Our house is a very very very fine house.

As most of you know, Julie and I have been in Buenos Aires for several weeks now. We thought it would be a good time to fill you in on our living situation, and how we´ve been spending our days in the city.

When we arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of December, we quickly found a room in a nice house, in the Monserrat neighborhood, near the city center and the famous tango and antique district of San Telmo. We are living in what New Yorkers would refer to as a brownstone house with 9 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a communal kitchen and living area, and one amazing roof deck with a parilla/bbq. We thought about getting our own place, but it was important for us to meet other people. We couldn´t have found a better place for this.

Our roommates are a mix of nationalities. There is Eduardo, a local from Buenos Aires who manages the house share. Arnaut (or Papillon as he´s called), Herve, Sophie, and Stephan, all from france. Hugh is from Ireland, and Jess is from the US. On top of this we´ve had a couple of people stay for a week or two, including a guy from the Netherlands, and a girl from Quebec. If you end up coming to BA for a week or more, and are looking for a good place, contact Eduardo by email (eduardo07aldana@yahoo.com.ar) to see if there is space. Just in case you are wondering about rent in BA, we are paying approximately USD $330/month for our room, and we also found furinished one bedroom apartments for about USD $600/month on Craigslist. Kind of makes you want to move to Buenos Aires doesn´t it? Here are photos of our house and my birthday party last week.

Our neighborhood is pretty good for what we want. We are within walking distance to all the famous sites in the city center, such as the Plaza de Mayo, the Congreso (Congress building), La Casa Rosada (Presidential palace), and we are one street away from Avenida 9 de Julio (the worlds widest avenue at 140 m). The shopping district of La Florida is a close walk. San Telmo is close by as well. Plus, we have all the good cheap eats within a block in every direction.

So, what have we been doing with ourselves. Well, we´ve checked out other neighborhoods such as Palermo (both Palermo Hollywood and Soho), with all the fancy shops, restaurants, and clubs. We visited Belgrano and their Chinatown, as well as Recoleta and the famous cemetery (above ground tombs where Evita is buried). Partied until dawn in the up and coming wharf district of Puerto Madero. Walked through the old Jewish neighborhood of Once, and of course visited San Telmo for their famous street fair and antique market every sunday.

When we´re not out walking the different neighborhoods, we are usually taking bike rides or lounging in the big Parque 3 de Febrero, with the zoo, Japanese and botanical gardens close by. Last night we took our first tango class, and tonight we´re trying salsa dancing. We´ve gone out to eat with our ex-pat friends Kareem and Noah at some great restaurants, and visited some of the city´s famous nightlife, although, the bars and clubs here aren´t as good as people claim. Maybe it´s because everyone is away this month on summer vacation, but so far, this place is no New York, London, or Madrid.

Here are Buenos Aires photos part 2.

In any case, we are happy to stay put for a little bit and recharge our batteries. We only have a week or so left to enjoy the city, then it´s off to Brazil for February.