We've been having a great time here in the San Telmo area of Buenos Aires. We've stayed at two great apartments, the current one being really wonderful. I've started a CommunityWalk map of San Telmo and other parts of the city that we'll continue to add to (and others can too). Note that google maps knows nothing about the street names in Argentina, but Open Street Maps does.
I've found a pretty good blog about Buenos Aires, The Argentine Post, run by a journalist with good commentary on local politics and things of interest to expats living here, like how to get your electronics fixed when you plug a 110v power supply in to the 220v grid here. My favorite local website though is Scooping Argentina which has short video lessons on how to talk like a porteño (as the locals call themselves). Each lesson has a local person explaining a local slang term. For example berreta, meaning "crappy", or as used in a sentence: "Los forros que reparte el gobierno son berretas", or "the condoms that are distributed by the government are crappy." Someone should produce these for all languages.
[this is good] Definitely someone should do this for all languages!
Posted by: Brandy | 2008.03.18 at 09:29 AM
I think I'm going to try to talk Mie into doing one of these for SF/Oakland slang for Japanese speakers.
Posted by: Dav Yaginuma | 2008.03.28 at 06:48 PM
[this is good] Hi there! We came across your site in researching an upcoming trip to Buenos Aires. I'd be interested to know how you enjoyed your stay at this particular apartment (Carlos Calvo Escape) in San Telmos.
Posted by: Adrienne | 2008.04.10 at 08:52 PM
How
was the neighborhood? From what I could determine on a map, it appeared
to be about 8 blocks from the subway. We were hoping to try to stay at
this apartment and use it as a home base while exploring as much of the
city as possible...preferably using public transpo. Was this particular
apartment convenient, safe, etc.? We're not into "touristy" locations
and would prefer being slightly off the beaten path and among the
locals.If you have any time to drop an email with any tips
regarding to your accomocations, the neighborhood, your stay in the
city, and places to enjoy, we'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Posted by: Adrienne | 2008.04.10 at 08:56 PM
Adrienne. The places we stayed at was in the heart of one of the main
tourist districts of Buenos Aires: San Telmo is the birthplace and
Mecca of Tango. It was quite safe there, but definitely not off the
beaten path. That being said, it was charming and lively and not
completely overrun with foreign tourists like some places can be. If
you avoid Plaza Dorrego you might not notice so many tourists in the
area as you wander about.
The Subte was about a 10 minute walk
away I guess. We often just took cabs there. It's never more than
US$4-6 for a cab ride anywhere in the city. There's also cheap buses
nearby on the main roads.
Check my wife's blog, kokochi.com, for
more on things we did (all the posts on Bs As will be in the month of
March I believe). There are some great restaurants we went to that are
listed there (and on the map in the link above in my main post). Check
the 'two great apartments' link in the main post for details on the
apartments we stayed at in San Telmo. The owners Kerry and Dina were
tremendously gracious (even when our daughter threw their cell phone we
were borrowing off the balcony) and great to deal with.
Posted by: Dav Yaginuma | 2008.04.11 at 08:03 AM