Hopefully we will get a chance to post a more formal trip report later however I thought I'd post a few initial details.

We arrived in Buenos Aires several days ago and are having a wonderful time. We rented an apartment in the Recoleta/Retiro area. The location is convenient, with a nice cafe downstairs, a wine store on the corner and a deli/mini market a block away.

We were so fortunate to have a warm, wonderful welcome by a certain "Ambassador" to Buenos Aires. Thank you AV!

We had a fabulous brunch at the Alvear Art Hotel. The staff were extremely accommodating and the buffet was a vast array of delectable delights. The quality was fabulous. The only criticism we could make was that the beef was overcooked, although very tasty.

Since then we strolled through San Telmo market, spent a day wandering through Recoleta and spent another day shopping and meandering in Palermo Soho. We're not sure where the days go!

We have begun our empanada survey and while we are still early in our investigations the highest ranked so far goes to Des Snivel in San Telmo. We are accepting recommendations for further investigations in this regard, so please pass them along!

One thing we have not been successful with so far is locating a good place to buy fresh vegetables, particularly green vegetables. While some supermercados do have vegetables the freshness and choice is questionable.


The most wonderful observation so far is that Portenos are incredibly helpful to poor, confused turistas! Everywhere we have gone we have been met with smiles and kindness. What more could you ask for?

Now if we could only adjust to the late meal times we would be all set!

N y C

I know what you mean about the late mealtimes. Try as we might, we never did get adjusted!

We shopped for veggies mostly at Carreforr or at a few small shops just off the main drag on Avenida Santa Fe and found the quality ok but not inspiring. Good luck with the emapanada search!

Great first chapter, N & C!

About the "empanadas", did you try the ones from El Sanjuanino, on Posadas street, across from the blue exchange place and next door to Fervor, a great grilled meat and fish restaurant?

I haven't lived in BA for almost forty years and never thought very highly of vegetables anyway (LOL), but better quality COULD be available in some kind of market on Vicente López & Rodríguez Peña, just a few blocks from your flat.

As far as earlier dining hours are concerned, maybe you should try McDonald's (LOL), which are all over the place, or perhaps http://tinyurl.com/yyaazad

Just go on having a "wonderful time" in my town, N & C and come back soon with DH and the rest of your family in tow.

McDonalds? Ha ha! Boy do we feel old!

We actually did stop by El Sanjuanino but of course it was late afternoon and the chairs were up on the tables...so no empanadas for us!

After fitting in some personal business, last night we went to a closed door restaurant, Adentro Dinner Club, and had a marvelous time. The asado was excellent, the hosts were lovely, and our fellow guests were sociable and friendly.

Today was "gaucho day". We had an absolutely terrific day with Camino Pampa in San Antonio de Areco and at Estancia el Ombu.
Highly recommended!

We are definitely loving the BsAs area!

Great! Just go on having a great time in my country.

Nice report, geenance.

Green vegetable hunting is a pastime of mine, too...and given the location of your hotel, the area AV recommends, has often been a good find for us. Also, the small, sidewalk fruit & veggie sellers often have wonderful produce.

As to the beef being 'overcooked' that's the way most Argentines and Uruguayans prefer their beef cooked. So, if you want it medium ask for A PUNTO; if you want it Medium Rare - rarish, ask for it MUY JUGOSO or VUELTA y VUELTA. The waiter might ask you if you want 'blue' and if you want if actually rare, that will do it.

So pleased you and C are enjoying your visit to BsAs.
~Marnie

Oh,sorry, I forgot to add: Don't miss CUMANA for empanadas: it's on Rodriguez Pena....

I'd say if you want it medium, say "jugoso" and for rare say "muy, muy jugoso".

The idea is that, if the steak is overcooked, there is no turning back, but, if it is too rare for you, you can always ask them to put on the "parrilla" for ONLY a couple of minutes.

Have a great time eating steak in my country.

Thank you for the tips everyone. Sorry for not posting a further update sooner but this traveling and drinking vino is tougher than it sounds. . We conk out every night when we should be posting thank yous, updates and reviews. It couldn't be age, could it?

We spent our next full day in BsAs in La Boca and San Telmo. Yes,we found La Boca touristy and somewhat tacky, as some have mentioned in the past,but we enjoyed ourselves. We shopped and had an enjoyable lunch in a lovely courtyard, sipping Quilmes and listening to a guitar playing singer. The weather was perfect, so that probably boosted our mood. Yes, we had empanadas and they were very good.

That evening we had the good fortune to join some travel forum folks and we tried our best to behave. I think we did not too badly since they even had dinner with us. A lovely evening.

Now we are in Chile, so I will have to post over on the Chile forum for this part of our trip....but we are not done with Argentina as we will be heading back shortly for a couple more days before heading home. Once we've completed our trip I will finish up with our overall observations on Buenos Aires and finally get around to posting a few reviews.

Ciao for now.

Enjoying your reporting.

Re "I it couldn't be age could it?" Age, no. Malbec maybe...

Good reply crellston!

I realize that this is the argentina forum, however we experienced our first meaningful earthquake last night in Valparaiso Chile. We woke up to rattling windows. Eeek!

Apparently it was 5.3 on the Richter scale. That's enough for me!
We expect to be back in Buenos Aires in a couple of days so more updates to come soon.

Geenance

That wasn't an earthquake but a tremor! It was 5.3 at the epicenter but not in Valparaíso. No damage, no casualties. Just enough to make your visit exciting!

We're baaack! We are staying at an apart -hotel in Recoleta. It's lovely. Went out for dinner to La Querencia and had a tasty meal,including empanadas (O.K.) and fabulous regional Argentinian stews. We had locro and lentejas. Both were excellent.

Now we have to figure out what to do tomorrow. Such a problem!

The sisters are baaack and having a great time! Wow!

Welcome back N & C.

Consider: the Colon Theater Tour; The Fortabat Museum in Puerto Madero; A train ride to San Isidor with a visit to the Villa Ocampo http://www.villaocampo.org

or even to the A stroll in Palermo or Las Canitas or Belgrano....or, none of the above....just enjoy whatever you do.

San Isidro.....beat you to the punch, AV...

Dear Marnie:

You beat to the punch because I was on my way to our wonderful South and therefore not online.

But: Colón, Cañitas. LOL!!!!

We'll what the Sisters have to say now that they are back home.

I know they had a great time in my country and hope they'll tell us more about it.

Of course, I meant "You beat ME to the punch". LOL!

We are heading to the airport in a few minutes. On our last day we wandered around Villa Crespo, looked at the leather goods and had lunch at Sarkis. Reviews on TA were bang on. Not much atmosphere, but the Middle Eastern food was tasty and it was great value. Next stop, Av Boedo in search of a cowhide rug. Success

We will make our broad.observations soon, but have to say that we loved BsAs!!

When should we expect you baaack?