Buenos Aires

It was tango singer Carlos Gardel who said it best, in his immortal tango classic “Mi Buenos Aires Querido” (“My Beloved Buenos Aires”):

Mi Buenos Aires querido,
cuando yo te vuelva a ver
no habrá más pena ni olvido.
Hoy que la suerte quiere que te vuelva a ver,
ciudad porteña de mi único querer,
y oigo la queja de un bandoneón
dentro del pecho pide rienda el corazón.

My beloved Buenos Aires,
When I see you again,
There will be no more sorrow and forgetfulness.
Today, good fortune wills that I see you again,
Port city of my only love
I hear the sad song of the accordion
And in my chest, my heart yearns to be set free.

It is fitting that the signature dance of the city is the tango, a series of dramatic swings, erotic dips and prolonged eye contact. Tango is a dance of unadulterated desire, translated into motion and set to music. Tango is more than a dance to locals: it is a reflection of how they live.

It’s no longer a secret that Buenos Aires is alive with energy, and is getting hipper and hotter by the day. Though prices are slowly rising since the crash of the Argentinean peso, the immense offerings of what was once an expensive city make it a super bang-for-your-buck destination. Buenos Aires has many faces; it is a city offering a taste to suit every palate and is marked by superlatives.

It has the most stunning architecture in South America, with grand buildings rivaling those of Europe. The best of the best theatres and cinemas entertain porteños dressed to the nines in top fashion that gives New York a run for its money. Some of the world’s tastiest food and wine can be sampled here, along with the most charming and picturesque neighborhoods found in just about any capital city on the planet. And the nightlife is legendary, with typical evenings kicking off at midnight and not relenting until well into the dawn.

The city teems with history, activity and passion. It also features some of the world’s most popular deceased. The body of Eva “Evita” Perón rests eternally at the Cemetery of La Recoleta, the hallowed burial ground of Argentine nobility. Despite the fact that she died in 1952, mourners still bring a steady supply of flowers to her tomb, which is as important a visitor attraction as anything else in the city. Buenos Aires, however, does not begin and end with Evita, scrumptious feeding frenzies and the tango.

The Plaza de Mayo, which is named for the date of the beginning of Argentina’s independence, today is more famous as a place for political protest. It is here that the mothers of los desaparecidos (“the disappeared ones”), thousands of citizens who vanished without a trace during the military dictatorship of the late 1970s and early 1980s, hold a demonstration every Thursday to ask in vain for information about the fate of their loved ones in front of the Casa Rosada.

The neighborhood of San Telmo was often the first stop for immigrant Italian families in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Today, its maze of colorful streets, cozy restaurants, cafes and shops make it one of Buenos Aires’ liveliest boroughs. With so many neighborhoods to explore—each with its own distinct character and feel—you could literally spend weeks wandering the capital’s streets.

Outsiders have always had a profound effect on Buenos Aires. Evita was born in nearby Los Toldos; she arrived in the city as a teenager. Ernesto “Ché” Guevara was from the town of Rosario, but his uncompromising revolutionary idealism was forged as a medical student in the city. Carlos Gardel was born in Uruguay, but rose to fame in Buenos Aires: he’s now a cultural icon, an Argentine Elvis Presley. Their images are everywhere you look: Buenos Aires does not forget its dead. Their footsteps echo in the streets.

Visit the city and you’ll learn what millions of immigrants did more than a century ago: it’s hard to leave once you’re there. Even the ghosts of Buenos Aires are unwilling to leave their beloved city after death—they still whisper through the narrow avenues, along the waterfront and in the halls of power. Evita. Carlos Gardel. Los Desaparecidos. Ché Guevara. The immigrants. You can almost hear them if you listen.