My first glimpse of the city was from less than 10,000 feet when we were flying in over the very muddy bay called Rio de la Plata. As I looked off into the distance and began to see land I got a feel for just how large this city is. It's not unlike flying into LaGuardia in New York... blocks and blocks of homes inside the city. But, Buenos Aires stretches on for miles and miles more than even Queens does. The other thing that struck me is how utterly flat this part of the country is.
After a bit of a struggle through the airport (I had no cash and my card wouldn't work in the ATM machines) I found a car service that would take my Visa and made the trip in to the city. All along the ride, clean streets, wide boulevards... an impressive city.
I'm staying at the Esplendor de Buenos Aires a hotel I saw mentioned in more than one review of the city in Travel+Leisure and elsewhere. It's a new, boutique hotel in the city center. So, the room is great. The property very nice. The staff fantastic. But, the location is tough. Great for daytime as it's attached to Florida Street, and huge, pedestrian strip of shops. But, at night the area is dead. The good news is that they had excess capacity mid-week so I not only got a good rate (via my friends at Travelocity) but they threw in a dinner and Tango show. (More on that later.)
Soon after I arrived, I found myself being picked up for dinner by Emiliano, a friend of a business colleague, Martin Schaedel, whom I met at the PhoCusWright conference in Hollywood in November. Martin's a great guy... an entreprenuer and investor from Copenhagen... who has traveled the world and built a large address book full of friends. He's been terrific at introducing me to people as I travel. Emiliano is one of those folks.
Both of them are young entrepreneurs who have done very well for themselves. I think Emiliano built his first company in his teens… and more recently built and sold a much larger company focused on Internet security. All of this before his mid-30’s.
He quickly got me out of the downtown area and into one of the nicest neighborhoods in town, Palermo, a remarkable story of an area reborn in the past few years. It’s full of trendy restaurants, boutique hotels and high-end shopping. Note: This is where you find your hotel in BA.
Dinner was at Casa Cruz. When you walk up, it has these amazing 16 foot bronze doors on the front. Inside is what Time Out calls “The most daring and imaginative restaurant venue to hit the city since… well, ever.” It was hip, trendy, flashy and suave. Later we caught up w/ Emiliano’s fiancé, Pola and her friends at a local watering hole, a great way to experience my first night in BA. A great big thanks to Emiliano and Pola for making me feel so welcome.
Wednesday night I decided to taste a bit of the local culture and history. My hotel room came with a free dinner and Tango show which I had no intention of redeeming. (The rate I got for the room was cheaper with the Tango package than the rack rate offered.) But at the last minute (very last minute) I called downstairs, booked a seat, rushed through the shower and to the show at El Querandi.
Apart from sitting through a two-hour dinner by myself I did enjoy the show. I’ve got a great picture of me at the bar with the bartender (they were taking pix of the customers to sell later and I was NOT going to take mine alone), but it’s a print that I’ll have to scan to load up here later. The show was worth going to… even if to just say I did it. There’s a lot of history in this city and the tango is very much a part of that, so I enjoyed seeing the local flavor.
Wednesday was spent exploring the Recoleta neighborhood where my friend Joel lives. (Thanks for the tips, Joel!) This is high-end Buenos Aires. The regal Alvear Palace Hotel is in the neighborhood as is the Cementario de la Recoleta… the former being where wealthy and important people stay the later where they stay after they’ve passed. In fact, I heard it said that the cemetery is harder to get into than the posh flats that surround it. Perhaps the most famous resident (of the Cementario) is Maria Eva Duarte de Peron (aka Evita Peron). Like many others, I made the pilgrimage to her crypt – and I took pictures!Yes, I took pictures. I finally dragged out the SLR and started taking pictures. And, I got to play with my new wide-angle lens. It’s the simple pleasures in life that make us most happy.
While I didn’t nearly take enough shots during the two days I was here, I was grateful to feel comfortable enough to walk around with the gear. I’m not completely shell-shocked from my experience in Rio. But, I haven’t felt great about pulling out all the equipment back there.
Thursday I went back on the road and into the Palermo neighborhood for some wandering, shopping, cafes and exploring. All-in-all a great day. I was thrilled to find myself in the Diesel store. I brought five pair of jeans to Rio (traveling with pants and in them) but I've also lost a bit of weight over the past few weeks. I've gone from a 34" waist and back to a 32" waist. Less stress? Less eating? More exercise? Who knows?! All I know is I needed a pair of jeans that didn't fall down without a belt.
Going to be up early in the morning for the flight back to Rio. A good first taste of BA. Looking forward to coming back.
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a great visit indeed! I trust you had some fun evenings, too. BsAs is so wonderful to visit, and then it's great to hop on a plane and go back home to Brazil :) You're getting a glimpse of half the life I've been living for the past couple of years, that almost no one in DC gets to see. Reading all your impressions of everything is so special for me. We'll have a lot to talk about!!
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