While I ran this morning, my mind was full of things that I love about Buenos Aires and why I want to spend good amount of time here in my retirement.
1. Buenos Aires is beautiful, looks like Paris in many areas but not touristic as Paris.
2. I like that its a very liveable city . Residential areas is everywhere, very close to offices.
3. Taxi is cheap. Traffic is not bad. And you can walk to many places, which is what I do when I’m in Buenos Aires.
4. I love that every building has a “portero” who takes care of the building maintenance. They are all handy man. every morning they clean the street. The buildings in Buenos Aires are not new but they look well maintained thanks to portero. They live in the building so if anything happens, they are there. Like one person admin and he knows all the neighbors.
5. I live the fresh fruit stores in every neighborhood and many fresh bakery too. Nobody eats packaged bread as fresh baked bread is so accessible.
4. There are many parks in Buenos Aires. Not only it means it’s visually pleasant, people have many parks to exercise, lunch break, walk dogs.
5. Buenos Aires is a dog city. Dogs everywhere, I think dogs to people ratio is among the highest in the world.
6. Meat is amazing and affordable. Government has policy for everyone to have access to local beef and can afford them. They would ban export if needed.
7. Argentinians love sweets! Like really sweets things, alfajores, cakes, pinstripes, medialunas, and tons of golosinas. Kioskos are ubiquitous.
8. Yet, people here are really fit. Men all look like a soccer player and women fitness model. What a puzzle right?
9. The culture of exercising and careful eating (portion control and whole food) is everywhere. I guess similar to France.
10. I love old buildings, French styles, old elevators.
11. Colectivos, public buses, are very clean and comfortable. I feel like riding a tourist bus.
12. There are coffee shops in every street, literally. People loves to meet with friends over coffee anytime of the day.
13. Relationships are strong here. People get together all the time.
14. People eats late, dinner won’t start until past 8pm, lunch usually 1pm onward. Sometimes restaurants are the fullest at 11pm. Crazy!
15. I like the design of the clothes here. Very feminine.
16. Women are put together effortlessly, no matter their age. Again similar to French woman. When I’m in Buenos Aires, I am inspired to put some makeup to look put together.
17. It’s a four season country and has a lot of touristic locations to visit in the country. Glaciar, end of the world punta del fuego, antártica cruise, ski, waterfall, wineries, and many more.
18. Argentinians complain a lot, about the government policies in particular. Yet they are optimistic in heart and love their country. I know many friends who left argentina to US for graduate studies. They had a very good job, yet decided to quit to come back to Buenos Aires. I thought it is crazy but now I get it.
19. I love hearing Argentinian accent Spanish, castellano. It’s just sooo unique and makes me feel home. when I speak Spanish to a new person, they can guess where I come from, and so puzzled 😂 where I got the accent.
20. Argentinian men is very gentleman, like old fashion gentleman. They are also very expressive. It’s common to say nice things to women on the street. Women don’t feel offended.
21. Argentinian are very cariñoso, affectionate. People call others with names that you would think they would get offended. For example they would call girls gorda which means fat, or negra which means black.
22. Argentinians are very expressive and love physical contacts. Kissing on the cheeks and hugs are the standard when you meet someone, new or old. People uses hands signals when talking and they get emotional when talking too. I love it!!!
This is the first time since I left the country that I feel a close connection to the city where I grew up. It’s just I had to leave to truly appreciate it. Now with the economic crisis (you wouldn’t notice!!!), living here is super cheap if one earns dollars. It’s like living in Paris with less tourist and Bali price. 🙂
Can’t wait to come back with the family, probably very very soon 🙂
Our New Journey 
I’m so glad you’re having a nice time! Looks beautiful! Like I said on your last post, I’ve always felt very intrigued and interested in Buenos Aires. If I ever end up going, you’ll have to give me tips on what areas to visit. 🙂
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Would love to!
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Oh, and it’s so funny in Spanish how people use those describing words to call people by them. I have forever been called “flaca” by my husband’s cousin’s wife. 🙂 Like when she sees me, she literally always says, “Hola flaca, como estas?” 🙂 And I always giggle when people just casually call someone “gorda” or “moreno”… Or I get called “guera” since I’m white- which may be a more Mexican Spanish word, probably not used in Argentina.
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Flaca is commonly used too. Those callings are really out of cariño.
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I loved reading your list! It’s so fascinating how places around the world are all so unique – in big *and* small ways! And sometimes there are things that seem universal, but with a local touch. Like coffee and grocery stores.
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This does sound like a magical place. I never would have guessed it would have such a similar vibe to Paris! But it sounds like a blend between the vibe/architecture of Paris and the personalities of southern Europe, like Italy and Spain where people are more affectionate.
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Sounds so nice! Indeed Argentinians have a very special Spanish accent, I love it, so expressive. I used to live in Barcelona and it sounds very similar to Buenos Aires – the architechture, cafes everywhere, fresh food.
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