First impressions of Buenos Aires

View of Buenos Aires from my hostel

The first stop on my trip to South America was Buenos Aires, Argentina where I arrived on the 7^th of December, 2010. My first impressions of the city were far from positive despite all I had read about the city being the Paris of South America. After a full day of travelling with all my flights suffering from delays, I was exhausted and the only thing I noticed on the way to my hostel was the large amounts of trash in the streets and the insane traffic. All I kept thinking was that I couldn't wait to get out of there! Luckily that changed over the next few days as I got to know the city and in the end I was quite sad to leave.

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is a huge city covering an area of approximately 200 sq km and the home of more than a third of Argentina’s population. The city is split into several neighborhoods, with those most relevant for travelers being easily accessible on foot or public transportation.

The neighborhood located in the center of the city is called Microcentro. As well as being the home of several historical sites, Microcentro is the major business area in Buenos Aires and as a result there are lots of business suits and power skirts walking the streets during the day talking on their cell phones.  I stayed in this part of town at “Hostal Portal del Sur”, as it is considered a relatively safe area and because it is close to many interesting areas of the city.

My first afternoon in Buenos Aires was spent walking around Microcentro as well as the nearby neighborhood of Congreso, trying desperately to stay awake after the long flight. I first walked down the pedestrian street called Florida. On top of being a major shopping street, this is where you find the very beautifully restored Galerías Pacifico (now a shopping center) with amazing murals done in 1954 and the classic Café Richmond where Jorge Luis Borges (famous Argentinean writer) used to drink his hot chocolate.



Café Richmond

After looking at the shops, the first sight I went to see was the famous and unmistakable pink “Casa Rosada” (Pink House for those who don’t speak Spanish) which takes up the east side of the Plaza de Mayo. The office of President Christina Kirchner is here, but the palace is probably more famous for Madonna singing her heart out on the central balcony in the movie Evita. A movie I still haven’t seen. One of the theories, as to why the Casa Rosada is pink, is that back in the day when the palace was built, it was painted with bovine blood, as that was a common practice in the 19^th century. Just an interesting piece of information from my guidebook…

Casa Rosada

When I was done looking at the Casa Rosada and the other impressive buildings around Plaza de Mayo I headed west through the city along Av de Mayo to the Palacio del Congreso, which is the powerhouse of Argentinean politics and located in the neighborhood called Congreso. To get from Microcentro to Congreso you have to cross the very wide street of Av 9 de Julio, which is 16 lanes at the widest. Apparently, it is “the widest street in the world” according to the porteños (locals of Buenos Aires). In the middle of Av 9 de Julio at the crossing with Corrientes lies the city’s famous Obelisco which is 67 m tall. This is where all sports fans go to celebrate a big win, causing even more traffic chaos than normal in the city on those nights and also where a lot of protests and demonstrations begin. Not far from the Obelisco is the famous Teatro Colon. This theater was built in 1908 and was the largest theater in the Southern hemisphere until the Sydney Opera House was built in 1973. It is a really impressive building and apparently the interior is even more beautiful. Unfortunately, at the time I visited it wasn’t possible to join a tour of the building.

Palacio del Congreso - modeled after the Capitol Building in Washington DC

The Obelisco



Teatro colon

After sightseeing in the city all afternoon I stopped by the local bakery to buy my first Argentinean empanada (pastry filled with different things such as beef, ham, spinach, eggs etc.) for dinner and then it was back to the hostel to relax before my next adventures in Buenos Aires. As my hostel was located in the Microcentro, I spent a lot of time walking the streets in this area and revisiting many of the sites. However, I also saw some other interesting places in Buenos Aires and I will write about these in the upcoming posts.