I recently returned from two weeks in Buenos Aires. I thought I'd share some experiences for the benefit of those planning a trip. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at caseydog73@yahoo.com

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

- If you live in a part of the northern hemisphere that's cold in winter, you will appreciate the beautiful weather in B.A. in the summer. Most days were sunny and nice, with only 2 days being uncomfortably muggy. And only one day of rain in 2 weeks.

- It is a refreshingly cheap place to visit, especially when it comes to food and drink. Excepting lodging and shopping, you'll be hard-pressed to spend $30 daily even if you go out to nice restaurants to eat.

- There is a nice vibe in the city. It's a thriving, positive culture that sees a bright future.

- The ice cream is fantastic.

SOME KEY TOPICS:

ICE CREAM WARS

You soon discover upon arriving in the city that ice cream is a bit of a local obsession - and you will fall under its spell as well. Forget the crap we have in the states. This is the good stuff, grounded in the tradition of gelato in Italy. At Persicco in Belgrano, I waited a full 20 minutes for my number to come up even though it was 1:15 a.m.! There must have been 100 people standing around. You first order and pay for your size cone or bowl at the register and then they give you a number. When your number comes up, you go to the scooper and tell him what flavors you want -- and they assume you want 2 flavors so be prepared. Your task at this point is to repeat the above at Freddo and Munchi's, two of the bigger ice cream chains in the city, plus at any number of mom & pop heladarias. Which does your favorite flavor the best? Another tip: for a really cheap cone, go before 2 or 3 in the afternoon where the basic cone goes for a mere 3 pesos, or 1 dollar U.S. In the end, I actually preferred Freddo's.

FOOD AND DRINK

Beer: Quilmes, with the blue and white lable, is actually pretty thirst-quenching on warm summer evenings. A one-liter bottle (about 2 pints in the U.S.) goes for about 85 cents U.S. at the grocery, about about $2.35 U.S. at a restaurant. If you buy a few bottles at the grocery, you might have to pay a bottle deposit as well -- take the bottles back when you go back to get more. There are some microbreweries in B.A., but I never made it out to any of them.

We stayed in the Las Canitas neighborhood of Palermo, which turned out to have a great number of restaurants. Baez Street simply surges with people after 10 p.m. most nights. Here are four in Las Canitas that we can recommend:

Campo Bravo: Very good salads.

Las Cholas: Fantastic parrilla. After 9 p.m. expect to have to wait to be seated, even though the place is large. I had the Brochette de Pollo, essentially a chicken kebob, and it was possibly the best chicken I have ever eaten.

Piegaro Piazza - The large neopolitan, with its garlicky crust, was fantastic.

Eh! Santino - Italian place had great service and decent pasta.

At all of the above, it's tough to exceed 30 pesos (10 U.S. dollars) per person for food and drink. And unlike in the U.S., you'll never be rushed so they can seat more people. We always had to ask for a check - they don't believe in rushing dinner. After dinner, walk off the meal by - what else? - walking to the heledaria! It was not uncommon on my summer visit to finish dinner after midnight.

For snacking, lots of mom & pop storefronts offer meat empanadas. These make great on-the-go lunches.

SOCCER TOURS

We booked our "futbol experience" through 4rentargentina.com, one of the apartment rental places. We sent a deposit in advance ($39 toward the $150 U.S. total for 3 people) via Western Union for about $15. We paid the balance at their office after we arrived in the city. Make sure you keep a copy of the e-mail exchange documenting the arrangements -- they tried to say it would be $150 more, essentially disregarding the deposit money we had sent. We showed them the e-mail exchange and they backed down.

Don't expect much more than a ride to the stadium and back, with the so-called tour guide merely guiding us to our seats and then disappearing. Not sure he was actually bilingual, since he never actually said anything. We had pretty good seats, but be prepared for direct sun - it was hot. We were seated among other travelers, some via Tangol, a tour company. It looked like their guide actually said a few words to them. My misguided impression is that the guide would explain what was what, like what the songs were, etc. Nope.

The game itself was actually pretty cool, though. We saw River Plate, the home team, beat Lanus 1-0 with a goal in extra time. The songs the River fans sang were really cool.

RENTING AN APARTMENT

We rented an apartment in Las Canitas through bairesapartments.com, and were very satisfied with their service. Some tips on choosing an apartment:
- It's a VERY noisy city, so try to make sure you're far enough away from the major thoroughfares like Libertor, Santa Fe, Cordoba, Cabildo.
- Is it really a two-bedroom? In our case, it was an odd layout that made the main bedroom less than private. If that's a concern, try contacting the owners to ask them.
If I had to do it again, I would choose the following areas:
- Las Canitas: Feels very safe, and the restaurants are great.
- Palermo Soho, between Santa Fe and Cordoba at Armenia and Serrano.
- Belgrano, around Maure street, just up from Las Canitas - a bit of a walk to the subway, but a lively, upscale neighborhood.

