(cont.) I’d barely gotten any sleep on the overnight flight and the glaring afternoon sun was quickly depleting my energy, so after lunch I settled in for a long nap back at the hostel, awakening several hours later to find a British guy named Ian reading in the bed below me.

“Good mornin’, stayin’ with us long?” he asked, looking up from his book.

“Not really.  Just a few nights.  You?”

He laughed.  Turns out Ian and his friend had arrived a few months back to open up a bar down the street, and since the room was so cheap they’d decided to stay there until they opened shop, which meant sleeping in a bunk until at least July.

We talked for a bit and Ian recommended that I check out the bar in the basement.  So after a quick shower I headed downstairs, intending to return soon to my bed to finish up on all my lost sleep.  But as I quickly learned, in Buenos Aires the bars don’t begin to fill up until midnight, so when midnight rolled around I suddenly found myself drinking two-dollar Coronas to a mix of reggaeton, samba and hip-hop music blaring from two large speakers hung from the stone walls, and making friends with some visiting Peruvians and a group of Argentinean students who lived in the neighborhood.

So much for the early evening.  I woke up the next morning after heading to bed around three, ate a quick breakfast, and headed down Avenue del Libertador through the posh neighborhood of Recolata on my way to the famed Recoleta Cemeteria.  The cemetery is one of Buenos Aires’ most famous landmarks and it was crowded with visitors, but as soon as I made my way past the courtyard near the entrance, the crowds dissipated and I found myself alone, wandering along the maze-like paths underneath the hulking, elaborate mausoleums erected near the turn-of-the-century as resting places for the country’s wealthy elite.  Here you’ll find presidents, generals, renowned scientists, and most famously, the tomb of Eva Peron.  I was amazed as to how quickly two hours passed by as I wandered around this strangely serene oasis located in an otherwise hectic section of the city.

A short walk from the cemetery through the neighborhood of Retiro is Plaza San Martin; a lush park that sits on a bluff overlooking the part of the city that slopes downwards to the river’s edge.  Located between the train station and the downtown corridor known as Microcentro, San Martin acts as the unofficial gateway of Buenos Aires.  Surrounding the park are some of Buenos Aires’ most impressive buildings.  Built in the beau arts and art noveua style, these old government buildings serve as excellent examples of the influence that the French culture had on the city a century ago.

San Martin also marks the beginning of Avenue Florida; the giant pedestrian mall that juts southwards through Microcentro.  Here you’ll find everything from high-end shops selling fine leather goods to street vendors hawking mate cups and parkas.  The street tends to be overrun with visitors, so I quickly made my way several blocks down to the Galerias Pacifico, a resurrected warehouse that was converted into an upscale mall.  Adorning the vaulted ceiling are giant murals evoking the artwork seen in a European cathedral -- not exactly what one expects to find in a mall.  Outside I caught a tango show by a group of street performers -- one of many along the street -- and then I made my way to the iconic obelisk that sits at the Plaza de la Republica before heading back to the hostel.

PAGES:    1    2    3    4     next>