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Help! Buenos Aires!


ATexanAbroad

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For food suggestions, look at Allie’s blog:

https://pickupthefork.com/
 

Sorrel’s website has food & drink suggestions from all over South America, but she lives in BA and that’s her focus.

https://www.sorrelmw.com

Jed’s site offers lots of suggestions:

https://landingpadba.com/
 

Join this Facebook BA Expat Hub group:

https://m.facebook.com/#!/groups/345246119012448

I am not sure what is happening on a Sunday night, but you should hit the bar in this restaurant/bar some evening: MILION

(Also, nightlife varies depending on your age.)

5EBFFA6F-126D-46A4-B6C2-D061496E3E04.png

Edited by Napoleon
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20 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

@ATexanAbroad whats the vibe there these days? I love Argentina but all of my Argentinian friends say it’s miserable these days…?

Sooooo I will try to answer this from possibly their perspective and then my own. Argentina was obviously closed down to non nationals for like 14 months or more. It seems like basically anything that was tourist based, like sports bars for american football are gone. The peso to dollar is the lowest for them it has ever been. The black market gets you 200:1 peso to USD. A bottle of wine and a steak with salad and papas fritas cost me $8 last night. There are very few tourists here it seems. The economy here is terrible and many people dont have jobs. Protests everyday.

 

That being said, I love exactly what Argentina has to offer. I don't like hanging out in Recoleta or puerto madero and maybe thats why I haven't seen many tourists. San Telmo is my favorite neighborhood and I guess its slightly touristy, its not the ghetto or anything. I love being the only tourist around, not speaking english, getting looks because I am out of place and everything is so ridiculously cheap. I love it down here and compared to Bolivia/Colombia/etc I feel really safe in Buenos Aires. I am 33 and single and have been on the road for about 5 years now so this is my vibe here. My travel style is not for most people though so it just really depends on what youre looking for.

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17 hours ago, Napoleon said:

For food suggestions, look at Allie’s blog:

https://pickupthefork.com/
 

Sorrel’s website has food & drink suggestions from all over South America, but she lives in BA and that’s her focus.

https://www.sorrelmw.com

Jed’s site offers lots of suggestions:

https://landingpadba.com/
 

Join this Facebook BA Expat Hub group:

https://m.facebook.com/#!/groups/345246119012448

I am not sure what is happening on a Sunday night, but you should hit the bar in this restaurant/bar some evening: MILION

(Also, nightlife varies depending on your age.)

5EBFFA6F-126D-46A4-B6C2-D061496E3E04.png

Thanks, I'll check these out. 

I ended up just finding a guy with satelite in San Telmo and telling him I would tip and buy several beers if he would switch. I got NFL redzone which was a pleasant surprise.

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1 minute ago, ATexanAbroad said:

Sooooo I will try to answer this from possibly their perspective and then my own. Argentina was obviously closed down to non nationals for like 14 months or more. It seems like basically anything that was tourist based, like sports bars for american football are gone. The peso to dollar is the lowest for them it has ever been. The black market gets you 200:1 peso to USD. A bottle of wine and a steak with salad and papas fritas cost me $8 last night. There are very few tourists here it seems. The economy here is terrible and many people dont have jobs. Protests everyday.

 

That being said, I love exactly what Argentina has to offer. I don't like hanging out in Recoleta or puerto madero and maybe thats why I haven't seen many tourists. San Telmo is my favorite neighborhood and I guess its slightly touristy, its not the ghetto or anything. I love being the only tourist around, not speaking english, getting looks because I am out of place and everything is so ridiculously cheap. I love it down here and compared to Bolivia/Colombia/etc I feel really safe in Buenos Aires. I am 33 and single and have been on the road for about 5 years now so this is my vibe here. My travel style is not for most people though so it just really depends on what youre looking for.

I love BA...Argentina is probably my favorite country I have ever visited. Protesting is their national past-time, although I'm sure it's picked up steam recently. 

So I guess what I'm wondering...how are the people these days? I loved the vibe when we were there many years ago...the people were friendly, entire families were out enjoying themselves well into the night. Are they still...i don't know the word...argentinian-y?

 

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Just now, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

I love BA...Argentina is probably my favorite country I have ever visited. Protesting is their national past-time, although I'm sure it's picked up steam recently. 

So I guess what I'm wondering...how are the people these days? I loved the vibe when we were there many years ago...the people were friendly, entire families were out enjoying themselves well into the night. Are they still...i don't know the word...argentinian-y?

 

Yes, it is still exactly like that. Sunday is a big day down here, so there were street markets and people out enjoying themselves. After the markets people then parade down the streets dancing (all very informally) to groups of drummers and the plazas are full. Met some locals by just sitting on a park bench and bought us all a bottle of wine and we hung out and talked until about 1 am. Walked home with no problems. It still feels very very welcoming here. 

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1 hour ago, ATexanAbroad said:

Yes, it is still exactly like that. Sunday is a big day down here, so there were street markets and people out enjoying themselves. After the markets people then parade down the streets dancing (all very informally) to groups of drummers and the plazas are full. Met some locals by just sitting on a park bench and bought us all a bottle of wine and we hung out and talked until about 1 am. Walked home with no problems. It still feels very very welcoming here. 

man i love that place. probably going to spend a few weeks there next christmas/new years. thanks for the report. don't be afraid to use this thread to just dump photos of cool shit going on down there, i'm sure plenty of other folks would love to see them.

