Buenos-Aires Travel Guide
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The elegance of Europe and the spirit of South America live side by side in Buenos Aires. Founded by immigrants along the shores of the Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires built its identity on Spanish, Italian, and French influences. Take a walk through neighborhoods like Recoleta and Belgrano, for example, and you'll be convinced you're still in the Old World. Even Porteños, as residents of Buenos Aires are called, characterize themselves as more European than South American.
If Buenos Aires has a European face, its soul is intensely Latin. This is a city where the sun shines brightly, where people speak passionately, where family and friendship still come first. It is a city where locals go outside to interact, lining the streets, packing cafe terraces, and strolling in parks and plazas.
While exploring Buenos Aires, you will find a city of contradictions. Great wealth exists alongside considerable poverty. The economy has continued to falter, but hotels and restaurants remain inexplicably busy. Porteños seem self-assured, although the population is intensely image-conscious and uncertain about the future. And although Buenos Aires defines Argentina, it has little to do with the rest of the country. All these elements demonstrate the complexity of a city searching for identity among its South American and European influences.
This search has become more prominent as ordinary Argentines reel from the country's economic meltdown of late 2001. Middle class citizens watched their savings disappear in the wake of sharp currency devaluations, ending the peso's decade-long parity with the dollar and with it the illusion that Argentina was a rich nation. Weekend shopping, eating out, clubbing, and traveling to other countries -- routine for many Porteños in the 1990s -- ceased to be possible for everyone but the very rich. Homelessness, malnutrition, and street crime rose as a result of ongoing economic troubles, and foreign travelers must exercise greater caution than they did in the past. But one of the few up-sides of the country's financial woes, besides the fact that Argentina is a much, much cheaper country to visit now, is an increased recognition among Argentines that tourists provide oxygen for the economy. Do not let Argentina's economic situation keep you away: Buenos Aires remains a fascinating and welcoming city to visit.
