Buenos Aires is “overhyped” and “annoying”
Buenos Aires – overhyped and annoying? So says the New York Post in this recent article, What’s the deal with Buenos Aires?
It’s an interesting take. The author, like many residents, has a love-hate relationship with the city, which is not something that often makes it into the travel press.
So, are we ‘over’ Buenos Aires?
Well, nothing could be more ‘annoying’ than that line of thinking, but at the same time I can’t help thinking a BA backlash was inevitable. I have very rarely found anyone who is disappointed with it, but it is true that it has been massively hyped in recent years.
I first visited the city in 2003. This is hardly pioneering, yet at the time I didn’t know anyone in my personal circle of friends who had been. I was shocked by what I found, partially because I had very few preconceptions. I loved it and, like many, I went on to sing its praises to anyone who would listen.
BA has now been the talk of the travel industry for some years and I have lost count of how many people I know from the UK who have spent time there.
The tone of this New York Post article bugs me (as do a few standout lines that I’ll let you discover for yourself), but it’s got me thinking and I do agree with some points.
Let’s face it, when a lot of Europeans and Americans fell in love with BA in the mid 2000s, the currency was a factor. A few years ago tourists could go wild in its restaurants without even looking at the prices. And that includes the backpackers. This is changing.
These days the average European traveller can still consider an occasional ‘blowout’ in the best restaurants in town (whereas in London or New York these places wouldn’t even be on the radar), but overpriced, midrange Palermo Soho is fast catching up with overpriced, midrange London Soho. And as prices continue to rise, BA is not the bargain-basement holiday destination it once was.
Secondly, following all the hype, new visitors to BA expect to be bowled over instantly. But as the writer says, BA is less about the sights, more about the people, the barrios, the vibe and the nightlife. The Time Out BA City Guide has a nice take on this in its intro.
It’s also true that the Palermo scene has indeed become increasingly formulaic over the last few years, with every new bar becoming a stereotypical Wallpaper wannabe. But every city follows this same pattern. As the cool parts of town get increasingly expensive and well-trodden, they get inversely less ‘cool’. Fortunately, like in all cities, there are always up-and-coming places, putting the excitement back in. I think we’re going to see more and more of that in BA. Barracas, Colegiales, Chacarita, Villa Crespo: watch these spaces.
Reading the NY Post piece also reminded me of two things I have come across recently:
1) Firstly, a blog post by The Man who Fell Asleep. Half English and half Argentine, he’s been coming to BA since he was a kid and confesses he can’t help having a bit of resentment for everyone suddenly jumping on the BA bandwagon.
2) Secondly, the song Puerto Madero by half American, half Argentinian singer Kevin Johansen. It includes some great lines about how “All the people that come to visit want to stay. And all the people who live here want to go away”.
So, is Buenos Aires annoying at times? Of course it is. Especially if you were to step in dog shit while running for the bus only to find you have no monedas to pay the fare. But London is also annoying, when you slip on a tossed-away, free newspaper and find every bloody Tube line is down for engineering works. What big city isn’t annoying?
I like the idea of more warts and all travel pieces, but the warts are by nature very personal growths and can also be deceiving in their own way.
For the record, I am definitely not ‘over’ Buenos Aires. And neither, it turns out, is the writer from the NY Post.
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons by Phillipe Taringo
Hi Vicky,
A colleague sent me this post she found on Twitter, it is strikingly similar to my own Bs As experiences:
‘I first visited the city in 2003. This is hardly pioneering, yet at the time I didn’t know anyone in my personal circle of friends who had been… I loved it and, like many, I went on to sing its praises to anyone who would listen… I have lost count of how many people I know from the UK who have spent time there.’
Really enjoyed reading it, en fin. Thanks!
Well, we got on the train late and spent a month in BA in Dec08/Jan09. While it wasn’t as cheap as a couple year old guidebook made it out to be, we already knew that going in, so we weren’t shocked. We could still get a massive steak dinner with a couple bottles of wine for about $30US, so even on a backpacker budget, we sure as hell weren’t complaining. Try finding that deal anywhere in the US.
The thing we loved about BA, and all of Argentina for that matter, was the people and the neighborhoods, just as you said. We had an apartment for the month in San Telmo, which was the perfect neighborhood for us, and we took Spanish classes while there as well. We just loved the local people, and we loved going to our corner stores each day to buy our fruits and veggies and food for the day, or going to what became local hangouts for us during our stay.
The vibe and laid back nature of a city that huge is what we really loved about it. The chaos of cities like NY and London just wasn’t there, imo, and that was nice. ANd the Argentine culture, eating dinner at midnight, taking a few hours to eat and drink and hang out, was so refreshing. Everyone is always in a hurry in the states, and it was so nice to just sit and relax and not worry, and we felt that was the norm there.