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Joe Vato
07-31-07, 01:04
Just returned from a month long trip to BA. On this second trip I made it a point to find the places where the regular Argentine will shop for leather and clothes. First the leather. It is a somewhat well keep secret from tourists that the shops on Florida Street and the malls do not want us to know. There is an area called Murillo street where the leather factories are located. Actually, they look more like boutiques but this is the place. Everything is one-half the price you will find anywhere. Beautiful jackets at one hundred dollars. The same merchandise you will find on Florida St. Or Galerias Pacifico. You may wish to start off at a place called Hard Leather at 627 Murillo St. And ask for Alejandra. She was very honest with advice and prices on a jacket I needed repaired. From there you will come across a ton of places to find all types of leather goods. This is where the residents of BA go to buy their leather clothes. I never saw this posted on the board before but I think my ability to speak Spanish, timing and luck came in handy. Just take the red line of the subway be to Malabia station. Ask anyone for Murillo street which is a two block walk away. Easy to find the shops. Go with plenty of time since you will want to visit many of them. About 14 pesos from Recoleta in a taxi.

Another great find on clothes is the outlet malls on Cordoba and Armenia. Lost count of all the stores but at least fifty of them. Very close to Murillo. Six pesos or so on a taxi from Murillo street. Most of the clothes is for the younger Argentines but came across a Cristian Dior outlet store that I highly recommend. Ask for Sergio as he has been there for 18 years and was very attentive and helpful. The address is 4799 Cordoba and the name of the store is Formidable. The quality is first class. For under nine hundred US funds I outfitted myself with four pairs of slacks, five shirts, two jackets, muffler, belt, and other small accessories.

I know for a fact that one of these jackets would cost me at least six hundred dollars in the USA alone. Of course I bought another jacket at the Christian Dior store in Galerias Pacifico for $350.00 US that was just amazing but could not find the same one anywhere at the outlet stores. A complete winter / fall wardrobe for less then $1200.00 US. All first class materials and workmanship.

I was somewhat surprised that the prices of most restaurants have increased by fifty-percent from my last visit two years ago. The bife de lom at El Establo is now 45 pesos compared to 30 pesos. I did find an excellent sushi restaurant called Morizono that is down the street from El Establo. Campo Bravo in Las Canitas is still very good and a small increase in prices. There is a small restauant on Mayo Ave. About four blocks from La Casa Rosa that is called La Junta. Wonderful bife de lomo for 18 pesos. I want to highly recommend the Cruzat Beer House on the second floor at the Paseo de la Plaza on Corrientes. The address is 1617 Sarmiento. They have a vast selection of beers from all over the world. A local ale is their Koala brand which is red in color and especially good. Give the place a try if you want to get away from the local beers and want something different.

On the mongering side - Spent most of my time with non-pro chicas since I have many friends that live in BA. You must go to a milonga since the tango dancing is wonderful and they are packed with local girls and believe me that if you speak the language they will be very nice and interesting to spend time with on dates. Not difficult to score with and you will spend less taking them out to nice places then visiting Newport for one of the girls. The milongas these days include three sets of tango music and then they will switch to three sets of fifties era rock and roll or salsa then back to three sets of tango. In this way the milongas attract a very diverse and young crowd.

Cocodrillo is a wild place and packed with lovely women. Prices start at 200 pesos for 90 minutes but you can negotiate a better deal. Madahos is filled with the best looking women in my humble opinion. You can find one of the guys on the street of Vicente Lopez that have passes and they have a two for one special on the drinks with the pass. So for 45 pesos you get two drinks instead of one plus the cover. Makes it more resonable. Wait until four in the morning and you will see that the girls become very negotiable with the time frame. The price is set at 300 pesos for an hour but wait until the club almost closes and they go for TLN for the 300 pesos. I can vouch for this but remember that speaking the language of course is very helpful. There is a privado that my local friends use that I can recommend. The rooms are alright but the attitude of the girls is very customer oriented. If my Argentine pals use this place, well must be a reason. The address is 1125 Corrientes, 5th floor. You can ask for Monica in the evenings. She runs the place and it is very secure and no hassles. Fifty pesos for the hour with completo included. Mostly girls from Paraguay and a few Argentines. On the evening before it snowed I visited the place by myself. To my surprise it was full of nine Argentine policemen. They were just having some coffee and trying to keep warm. So nothing to worry about at this privado which is across the street from the Obelisco. Security is tight.

