Buenos Aires

Parillas, Tango & Evita

Argentinians love their meat and they eat it with great gusto. No animal is spared: cordero (lamb), lomo (veal), pollo (chicken), chorizo (pigs).... They´re all served in large delicious portions in parrilla restaurants all over the country. Our favourite parrilla restaurant in BA is Chiquilin in Congreso. You can see Erwin (above) diving into the very big and juicy steaks! The service was good too.

Tango is also abundant in the city. Erwin and I took one lesson and after stepping on each other´s toes a number of times, we finally mastered the basic steps. Very basic! Be warned about the tango shows: they´re all geared to a strictly tourist audience. Locals don´t go to tango shows. We saw an organised tango show and found it very touristy. Cafe Tortoni offers a much better alternative. Others tell us that one of the best places to see authentic live ¨milonga¨is Plaza Dorrego every Sunday.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful city with stunning, historical buildings at every turn. Our favourite neighbourhood is the charming San Telmo: wander around on Sunday and enjoy the antique market and live tango performances. We photographed the guitar player (above) performing classical tango music with an accordian player, while two tango dancers entertained in the middle of a public square. Fantastic!

A visit to the city wouldn´t be complete without a dose of Evita. Check out her gravesite at the fabulous Recoleta cemetary and the interesting Evita museum in Palermo.

Our highlights of BA:

• Cemetario de la Recoleta where Eva Peron is buried in a rather modest grave.
• The Evita museum which illustrates the impact she had on the country.
• The Parque 3 de Febrero in Palermo, where they have delicious chorizo sandwiches con salsa (for 7 pesos) and a beautiful rose garden.
• Cafe Tortoni, which claims to be the city´s oldest cafe. It has loads of atmosphere probably owing to all the interesting people who have visited over the years.