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1 hour ago, ATexanAbroad said:

Sooooo I will try to answer this from possibly their perspective and then my own. Argentina was obviously closed down to non nationals for like 14 months or more. It seems like basically anything that was tourist based, like sports bars for american football are gone. The peso to dollar is the lowest for them it has ever been. The black market gets you 200:1 peso to USD. A bottle of wine and a steak with salad and papas fritas cost me $8 last night. There are very few tourists here it seems. The economy here is terrible and many people dont have jobs. Protests everyday.

 

That being said, I love exactly what Argentina has to offer. I don't like hanging out in Recoleta or puerto madero and maybe thats why I haven't seen many tourists. San Telmo is my favorite neighborhood and I guess its slightly touristy, its not the ghetto or anything. I love being the only tourist around, not speaking english, getting looks because I am out of place and everything is so ridiculously cheap. I love it down here and compared to Bolivia/Colombia/etc I feel really safe in Buenos Aires. I am 33 and single and have been on the road for about 5 years now so this is my vibe here. My travel style is not for most people though so it just really depends on what youre looking for.

Oh man, I really really really want to go back, especially with that exchange rate.  Have been 4x and L O V E BsAS.  About safety... well, not always.  Looong story tldr version:

* Go pay for a tour

* 3 gunmen come in

* get my cash and wedding ring

* zip ties don't fit the 9 of us

* one person pistolwhipped

* locked into a half bath with my wife and 7 other people

* police rescue us

* two hours at the station trying to give a report

* ate empanadas for lunch

* ????

* profit

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Oh man, I really really really want to go back, especially with that exchange rate.  Have been 4x and L O V E BsAS.  About safety... well, not always.  Looong story tldr version:
* Go pay for a tour
* 3 gunmen come in
* get my cash and wedding ring
* zip ties don't fit the 9 of us
* one person pistolwhipped
* locked into a half bath with my wife and 7 other people
* police rescue us
* two hours at the station trying to give a report
* ate empanadas for lunch
* ????
* profit

And everyone wants to talk shit about Brasil. Nothing has ever happened to me there. Lulz. Glad you weren’t the one that got pistol whipped.
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10 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:


And everyone wants to talk shit about Brasil. Nothing has ever happened to me there. Lulz. Glad you weren’t the one that got pistol whipped.

Yeah, was out some $ but it all worked out fine.  That was the first full day on our first trip to Argentina.  Didn't keep me from going back multiple times.

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32 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Yeah, was out some $ but it all worked out fine.  That was the first full day on our first trip to Argentina.  Didn't keep me from going back multiple times.

it never really is the SA experience until you have been robbed.

Friend came down here, second day of his, were sitting outside, moto pops by grabbing his phone out of his hands. Bought him a beer and said "welcome to south america".

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it never really is the SA experience until you have been robbed.
Friend came down here, second day of his, were sitting outside, moto pops by grabbing his phone out of his hands. Bought him a beer and said "welcome to south america".

I am fine with living and traveling there without it happening. I will live, love, laugh through everyone else’s experience of being robbed.

Edit: I will say, odds are not in my favor.
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4 hours ago, ATexanAbroad said:

it never really is the SA experience until you have been robbed.

Friend came down here, second day of his, were sitting outside, moto pops by grabbing his phone out of his hands. Bought him a beer and said "welcome to south america".

Never made it to SA, but my Mexican Crime experience was limited to sneak-thievery.

I had a big Spain 500 Peseta coin that I foolishly drilled a hole into and made into into a key fob. Worth about $5 US at the time, probably more than the daily wage of a Mexican hotel room cleaner. Maybe that's why it disappeared. I was never going to spend it, and hopefully a little Mexican lady got ahead on the Spaniards for 300 years of exploitation.

Another thing was a sticker on the inside of my convertible rat-wagon that I could turn back in when I left, and get some kind of deposit back for. Well, it levitated away, who knows who got it. The cops in Colima didn't care. Probably wended its way back north until they had some dude turn it back in for money. Me, I guess they assumed I sold my US car in Mexico, like 3/4 of the cars already there. I just drove it back to Laredo, nobody cared.

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  • 2 years later...

The wife and I are just starting to talk about potential places to be spending our winters, possibly buying a place. Buenos Aires came up.

This thread is giving me pause. Buenos Aires seems like fun, but I'm not particularly a fan of getting pistol whipped.

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2 hours ago, ajax said:

The wife and I are just starting to talk about potential places to be spending our winters, possibly buying a place. Buenos Aires came up.

This thread is giving me pause. Buenos Aires seems like fun, but I'm not particularly a fan of getting pistol whipped.

It's a great place to rent and live. I may do the same eventually. But their rule of law is squishy at best and purchasing seems like a huge unnecessary risk. Plus moving to different neighborhoods every 3 to 6 months seems like it would be fun if you're renting furnished apartments. 

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15 minutes ago, Orale said:

It's a great place to rent and live. I may do the same eventually. But their rule of law is squishy at best and purchasing seems like a huge unnecessary risk. Plus moving to different neighborhoods every 3 to 6 months seems like it would be fun if you're renting furnished apartments. 

Cape Town is exactly this way.

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1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

Cape Town is exactly this way.

Totally. Was in CT in January and loved it. Food was excellent and the natural beauty spectacular. But there is a sort of constant low level anxiety people have about crime that's unfortunate. BA may be in a similar position, if not already, with their rising poverty. 

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