I did not manage to blog during any of the six days we were in Buenos Aires, which I took as further evidence of how enamored I was with this city. Friday through Sunday passed by in a whirlwind of activities, including spending time along the beautiful port called Puerto Madero, visiting incredible, extensive markets in Recoleta and Santelmo, and even going to a cemetery.
A little more about this cemetery. When I had heard that a burial site was a popular attraction, I was utterly confused. However, my friends and I had been told to go there by various sources, so we deemed it a worthy destination. After enjoying coffee at an adorable nearby cafe, five us visited La Recoleta Cemetery.
As soon as we walked through the cemetery's entrance, we were taken aback by the rows upon rows of incredible mausoleums. Each vault was uniquely designed and surprisingly beautiful. Most of them, the oldest of which dated back to the mid 1800s, belonged to either wealthy or famous Argentinian families (including the family of Eva Peron). We were all amazed by how alluring this site was, and spent an hour getting lost among the graves of the deceased.
In addition to our daytime adventures, we had some wonderful nights over the course of the weekend. One thing we were told prior to arriving in Argentina was that most people eat dinner late and party even later. We did our best to uphold this custom, and made it a point to go to dinner no earlier than 10 pm. We also tried our best to party the Argentinian way, though we were less successful in this endeavor. One night when we had gotten back to our hostel at 2 am, for example, the common area was still abuzz and the music was blasting. We had opted to stay at a "party hostel," so the scene was no surprise; yet I did not expect that when I woke up in the middle of the night (or morning rather--around 5 am), our bedroom would still be vibrating from the bass. It became clear that staying out late in Buenos Aires meant staying out until sunrise.
Though we did not have any absurdly crazy nights, we did have a lot of fun while out. Both the meals and the bars were great. Saturday night, in particular, was a major highlight for us. Our tour had ended Saturday morning, but five of us decided to reconnect that evening for dinner.
Our friend had heard that "closed-door restaurants" were an up-and-coming trend in Buenos Aires, and through talking to several locals, managed to get us a reservation at one of them. A closed-door restaurant is an intimate dining experience operated out of a person's home. In our case, two Indonesian women ran and cooked the five-course dinner party. Each dish was comprised of Indonesian flavors and was absolutely delicious. The dishes were certainly not portioned for a five-course meal, though, so by the end we were all stuffed to the brim (and only Dan successfully cleared all of his plates). The dinner was unique and wonderful, and left us on a high. It was further evidence for us that Buenos Aires is a wonderful city ripe with many treasures to uncover.
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