Tango in Buenas Aries

After being disappointed in Rio we had our fingers crossed that Buenos Aires would deliver. We were not disappointed. Buenos is vibrant city full of culture, architecture, tango, steak and delicious wines.

However, it is also a country with a turbulent political system. We witnessed first-hand how volatile the economy is when the day after we arrived the newly elected president devalued the currency by 30%. Argentina has suffered with high inflation for a while and this was the answer proposed by the new centre right party. Judging by some of the demonstrations we saw in the streets this may not have been the most popular policy change.

Politics aside, we were pleased to see clear blue skies on our first day. It was a Sunday and the advice from the staff our hostel was to head to nearby San Telmo markets. This was excellent advice as we found the streets lined with artisan stalls, live music and barbeques.

We stopped at a Italian influenced bar to watch some tango.

I was in my element mingling through the crowds with a beer in hand and the sun shining down. The atmosphere in the market was electric and I couldn’t have been happier.

After passing from bar to food, to bar, to food, we found ourselves in a familiar surrounding. It turned out that we had happened to find the local English bar called Gibraltar. Playing pool with a pint of cider while steak and ale pie was being served may not have been the most cultural thing to do in the city but it was the perfect way to end one of my favourite days of this trip.

The rest of our time in Buenos Aires was spent walking around the city, and we certainly did a hell of a lot of walking. With so many diverse neighbourhoods and historical buildings it was an excellent way to see the city and stretch our legs.

We started in Plaza de Mayo which is surrounded by an array of architecturally grandiose buildings including Banco de la Nacion and the distinctive house of the president, Casa Rosa.

We passed the large obelisk built to celebrate Argentina’s independence against Spain.

We also found a clock tower, modelled as a miniature version of Big Ben, built by the English residents in 1916.

Although Argentina is home of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara it is Evita (Eva Peron) who is the country’s national heroine. All around the city you can find statues and monuments dedicated to the first lady of Argentina who fought for the rights of the women and those of the working classes but sadly died at a young age. Her grave stands in the Cementerio de la Recoleta and is always filled with flowers.

The graveyard itself is one of the city’s main attractions, which we thought was a bit eerie, however once we entered the maze of tombs we saw the appeal. This graveyard is home to the cities rich and famous from over the centuries’ and it seems they built to the motto “the bigger the better”.

Being able to gawp through windows at rooms the size of small churches, filled with coffins of families which had died over the past few hundred years, was all a bit too creepy for our liking.

The final place we visited was the slum turned art show El Caminito.

These corrugated iron clad buildings are painted in vibrant colours and decorated with models and classical signage making it a visionary delight.

Overall I found Buenos Aires to be a captivating city and one which I would be happy to live in, but there was no time for us to go flat hunting as we had a flight booked. It was time for us to head to the end of the Earth.