On our return to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia, we planned to visit all of the must-do places we didn’t get to on our first stay in the city. We also decided to stay in Recoleta instead of Palermo just to check out another of the city’s recommended neighborhoods.
Spoiler alert, I really preferred the Palermo neighborhood to Recoleta. I can see that Recoleta is a nice, somewhat upscale place to live. However, for a visitor, it was certainly not as vibrant and interesting as Palermo.
Museum of Bellas Artes
There were two museums located pretty close to one another in an area called Museum Mile either in or near Recoleta. The Museum of Bellas Artes and the Museum of Decorative Artes. We visited the Bellas Artes first. It had archeological finds, other historical items, and fine art by Argentinian and other South American artists as well as other masters. This museum also houses one of the best art collections in Latin America and the biggest collection of Argentine art.
The museum was inaugurated in 1896 and moved to its current site – formerly a water works and pump house – in 1933. It wasn’t too big or too taxing, so I would definitely recommend a visit. In addition, the building itself is quite beautiful.
Museum of Decorative Artes
The Museum of Decorative Artes, in a restored neoclassical palaces. The palace is a testimony to the lifestyle of Argentina’s upper class at the start of the 20th century. This former residence of society couple Josefina de Alvear and her husband Matías Errázuriz Ortúzar was designed in 1911 by noted French architect René Sergent, who specialized in building private homes in a neoclassical style. Since I enjoy looking into the past, we had a nice walk through the fairly small museum. If you are into period furniture and giant ornate rooms, I would definitely recommend this museum.
Palermo Hipodromo
Another place on my list of must-do’s was visiting the Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo, a horse racing track. The Hipodromo is one of the most important race venues in the country, hosting 120 days of racing and 1,400 races every year. Races are hosted three days a week, with about nine races per racing day.
In addition to free horse racing, there are fine restaurants and other venues. I checked online and made sure that we picked a day to visit when races would be happening. It was a wet day with a muddy track, which made things interesting. The racing was so informal, you could be right up next to the track. While I’ve been to see horse racing before, it’s been a long time. We had fun watching the horses and jockeys warming up, then racing, and then heading to the winner’s circle. The big screen is pretty important because you can only see a small portion of the track from the stands.
Here is a video of one of the race finishes.
El Ateneo Bookstore
It was suggested by the city guides to visit the El Ateneo bookstore which is housed in a restored theater. The building is absolutely beautiful and I would stop in if you are in the neighborhood but it isn’t worth a special trip.
San Telmo Market
You know by now that we love to visit markets in every town we venture to. One of the most famous in Buenos Aires is the San Telmo Market. This large indoor market has stalls offering everything from antiques to fresh fruit and spices, but mostly there are interesting restaurants. The Mercado de San Telmo opened in 1897 to cater to the needs of the new wave of immigrants arriving from Europe. The stalls have since been updated but the internal structure of the market remains the same. The original metal columns and beams are like stepping back in time. The market is definitely worth a visit.
Recoleta Market
We were also told that we should visit the Recoleta market, which is an informal gathering of temporary stalls set up in a Recoleta park. There were some food vendors but most of the stalls had handmade items or art created by local artisans. We found this market to be pretty average and unless you have nothing else to do or are in search of a unique gift or souvenir, I would skip it.
Recoleta Cemetery
Another of the must-see attraction is the Recoleta Cemetery. The cemetery is located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, and Nobel Prize winners. Like other famous cemeteries, such as Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans, the cemetery is full of elaborate crypts and is said to be one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world.
I thought the most interesting thing was the crypts that were in disrepair. The crypts are generally owned by families but it seems some of the families have died out and there is no money coming in to maintain the family crypt. In addition, we were told that some would eventually be sold and the bodies would be moved elsewhere.
One set of entrance gates 
The cemetery has big streets 
Works of art 
Crypt in less than good repair 
I don’t know how the gate got open 
A crypt in very poor repair 
Some above ground, some below 
Interesting relief 
This crypt was built by this man’s wife, who placed her statue back to back with his because they were estranged 
Duarte family crypt 
Eva Duarte Peron
The Legend of Firpo
During our tour of the cemetery, we were taken by a statue of Luis Firpo. After a long, pensive pause, Mike mentioned that it was of a boxer who had a famous bout in the 1923 against the Heavyweight World Champion, Jack Dempsey. Naturally, our guide was able to fill us in on the details.
It seems Firpo was a local hero from Buenos Aires. Having achieved much success in Argentina, he went to New York to try his luck against Dempsey. Being from South America, no one in the US recognized his bona fides, so it took a little time to get the fight arranged. What happened next is the stuff of legend.
Although heavily favored, Dempsey wasn’t really up to the task of fighting Firpo. At one point, Firpo knocked Dempsey out of the ring. Dempsey was illegally helped into the ring by supporters after a referee count of nine, which in fact took 17 seconds. He rallied and knocked out Firpo in the next round, although he did so in an illegal manner. Dempsey was declared the victor.
In the aftermath, the referee was suspended and never refereed again. Dempsey met Firpo years later and admitted he had lost the fight. The two became good friends. On the heels of his fame, Firpo became a wealthy car dealer and rancher in Argentina.
There were buskers doing tango demonstrations outside of the cemetery walls and an informal market set up in this very colorful part of Recoleta. Definitely, pay the cemetery a visit.
Diana’s Wrap Up
We also did a number of other things in our 10-day stay in Buenos Aires. Mike will do his wrap-up in the next article, but here is a bit of my impressions. First, two and a half weeks in Buenos Aires was too much for me. I would recommend a week to 10 days for the city, tops. While I’m sure Mike enjoyed all of the meat and the laid-back atmosphere, I didn’t, and unfortunately, the Recoleta apartment that I picked just wasn’t that comfortable. In addition, there just isn’t that much to do in town so if you don’t mind some time just hanging out, 10 days would be good.
Overall, I’m glad we went to Buenos Aires but I don’t feel like I need to go back. The city while definitely walkable, something I really like, just isn’t as compelling as most European cities for me. That said, we also try to impress upon people, that you must go, see, and feel the place for yourself. We met up with some other nomads during our visit and other people just loved the city and were staying much longer. You must decide for yourself.
How long would you stay in Buenos Aires?
