Buenos Aires, Argentina

For me, Buenos Aires fell a little flat and didn't quite meet expectations. (Side note: I am trying to learn to not have expectations and to appreciate the places for what they are…after traveling to many places, not every place is going to be what you want it to be) Maybe it's the fact I've lived in NYC for the past 7 years, and maybe it's that I studied abroad in Paris, but Buenos Aires just felt like a bigger city and not as unique and historical as I was hoping for. However, I was there for a week, and the longer I stayed, and the more neighborhoods I saw, I did see the pockets of culture that I was expecting to be immersed in at every turn. 

Each barrio (neighborhood) is very different. I spent most of my time walking around and exploring the different neighborhoods. 

Recoleta is nicer and reminds me of the Upper East or West Side in New York. There are expansive and beautiful parks and nice boutiques. Some buildings look like they are right out of Paris. There is a famous cemetery there, where all the past presidents, historical figures and important people are buried - the tombs are quite beautiful. 

Recoleta cemetery

Eva Peron's Grave (don't cry for me Argentina….)

Recoleta cemetery

Beautiful Rose Garden Park I ran through (thanks for the recommendation Natalie!)

Palermo was my favorite - probably because it reminded me a lot of SoHo and the West Village in NYC. It is young, hip, and colorful. I wish I stayed closer to here so I could have spent more time walking around and going to all the cafes here. 

The area with the most character was La Boca. It's not a safe neighborhood, outside of the Caminita area which is touristy. But that's what I loved! It had so much realness there. People BBQing in the streets, playing soccer, having an edge to them.... The Caminita area is really colorful and now lined with touristic shops and cafes, but its the area where tango started and where all the men from the shipping boats came to have fun. The main soccer stadium is also in this neighborhood. I visited here on an awesome bike tour around the south part of the city. 

  

Buenos Aires is a city that you can see the main historical sights in 3-4 days, but be there for weeks and not see everything. There a lot of museums, which I don't usually do. I did go to the Sunday San Telmo market, and the antique market at the end of it. The market was much like any other with very similar stalls of mate cups, jewelry and souvenirs, lining the streets. What was cool was that is was so big, people were selling empanadas and renillos along the streets, and there was live music inside the parillas and performances on the street corners. I ended up sitting and listening to a Afro-tango performance by myself and dancing with the locals. 

While walking around, I also saw the main government building, the Pink House, which is known for Eva Peron's famous "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" scene on the balcony. It's still the President's office and on weekends you can take tours through it, which I did. 

One other main sight is the billboards of Eva Peron on the main avenue of the town. 

And the Opera House is also a beautiful building. 

A large part of really experiencing Buenos Aires is going out to restaurants and bars. For me, bigger cities with dining cultures are hard to enjoy as a backpacker / solo traveler. It's better with a friend who is on the same page as you, enjoying the same things. I love food and dining experiences, and I don't mind spending my money on it. Not everyone does, especially when meeting people in hostels. Usually I don't mind dining alone, sometimes I even enjoy it or want it, but Buenos Aires is very machismo, so it's not really the place to do it for dinner. I think if I came back to Buenos Aires with a friend on a true vacation vs. budget trip, and where seeing this side of Buenos Aires was the purpose or a main part of the trip, I would have enjoyed my time here more. 

That said, I did have some AWESOME food here. One night, a group of us went out in Palermo and had a nice dinner at Las Cabras. The steak there was SO delicious and tender. And inexpensive - like less than $20 for an appetizer, wine and steak. (Thanks Natalie for the recommendation!). 

By our hostel in San Telmo was also a really legit and local parilla stand, Parilla Nuestra. Only meat there but it was cheap and amazing. We went there twice. The grill guy, Alex, was so cool! The walls are covered with notes from people saying how awesome the food is. 

I also tried to take advantage of BA being a big city and eating at health food places and trying to get in vegetables (and balance out the meat from the Parilla above lol). Vegetables are really hard to find in meals and incorporate into your diet here!! I had an amazing salad and juice from B Blue in Palermo the first day I was there. Turns out, after looking at my notes, it was also a recommendation from a friend of a friend. I love when that happens! I always try to go to places that are recommended. And if not, I look for a place full of locals.  

