Back in Buenos Aires ...

Soda siphons at San Telmo market

From Rosario, we took the bus to Buenos Aires, and then a cab on to our Airbnb place in our usual neighbourhood, Palermo.

Being back here was always going to be a risk for our diets, but we love the city, so it was a risk worth taking, and anyway, we had to come here to catch our plane home.

We did mitigate the risk by joining the local gym, and getting ourselves along there at least four times a week.

Café Bar Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo

As it was to turn out, our time here wasn't too bad, and we may even have lost a pound or so. It helped that, much to our disappointment, our favourite little dulce de leche cake shop had closed down.


We also strictly limited our intake of ice cream and wine, and ate plenty of lovely steak. The latter at least, was no hardship!

We did give in to a few empanadas though, including our favourite ones from last time, the fried ones from L'Escondida. They didn't let us down, they were still delicious. Some others that we really enjoyed here were from La Cocina, which is a lovely traditional place, but really quite tiny.

Buenos Aires

And then there was a more unusual, but incredibly tasty, lamb version, in a place in San Telmo, called El Banco Rojo. They also had a really excellent burger. I'd had no intention of having a burger, but when I saw the ones being delivered to other customers, I succumbed; I didn't regret it at all!

We didn't only eat while we were here though. We did quite a lot of walking around, not necessarily to anywhere in particular, just to get some extra exercise in to burn off those empanadas.

Whilst in San Telmo, we popped along to the market there. We had been there previously, and had loved some of the stuff on the stalls, so we were fully expecting to fill up the remaining space in our rucksacks with nice things.

Palacio Paz, Buenos Aires

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be that many stalls around this time, and so we only ended up buying one of the lovely old coloured glass soda siphons that we had admired last time around, but had to resist because they were too heavy to carry around or post back.

Palacio Paz, Buenos Aires

We also took a guided tour around Palacio Paz, which was the private mansion of the very wealthy founder of La Prensa newspaper, Jose C Paz. He commissioned a French architect called Louis Henri Sortais to design it, and had most of the materials imported from Europe.


It is said to be the largest private home ever built in Argentina, and some suggest that Paz had ambitions to become President, and intended to use this as a place where he could entertain and impress important dignitaries.

However, Paz never actually got to live here. The work started in 1902, but wasn't completed until 1914, two years after Paz died.

Palacio Paz, Buenos Aires

The family did move in, but even that was short-lived, as the financial difficulties of the 1930s led them to sell the building to the Military Officer's Association, which now uses it as their clubhouse.

They offer guided tours in Spanish or English, where you can see the main parts of the elaborately decorated house. The tours are good, with lots if interesting facts, but much of the decoration isn't really to my taste. It is an interesting visit if you have spare time, but probably not a priority otherwise.

Fortabat Art Collection, Buenos Aires

We even managed a quite cultural outing to the Fortabat Art Collection. It was opened by the Chairperson of the second largest cement manufacturer in Argentina, María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, using a portion of her vast personal art collection. There is a lot by Argentine artists, as well as international names, including an Andy Warhol portrait of the owner.

Fortabat Art Collection, Buenos Aires

It wasn't quite what we had expected from the write up, and most of it we wouldn't have considered hanging on our wall if you'd given it to us free, but it made a change from the usual stuff you find in many galleries.

We did quite like some of the rather whacky pieces on the top floor, although we were a little dubious about whether the artist was being a bit cheeky in the way he was rehashing a lot of other artists work.

We may not have done a lot here this time, but it was a great way to end our trip to Chile and Argentina. But first we have one last post, for our trip out to the Feria de Mataderos.

Fortabat Art Collection, Buenos Aires

Palacio Paz, Buenos Aires

Palacio Paz, Buenos Aires