Camacho Watcho

This entry marks the first in a four part series on Buenos Aires. The reason for four parts? You guessed it! Four trips to Buenos Aires. Four separate trips does sound like a bit much in a short timeframe, but each should be unique in its own way in part because of who I will be spending time there with. This first trip was spent with my friend Holly and was a trip designed soley for shopping. I’ll get to that, hang on. The second trip, my husband arrives from the US to begin his visit down here, and that will mark a magnificently happy day for me!!!! The third trip will be a short one as a night layover with Kyle, Carly and Ed on our way to Mendoza. The final trip is an actual 2 1/2 day sightseeing tour of Buenos Aires, which will mark the final days of my stay in South America. And so…on with the show.

Buenos Aires…Part I
Buenos Aires…the Paris of South America….cultural, shopping, eating mecca of Latin America. Call it what you want. I call it AMAZING. I have to admit that my expectations had been set very high for this first trip to Buenos Aires, therefore I had some reasonable doubts when I went whether these expectations would actually be met. My husband always warns me about having too high of expectations and also setting expectations too high for others. I have a tendency to always claim to know of the “best burger in the world” or the “best fish tacos ever”. He warns me that others will just be let down since these are only my opinions. I certainly do not want to hype Buenos Aires up too much for any of you who have not been there, therefore this is my disclaimer…This story is based on my actual happenings of one weekend in Buenos Aires and is heavily influenced by my romanticism and flair for the dramatic. Reader discretion advised.

Getting there from here
This part was not as easy has we had all hoped it would be. There seems to be a loose version of the truth floating around Montevideo as to travel time, distance and costs. The reality of it is that there are two options to go between Buenos Aires and Montevideo…plane or Buquebus. We chose the Buquebus. Buequebus? I’m glad you asked. This is a large ferry that shuttles either direct to Buenos Aires in 3 hours or from Colonia in 50 minutes (along with a 2 hour bus ride to Colonia). The ferry is large, lolls from side to side and is filled with all sorts of characters. I highly recommend at least one trip on the Buquebus if you have the opportunity and the time; it is an experience all of its own. One more thought before I leave the topic. Buquebus is now my favorite word to say…being from the US, when I first got here I pronounced this word with my very flat midwestern US English bookabus. I have since been corrected and now I cannot imagine saying it another way bookeeboos. Now, picture me saying this and whenever I do, I feel compelled to shake my head from side to side and make faces like I’m talking to a baby bookee bookkee bookee. I’m sure the locals don’t find it amusing. However, Holly and I certainly did after sharing a bottle of wine on the Buquebus.

Back to Buenos Aires. As I mentioned, this trip was for one purpose and one purpose only…SHOPPING. I love to shop. My sister and I were trained from an early age to shop by my mom and aunt. By “shopping”, I don’t necessarily mean “buying”. No, buying is not always the purpose. The purpose is to have the stamina to hunt, and sometimes gather, through endless stores, clothing racks and dressing rooms. For this, I have been trained. And let me tell you, I am glad. Buenos Aires is known for it shopping, countless stores filled with leather, clothing and shoes. Some of it is cheap, as you’ve probably heard, but there are definitely the high end boutiques that are amazing! As far as the spending goes, let’s just say that I bought my fair share, and for the sake of my husband reading this, I did show a lot of restraint. Holly’s fiancee made a comment to her later that day to effect of “Why do some women feel compelled to buy something in every store they go in?” She corrected him by saying something like “Every woman feels compelled to buy something when they enter a store. Half of the women buy and half of the women don’t. And then there are those times, like these, when those women who usually show self constraint just give in and go for it.”

A couple of shopping areas to point out:
Calle Florida: Pedestrian street with endless stores of cheap leather warehouses.
Calle Santa Fe: Large street with many leather and other clothing stores (seen in both pictures below)
Palermo: Including Palermo SoHo and Palermo Hollywood - Collection of small neighborhoods with boutique shopping
Galleries Pacifico: Large mall near Calle Florida with a collection of boutiques, leather stores and jewelry stores

I could go on and on about the shopping, but honestly, if you hit those places…most likely you’ve done enough damage to your credit card already. An item to note on the leather, as I definitely think this was one of the areas where my expectations fell short. Fact: Cheap leather goods (bags, shoes, purses, jackets) are everywhere in Buenos Aires. Fact: Stylish leather goods are not as easy to find and are not as cheap. That was okay, however, as the prices for these are still fairly reasonable compared to the US. I think my husband can attest to the fact after reviewing my credit card statements from the weekend, that my favorite stores in Buenos Aires are Prune and Skin. Both of these are leather stores, which you can find in the boutique areas and also in Galleries Pacifico.

Our Saturday was filled with shopping, shopping and more shopping. The only break we took was to refuel at a wine store that held tastings of Argentinian Malbec. Imagine that…we found a wine tasting! Tasting the Malbecs from Mendoza fueled my excitement for my upcoming trip to that wine region and I can’t wait to start planning. Dinner that night was spent with a few friends; one who is on the same program as me in Buenos Aires and one who just moved to Buenos Aires from Minneapolis. I had a wonderful Argentinian steak followed by crema ice cream with dulce de leche. Wow. A couple notes on food. First of all dulce de leche is everywhere down here. This is a thick, caramel-like sweet that is used in everything…cookies, ice cream, crepes, you name it. It is simply amazing and will simply be downfall for not fitting into my clothes back at home. A second note on food: the beef. I actually enjoyed the two steaks that I had in Argentina better than the steaks I’ve had in Uruguay. Gasp! But, please do not tell anyone in Uruguay that, as I still have 4 weeks to go here and I do not want to be evicted from the country for making such a statement. It’s our secret.

Dinner was followed by a shared bottle of wine at a very trendy bar, set in a transformed mansion in the middle of Palermo. Couples and small groups of fashion-oriented and beautiful twenty and thirty somethings lounged in the dark wood interior and outside in the grand courtyard. Being the friendly Norte Americanos that we are, we met three girls from Mendoza who became our fast friends. The night ended, of course, with a trip to a discoteque with the girls and we danced the night away.

San Telmo
The next day we did allow ourselves time for one sightseeing trip, which was spent in the antique market in San Telmo, held at the Plaza Dorrego. I’ve been to many markets here, but this market is by far my favorite. The neighborhood itself reminds me much of the French Quarter in New Orleans and it has the most beautiful architecture and cobblestone streets.

It was there that I first experienced live tango music. Wandering along the streets, we heard the familiar sounds of the tango and saw a large crowd. Excited to see real live tango in Buenos Aires, we weaved through the masses and found ourselves experiencing, not dancing, but musicians. When I thought of the tango before, I thought of a dance with the main attraction the dancers, dramatically dressed in red and black. What I know now is that tango is actually the seduction of the music, not of the dancers. The musicians were playing what looked like a antique, violins, basses, accordions and a piano and the sound that harmonized from them was, in fact, more dramatic than dancers could ever be. I know that this was not just the experience of the music for me, but the experience of the standing in a pedestrian street in Buenos Aires with the colorful buildings and intricate wrought iron balconies surrounding me as I listened to this soulful music. I cannot wait to return.

Posted on November 17th, 2007 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Argentina, Entertainment, Food, Shopping, Transportation