Back to Buenos Aires

*Our favourite mural in Buenos Aires, near San Telmo market.*

After five months of travelling, Buenos Aires marked a first for us: it was the first place we were returning to, having visited once before, in 2019.

To say we were excited was an understatement, but I was also a little nervous. We had such an amazing time there four years previously, what if it wasn’t as good as we remembered? We were on a post-engagement high last time we were sat drinking in the city’s wine bars. This time we were on a tight budget. What if it wasn’t the same?

Well, it wasn’t the same. It was better! Re-visiting the city meant we were free from the pressure of “must-see” sights and attractions and could choose where to go back to at a more relaxed pace, as well as having the time to discover lesser known areas.

The first of those new areas was where we were staying, the Belgrano neighbourhood. We were really incredibly lucky that one of Graeme’s friends offered us a place to stay with her sister whilst we were in Buenos Aires. Sometimes I am blown away by how generous people are.

We were complete strangers to our host, who welcomed us into her home and offered us all the help we needed navigating the city. What’s more, the family had the most adorable and friendly dog, Pancho. We instantly fell in love with the little guy!

Belgrano is just a little further out of the city than Palermo, the main area where visitors stay and where we had stayed on our previous visit. It has plenty of metro and bus connections so was a really convenient option with a more local neighbourhood feel.

Five Days in Buenos Aires

If I were to list out all the things we did in those five days, it would mostly be a list of restaurants and bars. We love food! And, just like in Santiago and Lima before that, being in a capital city is the perfect time to take advantage of a country’s foodie experiences.

It started on that first night, after a day working up an appetite by walking around the centre’s main squares, monuments and port, we visited El Tordo - a Belgrano steak house recommended by our host. The food was nothing short of sensational and was a taste of what was to come over the next five days.

We made the most of our location the next morning by walking up to El Monumental, the stadium of River Plate football club. We had visited Boca Juniors ground, La Bombenera, to watch a match last time we were in the city, but unfortunately seeing a game was out of our reach this time. We settled for a stadium tour which was incredibly impressive, as well as a look around the club museum complete with the famous Copa Libertadores trophies.

We were the last groups to visit the ground before it played host to Taylor Swift’s The Era’s Tour the following week - you cannot imagine the self control it took for me to not even attempt to get tickets! We were already in full travel-saving mode when they went on sale. But we saw the stage being set up so, in a way, we had a very tiny part of the tour experience.

We had a late lunch and Aperol Spritz in the sunshine in Belgrano, then made our way to Palermo to browse the cute boutiques. We sat on the buzzing Plaza Serrano and watched Boca Juniors play Brazilian side Fluminense in this year’s Copa Libertadores final, before dinner at Italian restaurant Il Matero. There was just time for a few cocktails when we got off the bus in Belgrano.

The next morning was a Sunday, so we made our way to the San Telmo area of the city. The usually very impressive market sprawls out into the streets on Sundays, where we spent a few hours browsing - and buying from! - the stalls, as well as watching Tango dancers on Plaza Dorrego. We had wanted to eat in the market as we remembered it to be one of our highlights of our last visit… but it was so full you could barely walk through! We were just about to give up when we saw a table on the edge of the food court and grabbed it. Although we shared a delicious choripán here, it wasn’t quite the experience we had hoped for. We fought our way back into the bustle of the main market and found a seat for some delicious dessert crepes - I had Malbec poached pears, divine! - which left us feeling much happier.

After such a late and large lunch, our dinner location was a revisit to Hache Almacén, a wine bar we loved from our last visit. We tell all our friends about the tiny hole-in-the-wall where a sommelier guided us through a personalised wine tasting, but when I went to find it again online… it wasn’t there! Turns out it got so popular it moved to a bigger location. Although not quite as quaint, everything else was just how we remembered. Low lighting, jazz music, excellent wine and, this time, a platter of meats and cheeses to nibble on. It was romantic and nostalgic all in one.

The next morning we got the bus to La Boca. This is, without a doubt, the most touristy area of the city. There is a small street called El Caminito where the buildings are painted bright colours and there’s even a model of Messi holding the World Cup aloft that you can pose with (of course Graeme did!). Even with its clear tourist market, it’s a cute place to spend an hour or so. We looked around the shops and walked up for a glimpse of La Bombanera from the outside, before enjoying a beer and empanada with probably the best chimichurri we have had in Argentina!

