Star Quality

Buenos Aires is pretty fabulous. It's a wonderful mixture. It feels much more European than an American city but it's not European at all, it's very much of 'our' hemisphere. It's got a lot of the beautiful architecture that Madrid or Paris has mixed with a healthy smattering of ugly sixties-military-dictator-style. It's got the New York lively, bustling, up-all-night, everything-you-need attitude with nicer weather and gorgeous foliage. It's great, great, great and I'll go any time.

And it's a shopper's heaven. The dollar goes far and the top designers are affordable (on American terms). The women are well dressed, but more casual than Europeans. And have less of that European 'look' (the Barbour jackets, the sweater over a blouse, neck scarf and loafers). Everyone looks good but dresses with more individuality. The Argentine designers are much more avant-garde than American ones. And their leather! I bought A LOT OF SHOES AND PURSES. It can't be helped.

We stayed at the Alvear Palace. It's a very nice European-style hotel. Very expensive with small rooms but nice amenities and service. Fantastic location (in La Recoleta). I love Recoleta because you can walk around very easily and it's so attractive and well located. There are a lot of new, nice hotels in the Puerto Madera area but it's a bit removed, especially at night. I would really recommend Recoleta.

Taxis in B.A. are so cheap, too. You can get clear across town (which is far because the city is HUGE) for $7.

The Palermo neighborhoods (split into Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood, no, I'm not kidding) are the chic shopping meccas. Lots of boutiques, restaurants and bars. Definitely the scene at night. I wasn't as wowed by the fashion over there - fun stuff but it felt too young and not unique enough compared to my favorite place in Recoleta. Palermo has a bit of an East Village feel to it, a little seedy but otherwise totally great. Recoleta is still my favorite, though, but they could not be more different.

They have a nice, though small, museum of Latin American art - MALBA. Very nice. But it took us about 20 minutes. The Casa Rosada is super, all I could do was sing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" in my head. And the uber creepy Recoleta Cemetery. Edgar Allen Poe couldn't have dreamt this place up.

But which balcony of the Casa Rosada?  I expected a light pastel,

something more subtle than this!  The infamous Plaza de Mayo

is in front of it and it's pretty crappy.  (Sorry, Buenos Aires.)


Creepy cobwebs and high funerary drama were the norm at

Cementario de la Recoleta.

Can you see the two lace-draped coffins?  

There was much of this creepiness there, too.

One of many creepy mausoleums.

Crypt Katie!  This cat wandering around the cemetery looks like

my dead kitty.  Weird, huh?


Domingo Sarmiento's crypt.  There are many

sophisticated mausoleums like this.

Evita's family crypt.

The Queen of Drama herself had many a plaque, but this was best one.