Our plan for Buenos Aires was pretty different than our usual travel plans as there weren’t any big ticket things we wanted to see or do. We mostly wanted to just be there, eat, catch some tango, and maybe eat some more. I came in with quite the list of foods to try: steak and wine, of course, but also Fugazzeta (sauce-less deep dish pizza with onions), provoleta (deep dish baked cheese), alfajor (cookies with dulce de leche filling), Milanesa a la Napolitana, empanadas, and more.
We arrived around 2am after 2 annoying flights on Copa thru Panama. Ugh, I don’t even want to remember the 2nd flight as I got wet from some unknown substance – probably some idiot’s water glass. Anyway. We checked into our hotel, The Recoleta Grand, and promptly got some sleep.
After a little sleep and breakfast at the hotel, it was time to get out to explore. We first walked to La Recoleta Cemetery which is considered one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Its also the resting place of Eva Perón. It was actually much cooler than I expected and you could easily spend hours here seeing each unique grave.
After lunch, we wandered over to Florida Street which is their famous, pedestrian shopping street. It was pretty underwhelming. But we did see some tango in the street which was cool.
For dinner, we went to a El Buladero, a Spanish Tapas place. Yes, I know, our first dinner in Buenos Aires and we get Spanish Tapas, but it was so good. Best red wine sangria I think I’ve ever had, delicious tortilla, pretty good Gambas al Ajillo, and an incredible dulce de leche molten lava cake. I thought dulce de leche was more or less caramel, but I was very wrong. This stuff is incredible. So good that we proceeded to eat it every. single. day.
The next day we had lunch at Don Julio, which is one of the best steakhouses in the world. We opted for a rib eye as its their signature cut even though neither one of us are big rib eye fans. It was very good, but frankly a bit disappointing as I’ve had better steaks elsewhere. But the rest of the meal was fantastic. Delicious empanada, really good wine from Mendoza, provoleta, and hands down the best dessert we’ve ever had – dulce de leche pancake with a brûléed top.
After lunch, we worked off some of the calories by strolling around the Palermo neighborhood.
As if that wasn’t enough, we went for Italian for dinner, then to a Tango show.
The Tango show exceeded all expectations. I wasn’t expecting live musicians and that 5 of them could make such a full sound. The dancers were really good too and must have had 10 costume changes or more. Plus we got treated to a couple of singers and a guy playing what I think is an Argentinian Mandolin.
The next day was our day trip to Uruguay. Unfortunately I started getting sick so subsequent meals were spent in the room.
Our final day I was feeling a bit better so we wandered to San Telmo market. We got some empanadas and more dulce de leche!
And then I started feeling bad again so I laid low while Chuck went to El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore and brought me Fugazzeta, and more desserts.
All in all, we enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires. We really didn’t do much except eat and enjoy. Especially with me getting sick, we had to lay a bit lower than normal. Still an enjoyable 4 days!