We gave San Telmo market another try for lunch, thinking it would be easier to have our pick of stalls without the Sunday market crowds. Whilst it was a lot better, we arrived just at lunch time so we were still unable to get a table in the dining hall area. We waited a little while then took a seat at the only empty stall, where the main options were choripán, again. Not fancying that, I took a chance on a stuffed potato but unfortunately, by the Buenos Aires food standards I am used to, it was a little disappointing. Hey, you can’t get a winner every time.

Another quick bus ride took us to MALBA - the Museum of Latin American Art. The museum showcases a rich collection of Latin American art, featuring diverse works but prominent artists including Frida Kahlo. I’m a huge fan of hers and it was the first time I’ve seen any of her works up close!

The mini exhibition dedicated to her work, *Diego and I* (1949) was fascinating, featuring the last self-portrait painted by her before her death in 1954, in which her husband's face appears as a third eye on her forehead. The collected works were a close look at her life and the suffering she endured.

We had intended to finish the day by walking around the beautiful Rose Garden, only to get there and find it closed on Mondays. We were two of a group of confused people at the gates not really understanding why a garden needs to close one day a week. Oh well.

That evening we went to Villa Crespo to a highly rated Armenian restaurant, Sarkis. We ordered several dishes to share: the cold mezze starters and stuffed aubergines were a highlight.

Perhaps the biggest revelation of the trip was Vico Wine Bar, also in Villa Crespo and where we walked to after our dinner. When we sat down, the waitress gave us a small card and explained it was a self-service concept. There were bottles lined up along the walls - by inserting our card and pressing a button our glass would be filled. It was amazing! There was a sommelier there to ask any questions and give recommendations, and each wine had the option of a tasting, a small glass or a large glass - so you could have a little sip of something for a fraction of the cost before committing to a glass. We loved it and think this needs to come to England asap!

Our final morning was devoted to planning our next steps through Uruguay and, seeing the prices of accommodation, we got pretty defeated pretty quickly. We booked the rest of the week and decided to put off planning the remainder of the route until we were in Montevideo, where we might be able to get some local advice.

After lunch in a Belgrano cafe and buying a few gifts to show our gratitude to our hosts, we went back to Villa Crespo as we couldn’t stop thinking about trying a few glasses of white wine from Vico. Unfortunately, in our excitement we had forgot to check the bar’s opening times, and turned up 2 hours early. Undeterred, we walked the short distance into Palermo and enjoyed a bottle Graeme’s new favourite, Torrontes, in the sunshine. Thankyou Argentina for making my husband appreciate the unbeatable feeling of a crisp, cold white wine on a hot day!

Our final night was spent back at El Tordo - Graeme hadn’t stopped thinking about the steak he had there and I was keen to try it! It was melt in the mouth perfection.

We went to bed that night knowing we had made the most of every second in the city, but still wishing we had a little longer.

We had fallen so deeply in love with the place all over again that, over the endless glasses of wine, we had sketched out the next five years of our life, planning exactly when we would be back. It turns out we wouldn’t have to wait five years… we were back in five days!

An unexpected return

After visiting the south coast of Uruguay, we started to plan our route north and quickly realised it just wasn’t feasible, for many reasons I’ll explain fully in the Uruguay blog. Iguazu Falls was our ultimate destination, and if we couldn’t get there through Uruguay the most sensible option was to head back to Buenos Aires and make the most of the capital’s long distance bus connections. Sure, we could have come back and moved north on the same day, but why would we miss a chance of some bonus Buenos?!

As we were paying for our digs the second time around we stayed slightly further south in Barrio Colegiales, bordering Palermo and Villa Crespo. It’s another buzzing area with wide, tree-lined streets, great food and lively nightlife thanks to the nearby university campus.

We made the most of those two days, which I considered to be an extension of my upcoming birthday (very normal behaviour for me). We managed to get past the gates and visit the Rose Garden, we ate two incredible dinners including the most divine steak at Maure Parilla, we had cold beers in the sun watching tango dancers in Plaza Dorrego and, of course, we revisited Vico Wine Bar for the final self-serve drinks we were denied the week before.