The city tourism board's initiative to honor a set of sixty bars and cafés as bares notables provided us with a cheat sheet of places to hit up. Buenos Aires has a historically strong café scene, so the competition to end up on the list must have been fierce, and those who won a spot should be the crême de la crême. Every once in awhile, we would just randomly pick out a few and go "bar notable" hopping.
Avenida 9 de Julio, which cuts north-south through the city is one of the world's widest avenues. Where it intersects Calle Corrientes, the city's most emblematic symbol shoots grandly into the air: the Obelisk of Buenos Aires. The phallus-shaped monument is the perfect symbol for a country that so proudly basks in machismo.
One of the best panoramic views in Buenos Aires is from the lighthouse at the top of the Palacio Barolo, on Avenida de Mayo. But as impressive as the view over the Plaza del Congreso and the city might be, expect to be even more amazed by the building itself.
An intricately detailed, 19th century building spanning the width and length of a block in Balvanera, the Palace of Running Water must be the world's most impressive clean water pumping facility. I can't imagine it even has a competitor.
A radio station with an unusual and highly laudable purpose, Radio La Colifata was established in 1991 as the world's first station run by the inmates of a mental hospital. Twenty years later, the project is still going strong. We decided to check out one of the transmissions.
With its shelves stacked with books, soda bottles and photographs from years past, La Poesía is a bar beautiful enough to truly deserve its name.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and we were stomping angrily around Palermo Hollywood looking for a place to eat. The restaurant we had wanted to go to was closed, and we had no backup plan. One of the bad things about eating in Buenos Aires is that restaurants have irregular schedules... Mondays, Sunday afternoons, Tuesday nights, closed. Advance research is always a smart idea. But one of the good things is that there's usually another great option around the corner, regardless of where you are.
From across the Atlantic, Argentina sounds out the challenge to its frumpy ancestor Italy. "Hey, you think you got good pizza? How you like these fugazzas? Oh, you're proud of your famous Italian ice cream? LOL! Nobody but nobody beats Buenos Aires for ice cream! Student becomes the master, punk!"
The largest barrio of Buenos Aires is also its greenest. A number of parks stretch between the residential streets of Palermo and the Rio de Plata, greatly improving the quality of life for those lucky enough to live close by.
No, we're not for 91 days in Guantanamo. That picture above was actually taken right from our apartment window! After making sure I got the picture, I found out that the hooded guy was just an art student working on a project. Phew. But I thought it was a good introduction to this latest batch of random pictures, which shows how different Buenos Aires can be, at different hours of the day. Even a window you're totally familiar with can surprise you.