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES/THINGS TO SEE

You can get this from the guidebooks. Suffice to say, I was creeped out at the Recoletta Cemetery. Also note that the Teatro Colon and Casa Rosado are undergoing restoration.

TRANSPORTATION

- If you take the Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle bus from the airport: You can buy your ticket right in the arrivals hall, but then it's a bit of a trick to find the actual bus pick-up spot. It's outside terminal B, which means when you walk out of the arrivals hall, walk straight out about 50 yards and then turn left around the corner.
- Despite some horror stories I read on the Web before going, taking taxis in the city was easy and cheap. No one tried to scam me. Before you signal one on the street, however, just make sure you get one that actually says "radio taxi" on it.
- The subway is great, and cheap, but it can be warm on hot summer afternoons. When someone walks through handing cheap dodads to everybody in your car, don't panic. They'll come back through and take it back to you - if you don't want to buy it from them.

SHOPPING BEST BETS

- The malls, like Alto Palermo and Abasto.
- Along Ave. Cabildo in Belgrano.
- Palermo Soho and along Ave. Cordoba.
For all of the above, lots of clothing designs are unlike anything we have back home in the states. And cheap too.
- In the city center, LaValle and Florida streets are shopping ground zero.
- At the San Telmo feria on Sunday afternoons.
I encountered very few galleries of local art or native crafts.

MISCELLANEOUS
- Felt safe on the streets even at night. Very few agressive panhandlers like back home in Seattle.
- If you like video slot machines, there's a huge - and very smoky - casino at the Hipodromo de Palermo, near Las Canitas. It cost 5 pesos to get in when there's horse racing going on, but otherwise it's free.
- Never could find an ATM that would dispense U.S. dollars. All would ask if you wanted dollars or pesos, but then would not be able to give you the dollars. I ended up doing most of my withdrawals from the ATMS of Bank de Ciudad. Only problem is that it would only give me a maximum of 1,050 pesos per day, which is about $338.
- Revel in a place where Starbucks does not exist. Instead, most cafes have a morning special -- where you actually have to sit down in the cafe - of a cortado (coffee with milk) and a medialuna pastry for a mere 5 pesos ($1.62 U.S.).
- Beware the mosquitos at night. If you leave windows open at night (with no screens) where you're staying, make sure you have some kind of anti-mosquito device plugged in.
- It's a noisy place, somewhat dirty sidewalks -- but in two weeks I never ran into any rude people. I did run into plenty of dog poop on the sidewalks, though.
- Post cards: They are hard to find outside of the Florida Street shopping district, and generally cost about 2 pesos each and 4 pesos to mail to the U.S. That means $2 U.S. per mailed post card, which ain't cheap.
- Laundry: A heaping grocery-bag sized pile of laundry can be dropped off at any of numerous laundries - 5 a sec is a ubiquitous chain - for a "lavado y secado" and picked up 3 hours later for a mere 7 or 8 pesos (less than 3 bucks).
- Flora and fauna: It would have been cool to have a basic guide to the birds and trees of the city.

One thing we hadn't known before taking a short break to Buenos Aires - and I really wish we had - there is major renovation work going on this year on two of the major attractions that we wanted to see. Word is that this will be the case for most of 2007!
Both Casa Rosada and Teatro Colon, are hidden behind huge amounts of scaffolding and screens. Not only can you not visit the theatre or attend productions, you can't even get a good photo! Both front and back of Casa Rosada are obscured for photographic purposes too. We were disappointed as we hadn't know and friends had raved about both locations.
Forewarned as they say...

It's on its own, but the large metal flower in a park near Recoleta market is worth seeing. It opens and closes with light, and turns to follow the sun (apparently). Different.

