To everyone who lives in Palermo...

[Alzinho]

I'm very sorry, but I can't talk to you any more.....ok, maybe through an interpreter.

I spent a couple of hours wandering around Scalabrini Ortiz and Santa Fe yesterday - you live in a different world to what I know. A different planet completely! I saw clean, tree-lined streets, fresh fruit and vegetables, a shop selling imported cheeses and even fresh fish - something I haven't seen in 3 years! And a shopping centre that could have been in London or New York! All things that I didn't even know existed here.....and unfortunately stocked with stuff that's all WAY out of my budget.

Now that I've seen how/where 'the other half' lives, I'm a little perplexed by some of the negativity on this forum; seriously. I know everything is relative, but Palermo looks like the first world compared to the third world areas that I'm familiar with, including San Telmo, which, despite its reputation for attracting tourists for its quaintness, is still run-down, filthy, lacks domestic commerce and is not somewhere to wander round late at night.

Al

 

[legilber]

My friends and I who live in Palermo (SOHO) like to call it our bubble. Yes, I realize that I may not be experiencing "true (gritty) BA" but after a long day of work, there's nothing quite like walking through the streets of palermo. No negativity here!

 

[BKK to BA]

Obviously you havent visited Puerto Madero yet.....

 

[HowardinBA]

SAN TELMO IS disgusting.....

 

[Alzinho]

You should really get out more often if finding those things surprised you!

Easier said than done Lee!
I've only been here in BA for 4+ months and a lot of that has been about finding somewhere (affordable) to live and then furnishing it and at least 50% of my time is spent looking after my little lad. And in that time I've not known anybody here.

Now I'm settled in my flat and I've found this forum, I'm getting the chance to get out and about - I'm even in danger of having a social life! Next step is to get a job and I might get the chance to actually enjoy living here - although that looks like a remote possibility from where I'm at right now! But....still trying to look on the bright side.

 

[Alzinho]

SAN TELMO IS disgusting.....

Oi! That's my hood you're dissing!

(Not sure what that means, but I've heard the youngsters saying it! )

 

[billsfan]

Certaintly, if San Telmo is all you've seen, you have lots of Buenos Aires (let alone the rest of Argentina) to discover.
The prettiest-european-first-world neighborhoods are probably Recoleta (go to Av Alvear for example), Puerto Madero (Av Alicia Moreau de Justo), Belgrano (by the Av Libertador side) and Retiro (near Plaza San Martin or thru Av Alem).
And there are plenty more!

 

[Katser]

I happened to be hung over one morning in SanTelmo and really wanted a coffee. I couldn’t find one! I walked around for 20 minutes before giving up!

That’s never happened to me anywhere else in the city.

It’s very nice otherwise though.

 

[Alzinho]

Certaintly, if San Telmo is all you've seen, you have lots of Buenos Aires (let alone the rest of Argentina) to discover.

It's a pretty big city! I happened to land in San Telmo in temporary accommodation when I first arrived and then found somewhere affordable here on a long-term contract, so this is the barrio I know. I looked (on-line) at Palermo and Recoleta, but there was nothing even remotely close to being affordable so I never physically ventured up there. Yesterday was a real eye-opener!

I know a bit of Barracas, Flores, Urquiza and Devoto in Capital Federal and I know Merlo and Moron in BA Provincia very well. I also know Iguazu and Posadas 'like the back of my hand' and have been many times to Corrientes (Capital) and visited Cordoba, Goya, Santo Tomé and a few smaller towns.