Backpacking South America

Buenos Aires is an incredible city that abounds with places to see and things to do no matter the time of day.  It is a huge city.  The closest thing we have in the States to compare it to is New York City, but Buenos Aires seems to be even more alive. It’s true that it is noisy, polluted, and massively populated, but it can also be very calm, beautiful, and you’re never alone.  It would definitely go into our list of the top places in the world to visit.  As we’ve moved on from Buenos Aires, we wanted to share some of our favorite things to do (in no particular order). 

1. Casa de Lili (aka living with a local) 

Some of our best memories were living with our hostess.  While not in the trendy or touristy neighborboods, we were able to enjoy and peek into the life of real porteño life.  From unforgettable, simple meals, late night conversations and afternoon mate with friends and family, our stay would not have been the same without our time with Lili. 

2. MALBA

A great introduction to the history and minds of great Latin American artists.  This museum was inspiring and captivating.  With a collection that is large enough to stretch your mind, but not so large that you feel rushed or overwhelmed. 

3. La Boca

While existing on the extremes of hopelessly touristy and extremely dangerous, La Boca was a surprisingly enjoyable visit.  While we can only recommend that visitors stay within the tourist areas or travel with local advice, it was fun to see the brightly painted buildings, the home of the Boca Juniors futbol club, and two wonderful museums (PROA and Belles Artes).

Argentina is known for its meat.  In fact, they eat more beef per capita than any other country (Wikipedia has the amount at 68kg/year – that’s 150 pounds).  So, we knew we were in for red meat, but just how much is overwhelming.

Heap of Meat – Our First Night

It was late, and we were tired and hungry.  It was our first night in Buenos Aires.  We were still adjusting to this schedule of not eating dinner until around 9:30, which is still early in most restaurants.  We had actually reached a point that first night where we were beyond hungry and just tired, but we knew we needed to eat something.  So, we walked around San Telmo, passing by restaurants, peeking in windows to see if anybody else was eating.  We had heard that most restaurants do not open for dinner before 9, however, we saw a number of places open, but no one seemed to be eating food.  So, “when in Rome…do as the Romans.”  So, we did. 

Despite our ache for food, we popped into a bar and grabbed a drink.  Here were our options:

Water: AR$6
Coca-Cola: AR$6.50
Beer: AR$10
Glass of Wine: AR$5

We ordered our first glass of wine, a very generous pour for only $1.50 US and a beer – about the same as the states.  We thought, wow, this is going to be a great journey.  After passing the time, it was about 9:45; we thought for sure people were eating dinner, but just not in our bar.  So we decided to move on and find some place serving food.  We couldn’t possibly be the only ones eating food in a restaurant.  We finally stumbled upon a place where people were eating.  We checked out the menu, couldn’t really distinguish the different cuts of beef, so we decided to give it a shot and be adventurous. 

At this point, I was not very hungry…it was almost 10:30.  I’m not use to eating this late…it’s almost bedtime.   Jared convinced me to order a steak – so I opted for a “Bifecita,” whatever cut it is…it should be small.  I also decided to order some papa fritas.  We scouted the restaurant to see if we could determine portion size, but couldn’t quite gauge what to anticipate.  Jared decided to order “Asado.”   From previous research, we knew Asado was a type of beef, similar to a roast.  (Well, please read the fine print.)  The server asked “for one?” but after the fact, we believe he said “for one!”  My Bifecita was the size of a normal steak.  So much for small.  Jared’s Asado…was actually four steaks.  And the papa fritas, were a huge portion.  We laughed so hard. 

Apparently, Asado is something that is shared amongst the table.  It can be even larger than the meal Jared received, but Jared asked for an Asado portion for one.  It’s a very popular meal choice, but it’s usually a meal that everyone takes part in.  Needless to say, there may not be enough moneda, but there is plenty of beef. 

And the meat just keeps coming…

By the end of our time in Buenos Aires, we had actually grown to love our beef dinners… and lunches.  We just became wise on what and how to order.  We know our cuts and we know when it is appropriate to share an order.  Below are two notable steak dinners we would like to share, conveniently, both restaurants offered a penguin of wine (which is about 2/3 of a bottle served in a penguin pitcher where the wine comes out the mouth) for 10-12 pesos (about $3.50).

San Telmo is one of the original barrios of Buenos Aires. It is filled with buildings and houses in the colonial style with cobblestone streets. Located just off the center of town, San Telmo is known for its antiques shops. On our first foray into the neighborhood, we wandered through the streets and into large buildings and mansions that used to accommodate the wealthy porteños, but are now used for large indoor markets. We wandered into one market and it was so large that we found ourselves getting a bit disoriented. We were both amazed by the shear volume of old stuff this city seems to have collected. The main antique district takes up about a half mile on the main street with smaller shops down the side streets. It seems that every storefront on the street and inside the massive markets are all filled with antiques dealers.

However, a weekday in San Telmo is tranquil compared to Sunday’s madness.