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Get Lost in Buenos Aires

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I totally get why people move to Buenos Aires. The city is intoxicating – it is vast, it’s architecture is phenomenal, it’s a melting pot of different cultures from all over the world, but it still maintains its rich history, albeit a fairly modern one. Before I arrived, I had heard that Buenos Aires is like France, like Spain, like New York, and while I understand these comparisons, it’s actually like none of these places; a city wholly unique in every way. And you could easily live here for an extended period of time if not permanently, because as with any of the cities mentioned, there’s just always so much to do – somewhere new to eat or some street to explore that you’ve never walked down.

We spent most of our time exploring this fascinating city, stopping at the must see tourist spots – Recoleta, the Casa Rosada, Plaza de Mayo, the obelisk, Cafe Tortoni to see a Tango show, La Cabrera for steak (more on that in an upcoming post), the San Telmo market on Sunday, Puerto Madera and La Boca. You’ll find all these places in a guidebook, your friends will all recommend them – and I would too, I mean it would be a shame to come all the way to South America and miss these landmarks, but my caveat would be to set aside an entire day or two to just get lost in this crazy city. Just wander and explore, because you will stumble upon the best food, perhaps some interesting people, and the most glorious buildings that are just like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Our many moments of getting lost brought us to Buenos Aires’ oldest bookstore, took us past beautiful churches, let us into a delicious pastry shop, and showed us some of the craziest street art I’ve ever encountered. So my biggest tip for those spending some time in Buenos Aires – get lost.

 

Arriving in Buenos Aires: The Glu Hotel

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After a Xanax induced ten hour nap on the plane to Buenos Aires (guys, I don’t know why I haven’t been taking this shit for YEARS – this was the first time I’ve slept on an international flight, and I was out cold for most of it – such a success!), we landed and went to our hotel. The Glu Hotel came highly recommended by a friend, and we liked it for it’s location, cleanliness, etc. but most of all – the amazing concierge service. We particularly loved this one woman, I think her name was Patricia, who sat us down upon arrival, drank coffee with us and told us all about the neighborhood we were in and the surrounding neighborhoods. She booked everything for us, from our ferry to Uruguay, to our nightly restaurant reservations. She showed us where everything was on the map, told us where to see the best tango show, and didn’t make us feel silly when we asked ridiculously annoying, American tourist questions.

The most amazing anecdote though, came at the end of our trip, when we left Buenos Aires to go to Mendoza. Matt bought this beautiful vintage print of the Boca Junior Soccer Stadium from a crazy looking antique store (read: store full of absoluate junk) in San Telmo, and we were really worried about bringing it on the plane because it wasn’t wrapped very securely. So we decided to carry it on. At 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, when loading up the cab to go to the airport and fly to Mendoza, we apparently forgot to grab the poster since it was separate from the luggage, and left it in the hotel lobby. Which we obviously didn’t realize until we were boarding the plane. Total fail. Matt called the Glu to see if they still had found it – luckily they did, and they graciously offered to hold it for us until we returned to Buenos Aires the following Saturday before our trip back home.

That’s not the end of the story though – when we were unpacking at our hotel in Mendoza, Matt suddenly stopped and looked up in disbelief at me as he realized he left all his American cash (hundreds of dollars) in the safe at the Glu hotel, 1,000 miles away.

I offered no help aside from telling him to go downstairs and call them right away. And guys, when he called, our girl Patricia told him not to worry, she put him on hold, checked the safe, and retrieved his cash. She then held that AND the print for us, all of which was returned when we went back to Buenos Aires the following Saturday, and all valuable items made it safely back to the United States.

So, yes, in addition to having clean, big rooms, delicious coffee, and a great location, the Glu Hotel surpassed all of our expectations. On that day we returned to Buenos Aires and went back to the hotel to see our old friend Patricia, it legitimately felt like home.