We were in B.A. so long, writing my usual day-by-day chronicle does not really make sense, so I’ve decided to organize my thoughts barrio by barrio.
Like Paris, Buenos Aires is a city of neighbourhoods, but where Paris has a mere 20 arrondissements, B.A. has 48 barrios, each with its own history and character. Not that we visited all 48; we only made it to 15 – we were there less than a month, after all.
Furthermore some of the barrios have little to recommend them to travelers and others tourists are firmly cautioned against visiting. Therefore, despite our meagre 30% coverage rate, we actually felt we had done a pretty good job of touring the city, seeing what there was to be seen, experiencing the complex, multi-layered, fascinating world that is Buenos Aires.
Imagine our chagrin on reading in The Globe and Mail, the weekend we returned, about some new, überhip barrio, one we had never been to, never even heard of! No matter. It was a great trip and if we have to return to pick up the bits we missed, tant mieux.
So… here is a map of the Buenos Aires neighbourhoods. Which reminds me of one of great challenges of visiting B.A. Maps are all oriented every which way.
On this one, for example North is →. Puerto Madero, which you see down at the bottom of the city, is actually the easternmost barrio. The neighbourhoods of Núñez, Belgrano, Palermo, Recoleta, Retiro and Puerto Madero are bordered by the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, which separates B.A. from Uruguay – to the north – and yet
I have struggled with maps where these neighbourhoods ran down the left side of the page. We had as reference two guide books and three maps, not one of which corresponded to another and only one of which oriented the city along the conventional north south axis. It was beyond confusing, especially in the early days. But I digress.
On the following pages you can read about our experiencies in the different barrios of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, during our four week stay in January and February of 2008.Up first: Palermo. I hope you enjoy it…!
