Introduction to Buenos Aires

A country's tragedy has become a tourist's opportunity, and in between the two is a vastly improved economy for Buenos Aires, the glamorous capital of Argentina. Until the peso crisis of December 2001, Buenos Aires was regarded as Latin America's most expensive city. Many on the South American tourist crawl avoided this sophisticated and beautiful city altogether, staying in the cheaper capitals of the countries that surrounded it. However, because the peso, once on par with the U.S. dollar, has fallen to less than a third of its former value, tourists from all over the world are flocking to this city, often called the Paris of South America. Since the 2007 edition of this guide, however, prices have gone up, most significantly at hotels. Still, the city is a relative bargain, roughly 30% cheaper for a vacation than North America or Europe. Tourism has become the third most important component of Argentina's economy, with Buenos Aires the main recipient of visitors.

In spite of the 2001 peso crisis, the beauty of Buenos Aires is still here and always will be. The city is undergoing renovations to renew its wealth of architecture, much of which dates from nearly a century ago, in time for the pending 2010 Bicentennial. (As with all things Argentine, however, many projects are behind schedule.) Stroll through the neighborhoods of Recoleta or Palermo, full of buildings with marble neoclassical facades on broad tree-lined boulevards, or tour the historic Avenida de Mayo, designed to rival Paris's Champs-Elysées. European immigrants to Buenos Aires, mostly from Spain and Italy, have brought with them the warm ways of Mediterranean culture, with friends, family, and conversation as the most important things in life.

The crisis also has had a remarkable effect on the country's soul. Argentines as a whole are becoming more self-reflective, looking at themselves and the reasons why their country fell into so much trouble and trying to find answers. This has led, ironically, to an incredible flourishing of all things Porteño, the word Buenos Aires locals use to describe both themselves and the culture of their city. Unable to import expensive foods from overseas, Buenos Aires's restaurants are concentrating instead on cooking with Argentine staples, such as Pampas grass-fed beef, and using locally produced, organic ingredients as seasonings. What has developed is a spectacular array of Argentine-nouvelle cuisine of incredible quality and originality. Chefs can't seem to produce it fast enough in the ever-expanding array of Buenos Aires restaurants, particularly in the trendy Palermo Viejo district on the city's north side.

This new Argentine self-reliance and pride are not just limited to its restaurants. The same thing has happened with the country's fashion. In the go-go 1990s, when the peso was pegged to the U.S. dollar, Argentines loaded up on European labels and made shopping trips to the malls of Miami for their clothing. Now, however, even the middle class cannot afford to do this anymore. Instead, with necessity as the mother of invention, young Argentine designers have opened up their own shops and boutiques in the Palermo Soho neighborhood, putting other Argentines to work sewing, selling, and modeling their designs. Women, especially, will find fantastic and utterly unique fashions in Buenos Aires that you won't find anywhere else in the world. And, if you're looking for leather goods, say no more. The greatest variety and quality of leather goods in the world are found all over town.

Importantly, the most Porteño thing of all, the tango, has also witnessed an explosive growth. Up until the peso crisis, Argentines worried that the dance would die out as young people bopped instead to American hip-hop and European techno. But the peso crisis and the self-reflection it created helped bolster the art form's popularity: Tourists can now see a different form of tango every night of their stay. More importantly to residents, the traditional, 1930s-style milongas (tango salons) have opened in spaces all over town. These are drawing not only the typical tango dancers, but also young Argentines who have rediscovered their grandparents' favorite dance and expats who've made Buenos Aires the world's new hot city, just like Prague at the end of the Cold War.

The city is also home to an incomparable array of theaters and other traditional performance spaces. Buenos Aires's numerous museums, many in beautiful neoclassical structures along broad, tree-lined Avenida Libertador, are as exquisite as the treasures they hold. There's no time like the present to visit Buenos Aires, a city rich in cultural excitement, at reasonable prices that are welcome during a worldwide recessionary period.