Buenos Aires has been exactly as I expected and the opposite of what I expected. It definitely feels like Latin America, but it also feels like Europe. The architecture, the design of the avenues and streets, and the urban planning with the grand parks and gardens, this all feels like Europe. But then there are the tropical plants and certain little shops, small streets, and details that totally feel like Latin America. It’s definitely its own unique city. Here are some photos from the morning’s walk in the botanical garden.

Argentina has a long history of immigration, and it is a true melting pot. There is a strong ancestry from Spain, of course, but there is also immigration history of Italians, Germans, Jews, Japanese, and Chinese, and this is reflected in the food. The Italian influence has certainly been significant with Italian food such as pasta, pizza, and gelato being part of the regular diet. Even the typical Argentine dish of Milanesa (veal cutlet or chicken cutlet) is named after Milan.

And while Buenos Aires is its own unique city with its own culture and personality, there are some cultural phenomena which transcend political boundaries and unite us around the globe:

One week in Buenos Aires has been just enough to give us a taste of the city. In order to really see the city, I think we would need to be here for a month or two. Chad and I have a list of cities where we want to spend a month. We’ve already done this in Barcelona, Paris, and Lisbon. Rome, Milan, Madrid, and maybe Bogota are on the list for the future. Now we’ll be adding Buenos Aires to that list. Until next time!

There are some random thoughts that have been rolling around in my head this week.

Language:

I keep speaking Italian when I mean to speak Spanish. I guess it’s good that Italian is starting to roll off my tongue after studying it for so long, but it’s confusing for the Argentine taxi driver or the waiter who’s expecting to hear Spanish.

A lot of people in Argentina, particularly the younger generation, speak English, so it’s easy to get around.

I also see some signage in Portuguese, and I’ve heard it every once in a while because Brazil is next door. It’s fun to hear the language since it’s part of my history, it’s like a familiar poem.

Money and Prices:

Argentina has been plagued with inflation. A year ago, it cost 1,000 pesos to buy one US dollar. Today, it costs 1,450 pesos. As a result, I thought a strong dollar would mean that prices would seem cheap here. But they generally are not. A box of DeCecco pasta costs $8, but in Atlanta it’s $3. Restaurant prices are generally the same as the US. Exceptions are wine, coffee, and pastries. And eggs are cheap for some reason.

Like other non-US countries, the money is beautiful. Due to the inflation, coins are no longer in use, only bills.

Traffic:

A note on traffic. Most streets and avenues in the city are one-way, even the wide avenues with multiple lanes. And when the small neighborhood streets come to an intersection, there usually are no stop signs. Drivers just figure it out. It’s kind of brilliant. And there’s no constant honking of car horns. It all seems very civilized.

Restaurants:

Most of the restaurants have sidewalk seating which makes sense since the weather is pretty nice year-round. Many have expanded into the street, taking over parking space with covered seating areas.

Architecture:

Most apartment buildings, at least in our neighborhood, have an in-person security guard or a virtual guard on a video screen. In our building, we have an in-person guy during regular work hours and then a rotation of virtual staff on nights and weekends. It’s an interesting concept.

I had heard that Buenos Aires was the “Paris of South America” so I expected to see more 19th century buildings. But I think most of the older buildings have been replaced with more modern buildings. It’s still common to see older ornate buildings, but they are usually sandwiched between newer buildings.

And here are some examples of the 19th century buildings that we’ve seen:

And some architectural details:

And an evening view:

Today is another really hot day, so we’ve been taking it easy with some leisurely walks on tree-lined streets. We’ve joked about how we can’t imagine that we’ll return to Atlanta and complain about the cold winter weather.

During our walk this morning, we saw this which made me laugh, given that it’s so hot out and that last week we were literally with penguins in Antarctica.

We found a little pocket park called Patio de Marruecos. (I think this means Moroccan Patio.) It was a small plaza on the corner of a block. It was a cute, private oasis in the middle of the neighborhood.

Since we didn’t feel like doing touristy things today, we decided to go all-out for lunch. We spent almost three hours at El Preferido.

We’ve walked by the place a few times over this last week, and there is always a crowd of people waiting for a table. Our guidebook says “Reservations are a must.” We figured out a way around that by showing up for lunch at 11:45, and we were immediately seated at a table outside.

The food was incredible with typical Argentine cuisine and some innovative twists. It was a pricey meal, but it was totally worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Of course, after all of that food, lunch was followed by some quiet time in our apartment with the air conditioning.

This evening we took another long walk, about an hour and a half. This really is a great neighborhood with lots to see and do. I would stay here again.