When I felt the most culture in my time in Buenos Aires was at the Tango Lesson and Show I went to and La Bomba de Tiempo. 

I went with a group to La Catedral, one of the most well known local tango halls, for a beginner lesson. The place was really cool and eclectic. The seats around the dance hall were a mish-mash of everything from old car seats to benches. There was art all over the walls and ceilings. It was so interesting! Our class was great! I definitely need more practice but I really enjoyed it. However, it was funny because it was about 8 girls and 2 guys, so we had to improvise and switch off who was leading, so you didn't really learn your part. I would really enjoy trying again with an evenly  mixed group. After, we stuck around to watch the experienced dancers and a live music performance. I learned that Tango isn't just a dance, but a music style. And when they say Tango Show at the local place, it isn't a choreographed performance necessarily - it can just be a guy coming out to play the guitar and the locals dancing around. I originally wanted to go to the touristic Tango Show, which is like a dinner theater experience, but after being a part of the real deal and asking multiple people, I decided against it. I would really recommend you go the local route if you visit! 

La Bomba de Tiempo was an awesome Percussion show held on Monday nights. I didn't realize how much of a party it would be!!! Everyone is squashed in this parking garage like structure. It is extremely hot and sweaty. If you go, wear minimal clothes lol. And have your drinks before - the drink lines were 45 minutes long. You first had to wait to buy the beer, and then you had to wait again to get it. Talk about inefficiency!! After all that, it's expensive! Anyways, the music was fantastic, and the atmosphere was really fun, so it was worth it!! And when you leave, there are other bands performing in the street for after parties.

Since I knew I would be in Buenos Aires for a bit, I signed up for Spanish lessons. It helped me get more comfortable with using the spanish I knew and practicing the phrases I needed daily. 

While Buenos Aires wasn't my favorite, I did have a great time there! 

Mendoza, Argentina - Wine Region

Mendoza is a dream for anyone who likes wine. The region is set up similar to that of Napa / Sonoma is terms of vineyards being in close proximity to each other. There are 3 areas of the region but I didn't notice a difference. However, the vineyards were all so unique - each with their own process, steps to create the wine, history and style. The tours were great - short but informative with tastings along the way. I learned SO much about wine!!! 

Over the course of 4 days, I visited 7 vineyards. Some had been around for generations and some were new and modern. 

View from Norton

To visit the vineyards, I did a half day tour and another full day bike & wine tour - both booked with my hostel. The hostel offered essentially the same tours as the tour companies, but at half the price - maybe I didn't get to drink the top shelf wines, but that was OK with me! 

With the half day tour, we first stopped at Pasrai, an Olive Oil factory. They offered a really nice tasting, complete with 4-5 different oils, plus about 5 different spreads and tapenades. They also make dried fruit like raisins  They even have a cosmetic line made from the olive oil. Everything was so reasonably priced - if I didn't have to carry it around for 2-3 months, I would have gone to town there! 

Olive Oil

After the Olive Oil factory, we went to two vineyards. The first one, Vistandes, had beautiful grounds and was really modern. Their wines were also quite nice. 

The second vineyard was Don Arturo. It is a family run vineyard that has all the original equipment and processes from 80 years ago. It was really cool to see the antique way and their wines were awesome.

The bike and wine tour went through the region Lujan de Cuyo and included lunch at Norton wines, one of Argentina's largest vineyards. The tasting there was very interesting! We were taken through the process and tasted the wine from various stages - from the metal tanks, the barrel and the final bottled wine. It was really cool to taste the change.  

We also stopped at Donte Robino and Tapiz. Donte Robinson had sparkling wines, which was rare for the region. Tapiz was really great, and had horses roaming on their property! 

Another day, I went with two people I met at my hostel to rent bikes in Maipu Valley and we visited some vineyards ourselves. My favorite of the whole trip was Tempus Alba. I had their wine in Patagonia and LOVED it, so it became a must see while I was in Mendoza.  Their tastings are on an outdoor terrace looking over their vineyards. 

