Ferronlandia: Buenos Aires: Day 1 1/2

Call me trendy, but I also love this city. Doing so much each day that we are gonna have to do a play by play.
Sun: Arrive evening. Meet Ariel (my friend who I met in Istanbul but is from BA) in Palermo (like Soho) at a bar. Mirrors on the wall, disco balls, red velvet and a live neo soul lineup that took me by surprise. First it was Prince (to go with the decor), then D'Angelo, then Earth, Wind & Fire and then Erykah Badu! It was like they were in my ipod, sans the vocal talent of above named artists. But the musicians were good and the place made for great people watching. Better yet, hipster watching.

Mon:
1. Alto Palermo. It's pouring rain so of course I went to the mall! But this isn't just any mall. Kinda posh, but full of Argentine designers and summer sales.
2. Palermo Soho for 10 minutes until it started raining cats and dogs on me:(
3. Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA). Great Andy Warhol exhibit and a sweet collection of Latin American artists. I liked Antonio Berni: example 1 and example 2. Yummy and slightly expensive cafe.

4. Ateneo Gran Splendid. Theatre turned bookstore/cafe. Cafe is on what used to be the stage. People spend hours here and I would too. I had hot chocolate because I had puddles in my shoes by then.

5. Walk down Avenida Santa Fe. Lots of stores, we ducked into Galeria Bond St, think the Haight in an underground mall.

Tattoo shops and punkish clothing galore. A few blocks up was Galeria 5ta, an underground vintage mall... just follow the scent of mothballs. Get your cute retro shorts here.

6. Hostel for a sec then to Centro Cultural Konnex for a drum cirlce called Bomba del Tiempo that happens every Monday. Props to Stephan for telling me to go here. Huge crowd and such an awesome open space, puts the Bay's use of space to shame.

7. Pizza and empanadas at Guerrin. Apparently it's a classic. They make this chickpea bread that you put on top of the pizza- it adds a whole new dimension.