This is our last night in Buenos Aires. We do have almost a full day here tomorrow, so there might be another quick blog update in the afternoon, and then we head to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. Until then:

Buenos Aires has a lot of murals painted around the city. Some are big, some are small, and some are better than others, but they always brighten up the view as we walk around. There are several entities that give walking tours of the street art, but we just walked around on our own. We found some murals listed in the guidebook, but most were paintings that we stumbled upon during our daily walks.

And then we saw these sculptures at the main entrance of an apartment building:

It’s been fun exploring the various neighborhoods, because you never know what you’re going to see!

The Parque Tres de Febrero is one of the Buenos Aires’ largest parks, and it’s right here in our neighborhood of Palermo. The design was inspired by London’s Hyde Park and Paris’ Bois de Boulogne. There are many different areas of the park with lots of things to do and see.

The most popular area is around the Lago de Rosedal. There is a wide pedestrian and cycling road that runs along here as well as sidewalks and walking paths. The place was full of people this Christmas morning getting some exercise, strolling, sitting with friends, and sunbathing.

The lake has a lot of resident geese as well as paddle boats that you can rent for a tour around the water. Of course, paddle boats and other activities were closed due to the holiday, but there were still a lot of people out and about.

In the middle of the lake, there is a large rose garden with thousands of plants.

At the far end of the lake, we found some restaurants nestled under the arches of the train tracks that lead to the central train station. We also found a carousel.

In another area of the park, there is a planetarium. At night, the dome of the planetarium has been lighted up with red and green lights which we can see from our apartment.

Other areas of the park have groves of trees, ponds and lakes, and large grassy areas.

It was a great place to spend Christmas morning.

Today the temperature was 10 degrees cooler, only 80 F, and the humidity was 50%, so the weather was perfect and a nice change from our other days. We spent the morning walking through the neighborhood to see what was going on. Nothing. The streets were quiet with only a couple of cars and a few people outside. But we did see some sights along the way.

We headed to the Parque Tres de Febrero, one of the biggest parks in the city and, lucky for us, not far from our apartment. We spent a couple of hours walking around, exploring the park, and we discovered that this is where people headed when they were going stir-crazy on Christmas day.

As we headed home, we passed two kioscos (little shops that sell candy, chips, and drinks) that were open and one cafe. Everything else was shuttered.

We had lunch at home with the balcony doors wide open to let in the breeze, and then relaxed for a couple of hours.

We went back out for another long walk mid-afternoon since the weather was so nice. At this point, we saw a lot more people out, and cafes and gelaterias were open for business. People in Buenos Aires like their afternoon coffee and pastries and like their ice cream.

This time it was a little warmer outside, so we came back home to some air conditioning for an hour.

Then we headed out again at 5:30 for another walk to see what was open. Things were still pretty quiet around the neighborhood.

Then we found an intersection in the hipster area Palermo Soho with bars and snacks and sidewalk seating and lots of people. It makes sense that things would be open here since this part of the neighborhood is young and vibrant. We had a cocktail and then headed home for dinner.

Christmas here has not been quite what we expected. When we went to Madrid in November/December 2019, the city was decked out for Christmas.

When we made plans to spend Christmas week 2025 in Buenos Aires, I expected a grand celebration of the holiday and thought the city would be decorated. Instead, almost all of the decorations have been in shops. We’ve just seen a few things in public parks. And while things were quiet this morning, at the end of the day, the streets were bustling again, almost like it was a normal Thursday (but the shops were still closed).

But we have also seen these fun things. Merry Christmas!

And my personal favorite, a sign in a pet store. “Perro” means “dog”, so Perry Christmas!

Il Cementerio de la Recoleta opened in 1822, and it was the city’s first public cemetery. With 4,691 mausoleums, it is the final resting place for Argentina’s most influential families including 20 former presidents, military commanders, Nobel prize winners, and famous authors.

You could easily spend half a day wandering around. It’s huge. The cemetery is laid out with a series of streets, alleys, and little plazas.

There is a big variety of design styles for the mausoleum buildings.

This mausoleum contains the grave of a Nobel prize winner in chemistry who died in 1971. He was very modest, but he came from a wealthy family. When this building was constructed in 1914, it cost 3 million dollars. It is estimated to be worth 15 million dollars today due to the precious stone and gold used in the design.

This family mausoleum had photos on the facade. We’ve visited cemeteries in Italy, and this is common there.

A lot of mausoleums had windows and you could see the caskets inside.

Not all graves are marked with mausoleums. Here are some others that we saw.

There were a lot of interesting details throughout the cemetery.

And the most famous gravesite of all is that of Eva Peron.