We also went to another smaller family vineyard, Familia di Tommaso. Their rows of grapes were really overgrown with weeds and grass, something I've never seen before - but it must be working because their wines were really nice. 

Mendoza as a city had a small town suburban feel once you walk just outside of the central square - there are nice houses and good parks. And wow are people not afraid to show PDA in the parks! I spent the first morning walking around, after arriving very early from a morning bus (which was luxurious). I saw the main square, Plaza Indepencia, and the four surrounding squares on each corner. I also walked around San Martin park, which is like their version on Central Park mixed with a municipal park. 

To break up all the wine tasting, I took a trek Potrerillos, which is the range of mountains at the base of the Andes, for a hike and rock climbing. It was so fun and very pretty views! The rock climbing was harder than I imagined, but I loved it and it is something I would do again. Maybe even as a new hobby!

hiking view

I didn't have the best meals in Mendoza, but I also didn't go out searching for good restaurants. The best meal was the BBQ the hostel hosted. It was SO good and so much food. And wine. We had 2 empanadas, 2 types of steak, grilled squash, grilled peppers stuffed with eggs, chorizo, salad, and ice cream. All for $12 USD. It was one of the best meals so far in South America. 

I also didn't really go out but one night for a drink after dinner. The vibe was more about drinking wine at the hostel after wine tasting all day than going out - they had a nice patio and free wine happy hours.

I could definitely go back to Mendoza - it was beautiful and I could taste wines there for weeks. Next Stop Buenos Aires….via an overnight bus 

Valparaiso, Chile & the surrounding Beaches

A quick bus ride away from Santiago is Valparaiso, a charming old port city and also a UNESCO world heritage site. It's full of history, which we thankfully learned all about on a tour for tips. The houses are very colorful, each covered in different painted metal from the ships. And the city is covered in murals and graffiti. All the streets wind up and down hills, so you could simply wander and get lost all day long. There are also funiculars around the city to help with the big hills.

My aunts were here with me for 2 days / 1 night. Besides the walking tour, we did a boat tour, although we didn't understand a word- we just enjoyed the perspective of the view of the hills from the water. 

view of Valparaiso from the boat

And the best meals were also here- Norma's for lunch, Vilanos for dinner, and another lunch at some very local place, a traditional chillean restaurant which was the poet Pablo Neruda's favorite.

Lunch at Noma's

After they left, I checked into a hostel for another night in Valparaiso. I really liked the hostel vibe and staff. I met an Aussie girl, Thais, and we went to another fantastic dinner at Turri with a view of the port at sunset. After dinner, we went out and had a good time going to a new craft brewery, a very awesome local spot for live music (Canario) and good cheap wine, and a bar with dangerous liter mojitos for the equivalent about $5 (Viale). We were out pretty late so our next day didn't start super productive but we did end up walking around and seeing the famous poet's house and a few lookout points. After, I decided to head to the next beach town a day early. We went and found me a hostel in Vina del Mar to drop our bags and continues to the best beaches in the next town, Renaca. Our late lunch (at La Palma, right on the beach) turned into happy hour, turned into more drinks, turned into our peanut of a waiter giving us passes to the Casino's club and my friend never made her night bus to another town. It was such a fun evening, but left us with wicked hangovers. A lot of the hotels in Vina del Mar are either super expensive and really nice, or in really big old houses that were turned into multi room habitacions - like a B&B. Our place for the previous night was the later, except there was no breakfast and in the morning the smell of its oldness was too much. I got a much nicer place or the next night- sometimes it really pays to look online and pre book. 

We spent the day at another beach, ConCon, which doesn't have a ton there but a few restaurants and lots of surf shops. However, I didn't surf due to poor conditions, cold water, and a serious case of the scares. 

My last day was spent at the beach in Vina del Mar. It was the best beach day! And good to get sun when back in the states it is cold! Beach time is like 2-7 pm here - way different! Here, it takes awhile for the fog to burn off and it also stays darker later. The climate is pretty similar to SF.