Right off the top, I should say that my husband and I are big on museums and Buenos Aires has many, many of them! Modern Art Gallery, a more traditional Art Gallery with lots of Rodin, Old Masters, French Impressionists, etc., a Native Arts & Crafts Musems, a Museum devoted to Evita, a wonderful old mansion with different floors and ceilings in every room called Museo do Arte Decorative but worth going just to see the house. There is also street entertainment, especially on weekends, antique stores which are like museums, arts and crafts in San Telmo and Recoleta every Sunday.
We found an apartment in Buenos Aires, through a rental agency which we have used for two vacations now, on the internet.
We stayed in the Palermo area in a 12 story building with doorman, elevator, outdoor length-pool, a one-bedroom apartment with full kitchen and balcony for under US$1000 per month. We walked daily to one of the museums or to one of the many parks or the zoo, all in this area. In the evenings when we weren't too tired from all the walking we'd go to a restaurant in the area, and there were half a dozen first rate ones serving lamb, fish, beef (of course) wonderfully fresh salads and great wine. Our favourites were Cosentino"s on Segui and Nemo's.
On evenings when we wanted to be a bit more festive, we'd hail a very inexpensive cab at the corner and go to Puerto Madero or the Port area to a more elaborate meal, more expensive but lavish in decor and service and still economical in comparison with a like establishment in any city in N. America we've ever been in.
We shopped at the corner supermarket and bought filet of beef and a good Malbec for miniscule prices. We'd pick up an armload of freshly picked spinach at the green grocers in the next block and with a baked potato we'd prepare a dinner on Sundays (when most restaurants are closed) in our own kichen, which also was wonderful.
Palermo has shady streets: old trees and bushes, plants, etc. everywhere. Apartments have vines cascading down from their balconies. The air is less polluted than most major cities; it seemed that many more people walked rather than driving everywhere.
Shopping is wonderful, designer fashions, leather goods, high style and high quality and, though many people don't speak English, they are so friendly and accommodating that communication isn't difficult. On some occasions other shoppers have helped us out by translating our questions.
Some people might find the heat in Jan, FEb, Mar too much. We had air conditioning in the bedroom of the apartment we rented, but rarely turned it on, preferring to leave the balcony doors open all night and enjoy the fresh air. In this way we didn't experience the shock of going from cold air to hot when we left the apartment. For less adventurous, other months of the year might be preferable.
It wasn't until our second trip that we got to tour some of the rest of Argentina: Iguazu, Patagonia, the wine country. It's all great! I only hope it doesn't get overrun with tourists!

Buenos Aires Trip: A Woman’s View (Part 1)

Departure/Arrival: United Airlines somewhat turbulent flights departing/arriving Dulles lasts 10½ hours with dinner and breakfast, showing: The DaVinvi Code, Inside Man, and Hoot, among other choices.

Customs: Upon arrival, there were over 250 incoming passengers in line at Immigrations/Customs with only 14 windows open. When 2 more employees arrived, we were signaled over to their windows, so the whole process only took 35 minutes.

Currency: Converted only $50 USD inside the airport for transportation to hotel and tipping. Used American Express Main Office for remainder of currency exchange for better ratio of about $1 USD to 3 ARD.

Airport Transportation: Exit and veer left to the Manuel Leon shuttle for transportation into the city, which costs 27 ARD. On a good day, this drive takes about an hour to their downtown central location, where you change to a smaller minibus, which takes you to your hotel. Have your hotel staff phone Manuel Leon 24 hours before departing and they will schedule a pick up at your hotel for the return trip to the airport (same route and price).

Airport Departure Fee: $18 USD and can be in American currency, 56 ARD, or by Credit Card. Be aware, the airport currency conversion kiosks require a minimum for converting ARD back into USD, so plan well, or purchase last minute items with left over ARD.

Tipping: About 1 ARD per piece of luggage, 10% for service, or round up to the next ARD for taxis, and anything more is gratefully accepted.

Weather: Great during the day, with maybe a light jacket/sweater in mornings and evenings. Trees are blooming everywhere, so allergy sufferers may need their meds.

Beauty: Received an excellent manicure, including hand massage for 11 ARD, which is now 8 days old and still prefect. Also a very nice coif, including 2 shampoos and conditioner with head massage, and blow dry for 19 ARD. Watched lots of women getting their hair expertly colored every way imaginable and for very little cost, so if price was a deterrent in the US, then you may want to go for it here.

Argentina: A Carnivores Paradise. Had hotel staff book reservation for first dinner in Buenos Aires at El Mirasol for 9pm (Argentines eat late) and got lovely table overlooking the water. Including a per table charge of 4 ARD, a Mineral Water, lettuce/tomato salad, huge Top Sirloin and best beef ever eaten (Medium means Medium Rare here), creamed spinach (enough for 2), split of red wine, the total was 90 ARD ($30 USD). Taxis totaled 12 ARD for 55 blocks round trip.

Found chain quick-food restaurants called La Madeleine, with numerous locations. Had hot crescent-shaped delicious pastry with meat filling called an Empanada (a national favorite) and a Café con Leche and for 5.70 ARD ($1.90 USD). You must ask for the check everywhere, otherwise all restaurants will allow you to sit forever.

Tours: Booked 4 Tours with Travel Line, which picks up/delivers at your hotel: a package deal ($50 USD) included a 3 hour City Tour by bus, plus a Tango dinner show at Esquina Homero Manzi, including 2 glasses of champagne, a split of wine, appetizer, salad, again a huge/excellent steak and dessert. The show was lengthy and outstanding (non-flash pictures/video may be taken). Then an all-day Gaucho Party trip by bus to the Estancia Santa Susana to ride horses, eat BBQ, drink wine, watch more Tango/Gaucho dancing, and some trick riding by the caballeros ($45 USD). Vegetarians can per-order from a special menu. Finally, a 5 hour trip by bus, boat, and train to Tigre and San Isidro ($20 USD). Sadly, one poor American missed the return train trip, due to dysentery, and had to find their own way back to Buenos Aires. Note: pack some Pepto.