Saturday, October 9, 2010

Checking out Buenos Aires

Mads and I spent a week and a half in Buenos Aires. The goal of the trip was for me to get situated in an apartment and get to know the city that would soon be my home. Despite the FREEZING weather (the first two days we were here it was about 45-50°F!!) we had a blast. As this was about 2 months ago I am just going to give some highlights:


Hanging out with Jouliette
I was so excited to discover that I knew someone who lives in Buenos Aires! I went to high school with Jouliette and we share many similar friends. Mads joked that Jouliette is the La Jolla High Ambassador for Buenos Aires, as the most random people contact her upon their travels down here. She has been living here for 4 years
after falling in love with an awesome guy while studying abroad here. We out with her a hand full of times during our time here. She has a really great group of American girlfriends who have all been living here 4-5 years and who all have Argentine boy friends. They were so warm and welcoming and have made me really excited to return.

BAIT Hostel (http://www.baitba.com/)
Located in Palermo Soho, the location of this hostel is unbeatable! It is walking distance to the Subte (Metro D line), great shopping, amazing restaurants, bars, and night clubs.

As far as hostel accommodations go it is a typical hostel - beds, common area with free WiFi, a kitchen, etc... What sets BAIT apart for any other hostel though is the people. The hostel attacks a fun, diverse crowd and the staff who works there is incredible! While everyone is great I would like to give specific shout-outs to Pablo who works the morning/early afternoon shift, Melvin who works the 3:30-11:30 shift and Rafa who works the graveyard shift. These three guys are so friendly and can definitely help you with anything you will need. We hung out with Melvin, an American expat living in BA for about 3 yrs now, often. He is def going to be one of my BA besties. Mads and him got along perfectly as they both have soooo much attitude. :)



Timmy!!!
We met Timmy at BAIT. Buenos Aires was Timmy's first stop on a 3 month trip around South America. One day Mads and I invited him along with us for lunch and then to La Bomba (an awesome drum bragde group that plays every Monday night -http://www.labombadetiempo.com.ar). After that night the three of us became an inseparable trio. Mads and I loved to mock Timmy's South African accent and lingo. And I am sure we cracked him up with our ridiculous behavior.



La Boca

La Boca is a popular destination for tourists visiting Buenos Aires. This colorful neighborhood is home to the pedestrian street the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold in every shop. It is known among sports fans for La Bombonera the home of Boca Juniors, one of the world's best known football clubs. I tagged along with Minna, a girl staying in our hostel, as Mads wasn't feeling so hot that day. The highlight of my day was the delicious choripan we had for lunch. This amazing sandwich is named for the combination of the names of its ingredients: a grilled chorizo and a crusty bread (pan in Spanish).

Buenos Aires Bus Tour (http://www.buenosairesbus.com/)

I am a huge nerd, who LOVES audio guides and cheesy tourist things so obviously I was so excited to take one of the bus tours around town. Mads and Timmy, on the other hand, were not too stoked on it. Timmy says in South Africa he and his friends throw ice at the nerds on the busses. Rude! Well I made them take the tour with me regardless. And guess what?? They loved it! It was a really great way to get to know the entire city and understand the lay out. Plus Timmy, a professional photographer, got a lot of cool shots like this one of the three of.

Buenos Aires Graffiti Street Art Tour
http://matadornetwork.com/nights/graffiti-mundo-street-art-for-the-people-in-buenos-aires/
Buenos Aires is covered in beautiful Street Art. The GraffitiMundo tour took us around several areas introducing us to the different art collaborations that exist in Buenos Aires. Here are a few of our faves:


















































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