Overall, I loved Valparaiso and its charm. Some write that it isn't safe but I never felt that way. I also thought we had the best meals here. I liked going to the beach but would not stay in Vina again- it lacked charm and is just a simple commercial beach town. The buses are so easy to just go from Valpo!

Next stop: Mendoza! (I have finished writing this on a overnight bus)

Here are more pictures of Valparaiso and the street art:

Hidden place found on the walking tour

The best alfajores

Santiago, Chile

My second stop was Santiago, Chile. Here I was lucky enough to have the company of my two Aunts for a few days, who flew in to meet me and explore.

I liked Santiago more than expected and its a very livable city. But there isn't a ton of sights to see, and when we saw the highlights around the city, we were underwhelmed by most. Santiago is in the center of several wine areas, but the organized wine tours are very expensive. A few days in Santiago was enough. But we did have a great time exploring, eating and drinking.

We stayed in the Barrio Lastarrio, and we couldn't have asked for a better area for us. Our apartment was right in the center of the central square, which was a bit like the squares of Miami Lincoln road, but smaller. There were so many great restaurants there, and it was so cute and full of life, we spent most of our time here for dinner.

The afternoon we arrived, we started by walking through Bellavista neighborhood and started with a lovey seafood lunch at Azul Profundo. Our next stop was Santo Cristobol hill, which is a tall hill overlooking the city with spectacular views. We took the funicular up and then walked around admiring the statue of the Virgin Mary. 

After we went to Pio Nono for happy hour - a street lined with Outdoor cafes and bars.

Our second day we walked all over the city, visiting Santa Lucia hill which had winding paths up to a lookout tower the conquistadors used to use. 

We also visited the Mercado Central which had tons of fish vendors in the main area and then more flea market like clothing and fruit vendors on the outskirts. The fruit stands there were amazing and so cheap - and strawberries and blueberries were all in bins, unpackaged and ready to be scooped. 

We at lunch in the mercado central and were disappointed. We went to Donde Augusto, but it was a rushed experience with lots of confusion in ordering. We also visited the palace and plaza d'arms (which wasn't more than a square). Our last stop was Londres and Paris streets, which were supposed to be super cut but they were just cobblestone. We made up for our exploring with our drinks and dinner that night. We went to a place right by our rented apartment call Bocanariz - a wine tasting bar & restaurant that is really amazing. We had wine tasting flights there with an appetizer. All their wines were so delicious and I'll definitely be looking out for more chillean wines when I get back to the states.

Our last day, we decided to navigate vineyard visits in Maipo valley on our own. I'm so glad we did because we had some memorable adventures and did get to see more for less money. Our first stop was Concho y Torro, which makes the Castillo Diablo wine we see in the affordable section in the US and is the #1 producer in Chile. I was skeptical of going there as I don't care for their most popular wine, but it ended up being amazing. The grounds were stunning and the tour was so different and better than anything I have seen. I joked it was like the Disney World of wine tours. And our guide was awesome. The wines we did get to try were really good, especially the trio Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Next we went to Santa Rita vineyard. Their tour was a little bland and repetitive after Concho y Toro, but we still learned something new and their main garden was gorgeous. Their vineyard also holds an important piece of history, once keeping 120 soldiers safe during the fight for independence against Spain. Now they produce a line of wines in honor, under the brand 120. To leave the wine yard, we first needed to take a horse drawn carriage to the main entrance, about a mile away. We were supposed to catch a bus from there, but a lovely young girl who worked at the vineyard, Blanca, offered us a ride to town for free - just bc she was going our way!!! I told her kindness like that doesn't happen often in the states, especially in NYC, and if it does you have to be scared its a murderer.  She said Chilleans are very caring and family oriented people.

Once we got back to Santiago, we continued our day of tasting by going back to Bocanaritz and then having another dinner in our square in Lastarria.

Santiago is great as base for wine tasting in the many surrounding regions and to enjoy the lifestyle of outdoor restaurants and bars.