Maria Eva Duarte was born into poverty in rural Argentina in 1919. She married Juan Peron in 1945, and he became president of Argentina in 1946. During her short life, she was an actress, a politician, an activist, and a philanthropist. She was an advocate for women’s suffrage, workers’ rights across the country, and children’s education and well-being.

She died in 1952. She was a beloved figured, and on the day of her funeral procession, Argentina ran out of flowers. Evita lies in a heavily fortified crypt 5 meters underground to protect her remains.

We got up this morning and hailed a taxi to the Recoleta neighborhood. The first stop was to visit the famous cemetery.

Afterwards, we walked through the neighborhood. Recoleta has grand avenues, stately mansions, and luxury hotels. It is a grand old neighborhood.

We passed into the Barrio Norte neighborhood which is filled with more grand avenues and beautiful old buildings. This seems to be the main shopping district of the city with shops everywhere. 

Our next stop was El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Barrio Norte. This building was originally built in 1919 as a theater for ballet, opera, and tango. In 2000, it was converted into a bookstore, and it retains the character of the original theater. It is so cool!

Lunch was at a place that specializes in milanesa, one of the traditional Argentine dishes. A milanesa is a breaded and sautéed cutlet of beef or chicken which is pounded very thin, and it can be served with a variety of toppings. On our first day here, I had beef milanesa napolitana with melted provolone and sliced tomatoes on top. Today I had a plain chicken milanesa, and it hit the spot.

We had grand plans to go to another neighborhood after lunch, but by this point, we were so hot and tired that we took a taxi back to the apartment and just chilled for a couple of hours.

We eventually worked up some energy to go out into the neighborhood, primarily to buy some groceries. We had a few things in the fridge from the previous couple of days, but we needed more supplies for this evening (Christmas Eve) and all day tomorrow (Christmas Day).

I’m glad we went out when we did! Most mom-and-pop shops had closed early. The giant supermarket was still open, but it closed in 10 minutes at 6 pm. We hustled around to make sure we bought enough food, and we came home with some stuff for salad, bread, bottled water, pasta, and tomato sauce, and yogurt, fruit, and juice for tomorrow morning. With these new groceries and what we already have in the fridge, we’re all set for our holiday meals.

Now Chad is prepping some food for dinner. We’ve been seeing green parakeets flying around in the botanical garden across the street, and I’ve been watching the clouds over the city. Our apartment really does have a wonderful view.

Felices Festivas and Feliz Navidad.

We love going to botanical gardens. Whenever we travel to a city that has a botanical garden, we always make time to visit it. The Botanical Garden in Buenos Aires is very convenient, right across the street from our apartment! We spent time wandering around, looking at the plants, and enjoying the shade.

The garden was designed in 1898 by Carlos Thays, the landscape architect who was responsible for many of the parks and green spaces around the city. The garden is huge and has thousands of botanical species on view.

The garden is also designated as a “rifugio climatico,” a climate refuge and a shady place where people can go hang out in the summer.

Entrance is free, and people take advantage of this amenity. There were lots of visitors this afternoon – people chatting with a friend, reading a book, listening to music, strolling around, or just sitting. The garden is a quiet, peaceful get-away in the middle of the city. Enjoy the photos!

We had a lazy day mostly due to the weather. The heat and humidity are really quite exhausting, so we spent the morning relaxing in the apartment. For lunch, we were in the mood for a light meal. Traditional Argentine food is heavy on meat and potatoes, but there are a lot of vegetarian options these days. We found an excellent vegetarian restaurant called Puerta a few blocks away. The place was small but the food was creative and delicious.

Then we went down the street and got gelato.

Then we saw this, and Chad said, “Huh, that’s not how we do things in the United States.”

In the afternoon, we wandered around the botanical garden. We were hoping the shade in the garden would provide a refuge from the heat, but we were still hot and sweaty. Exploring the garden did provide an interesting distraction, and we spent a couple of hours there.

We returned to the apartment at 5 pm just as it started to rain and continued to rain for the next two hours. We alternated between reading, relaxing, and watching the rain across the city. 

When the rained stopped, the temperature was much cooler, so we went back outside for a walk around the neighborhood. We don’t know if any grocery stores or restaurants will be open on Christmas day, so we picked up some food for our fridge.

We had dinner at a restaurant across the street called Ganzo. It’s up on the second floor, so it was an interesting vantage point to watch people and cars pass by below. We started with a cocktail and then had dinner at  9 pm, the typical dinner hour in Buenos Aires. The food wasn’t that great, but it was nice to sit there for a couple of hours, enjoying each other’s company.

After that, we called it a night and headed home.