Not Enough of Buenos Aires

Though I enjoyed Buenos Aires, I have to say I did not experience the better part of it. I stayed there only 3 nights, instead of 4 nights as originally expected. Taking away one day that I made a trip to Uruguay, I only had one and half days to see many sights of Buenos Aires. After walking around Microcenter (downtown area), San Telmo, Puerto Madero, Retiro, and Recoleta in a very rushed pace, I found there is still lots of places left unseen.

The Metro system in Buenos Aires is relatively convenient. Many subway trains are in such antiquated form that it feels quite nostalgic. However, there is no English instruction. So if the system re-routes like what New York's always does, then you are out of luck.

While it is a city with mostly white/European people, it does have an Asian section. Both the Hong Kong movie "Happy Together" (¬K¥ú¥E¬ª) and a more recent "Ronda Nocturna" (English translation: Night Watch) have scenes shot in its Chinatown. Chinatown is supposedly in Belgrano but Lonely Planet guide is not too clear on how to get to that neighborhood (further northwest of the Center). However, I did not have time to travel there anyway. I also did not have time to see enough of the trendy neighborhood of Palermo (divided into Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood).

Nightlife in Buenos Aires is also very famous. Just like in Madrid, you feel people all party until the sun comes out. But nightlife here happens mostly only at weekends. Few famous nightclubs opened when I was there (I was there from Monday to Wednesday), so nope, I did not experience its famous nightlife either...

I did walk around late at night (since my hotel is very centrally located), as late as 2 am. I even went to see a Tango show at Totorni starting at 11:30pm. It did not finish until almost 1 am. Walking around late at night is relatively safe. There are still a lot of people around, sort of like in New York or Madrid. It felt quieter at night than what many movies shot in BA show though...

I also found there are a lot of great ice cream places (Argentines are more Italian than Spanish, so they have great gelati there). It was late summer when I visited there, so all the ice cream places still opened late and had long lines. As many things in Argentina, ice cream is cheap and comes in big portion!

So that is it for now! Hope I can return to Buenos Aires soon (By United's flight, It is "only" 10-12 hours from DC/New York or 30 hours from Taipei, Oop!).

And next time I have to be here at weekends.

Please click the thumbnail on the pictures to see enlarged images

After coming back from Uruguay, I rushed to this main post office to send some postcards (Looks nice for a post office, isn't it?). Some of my friends might get their Buenos Aires postcards from here.

Teatro Colon (Theatre Columbus). It was the largest and most prestigious opera house in the southern hemisphere (now it is Sydney Opera House holds that honor). It was even on par with Milan's Scala Theatre. Looking surprisingly downtrodden now (with the entrance boarded up), maybe it is due to the country's economic hardship. A lot things wait to be renovated at that point. Hope it will look better next time...

Plaza San Martin. The one on the horse is General San Martin, who led Argentina to independence from Spanish empire. This square is in Retiro, one of the nicer and historic neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

"El Obelisco" (Obslisk) in the middle of Plaza de la Republica. This square is located at the intersection of Avenida Corrientes and Avenida 9 de Julio (Avenue July 9th). With 16 lanes (maybe more if you count two other streets right next to it), Av 9 de Julio is the widest boulevard in the world. I had crossed this avenue back and forth at least 15 times at different hours. Never once I finished the crossing in one try (the light always changed before I got the the other side)!

A view from my hotel window on Libertad Street (just one block from Av 9 de Julio). It's on the morning that we departed Buenos Aires. Farewell!