eight days. First of all Bs As is a huge metropolis, but the Latin American influence makes it different from other cities. Think there are more than 10 million people living in the city and the metropolitan area. Does mean: lot of traffic, thousands of taxi’s, hundreds of busses, overcrowded trains during rush hours, pollution and noise.

The city offers beautiful architecture, cultural activities, interesting museums, splendid avenues, parks and plaza’s, shopping centres, (side walk) café’s, restaurants and (as we heard) a vibrant night life.
Perhaps ‘tourist traps’, but we loved to visit La Boca, San Telmo and Recoleta, also the new neighbourhood of Puerto Madero with restaurants along the harbour and most of all the unknown Feria de Mataderos.
But we found also quiet hidden places and parks where we didn't notice the city life at all. Just take a bus or metro, stop at a random station and walk around. We often saw just Argentinians and no tourists at all. A special trip was a guided bike tour through a part of the city.

Bs As is also a good starting point for day trips outside the city. In Tigre we found a complete different world with canals and boats everywhere. Or go for a day to Colonia in Uruguay, an old Spanish/Portugese town.

We did see huge differences between rich and poor in Bs As, due to the financial crisis of years ago. We were very sad for the poor people, but for us it was so extremely cheap; almost unbelievable sometimes.
We felt absolutely safe during our stay and travelling through the city.

We loved the people, who were always so friendly, helpful, attentive and warm. We did regret not speaking Spanish, so conversation was rather difficult. Although we and the Argentinians did our utmost with hands, feet and sign language (one tip: take a Spanish course at home !!).

Reading my Bs As tips is a journey through this crazy and lovely city.