Buenos Aires.
I had an inkling I’d love Buenos Aires and I was right. Lots of walking, people watching and most importantly food.
- Palermo.
We stayed in Palermo which turned out to be my favourite district in Buenos Aires. It’s filled with tree lined streets, a wonderful mixture of houses, cafes, bars, street graffiti and twinkling lights.



I would’ve loved to go to more places but here are a couple of my faves…
Cafes (there are plenty): Adorado bar. Little cafe which was on our street with lovely coffee. Ninina. A bakery with delicious sweet treats. We went for the full on brunch for 2 which included Aperol Spritz and 3 pain au chocolats (still confused why 3?!). Artemisia. Amazingly generous and delicious salads, all organic.



Bars: NOLA. Happy hour beers, we didn’t eat here but it’s known for its fried chicken.
2. Parrillas.
Lots, and lots, of meat. ‘Parrilla’ means ‘grill’ in Spanish and these restaurants are on every street serving all the grilled meats and none of the veg. Before I left the UK my Dad reminded me, daily, how good the meat is in Argentina. I can happily say I’ve consumed enough for the both of us since arriving. In the past week I’ve eaten more meat and drunk more red wine than in the last year!
We went to Parrilla La Dorita where the football was playing on the big screen and locals sat facing it munching their steaks (it also happened to be covered in fairy lights). We ordered a bottle of red with a platter for 2 which consisted of a huge chunk of meat, shed load of potatoes and (slightly unnecessarily) grilled cheese and fried eggs. Dad was right, the meat is absolutely delicious.



A more popular, and fancier, Parrilla in Palermo is Don Julios (where you can book online).
3. Cementerio de la Recoleta.
The Recoleta cemetery wasn’t high on my list. Not sure if it’s because my expectations were low or because I had sugar rush after a large dulche de leche ice-cream, but I loved it. (I appreciate that’s an odd thing to say about a cemetery). The detail put into each grave was fascinating, a mixture of statutes, stain glass windows and a scattering of modern architecture. I could’ve spent hours wondering around.



4. Parks & Dog Walkers.
There are a fair amount of parks in Buenos Aires. My fave was the Botanical Park filled with greenery from different areas of the world. The Parque de Palermo was lovely but we were there at the wrong time of year to see the flowers, I have no doubt they’d be amazing in bloom.




I had no idea Dog Walking was such a thing in Buenos Aires. Apparently it’s quite the profession with so many Argentineans living in flats determined to have a dog. Dog Walkers specialise in the size of dog they walk and we passed numerous with more than twelve dogs at their side. I can barely manage one. Later when we wondered through the park dogs were tied separately around trees for a runaround, all twelve of them.



5. San Telmo market.
On Sunday’s the street from Plaza de Mayo to San Telmo market is lined with stalls, it’s pretty touristy but worth exploring the area. There’s also an antiques market and a food market to grab some lunch. We passed a few people doing (very impressive) street tango, the best was in Plaza Dorrego.



6. El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito is the pretty road full of beautifully painted houses in La Boca. Reading online about La Boca bought up a whole lot of trouble; tourists being ripped off, pick pocketed and scarily, mugged at gunpoint. On top of that El Caminito has a bad rep for being a tourist trap. Needless to say we were a tad skeptical and almost didn’t bother going. Ultimately El Caminito is very touristy and hectic with everyone trying to grab your attention but I’d still recommend it for a half hour stop…the houses are very pretty. Just be wary of your stuff and stick to the ‘tourist strip’ (the deserted side streets of La Boca, however instagramable they might be, appear to be where the trouble is).



7. Centre of town.
We spent an afternoon wondering around the centre of town: Plaza de Mayo, Cafe Tortoni and the edge of the ecological park. I really enjoyed visiting Cafe Tortoni for a cafe con leche, it’s an old school French cafe worth visiting if nearby. It was also worthwhile crossing over to the ecological Park as we passed through a newly developed area of BA with concerted warehouses which seemed very different from the rest of town.



(Purely last because of all the photos!!)
We wanted to go for a fancy meal in Buenos Aires to start the trip (technically to celebrate our anniversary, but any excuse). The food at Aramburu Resto was incredible. I thought a tasting menu meant smaller portions. Negative. We had TWENTY courses and there was so much food. After much deliberation the top dishes were beef with fried & mashed artichoke and white chocolate & popcorn slice. All of it was dreamy (except perhaps the frozen celery palette cleanser). I may have undone my jumpsuit halfway through and not eaten the next day…20 courses is a lot of food.


















Oh and my favourite game in BA…






We visited Buenos Aires in August 2018.