The Orleans really did not have much to pick from on this trip. Best to take a number from the girl that you like and you can call them up and get them over to your place for 150 to 200 pesos for a few hours. They are hard to negotiate with below 200 pesos for an hour at the cafe. Nothing special at Newport. Exedra did not have anyone that I would take out for any amount. Sad but true.

Accomodations were through Homerental BA. Very professional and had no problems getting the $350.00 US deposit back. The flight was two hours late on arrival but with a phone call had a person waiting to let me into the apartment upon arrival. Total cost was $900.00 for a two bedroom in Recoleta with a maid once a week. The place was very nice and the only thing missing was wireless internet. A bargain for the location and the apartment. Used Ana's services which were great. She was waiting for us upon arrival even though the flight was very late. Very friendly and knows the city quite well. Did not use her for the departing flight for two reasons. My friend was with me and we had extra baggage that would not fit in her car. Mainly, the reason was a report from two mongers that were left waiting for her. She did not show up to take them to the airport for the departing flight and I did not want to take any chance of the the same thing happening to me. I will highly recommend her services if you do arrive at the airport since she is very nice, professional and can give you a heads up on what is happening at the moment in the city.

I will visit BA again because of the great nitelife, inexpensive broadway shows such as Cabaret, Dracula and other plays. The fantastic food and the very friendly people. A great trip. Cannot wait for the next one.

Joe Vato

Thomaso276
07-31-07, 12:43
Nice report Bro. Good info for all.

Hlover
07-31-07, 15:21
Thank you very much for the well written local inside intelligence.

As a follow-up, I have the following questions:

1. How does the Cordoba & Armenia shopping compare to the Uni Center shopping mall?

2. Please recommend a good milonga place.

Thank you in advance.

Joe Vato
07-31-07, 16:16
The best one is in the Palermo area close to Cordoba and Armenia at the Armenian Cultural Center. Starts rolling at midnite but arrive earlier with a reservation so that you can have a table. Drinks are served by a waiter. Helps if you can dance tango but rock and roll is very popular. No Americans at this one. We were the only ones from what I could gather. Packed with beautiful girls. Speaking Spanish is a plus. The true tango pros show up at three in the morning to show off their moves. No need to go to a tango show since it is all here.

As for the Uni Center mall, well, did not visit it so I can not tell you about how they compare. Hope this helps.

TangoManiac
08-01-07, 02:15
The best one is in the Palermo area close to Cordoba and Armenia at the Armenian Cultural Center. Starts rolling at midnite but arrive earlier with a reservation so that you can have a table. Drinks are served by a waiter. Helps if you can dance tango but rock and roll is very popular. No Americans at this one. We were the only ones from what I could gather. Packed with beautiful girls. Speaking Spanish is a plus. The true tango pros show up at three in the morning to show off their moves. No need to go to a tango show since it is all here.For those that don't know the Armenian Cultural center is at Armenia 1066 if I remember correctly. Perhaps right now it is all locals but this milonga is in all the BsAs guidebooks so you will see quite a few foreigners there once the spring and summer roll around.

You can also check out Salon Canning at Scalabrini Ortiz 1331. Not quite as young a crowd as Armenian cultural center but great for just watching. Rarely some rock n roll.

For the bible on Tango in Buenos Aires pick up a copy of 'el Tangauta' magazine. It can be tough to find. Ask around some of the tango shops and shoe stores. I think Confiteria Ideal has some every now and then.

Or check them out online at http://www.eltangauta.com/inicio.asp and look for "milongas- noche" for the nighttime milongas or 'milongas- matinee' for the daytime ones. THey also have listings of all the classes and the addresses for those of you wanting to learn.

Confiteria ideal is a great place to watch the old timer milongueros dance. Suipacha 384. They have daytime and night time milongas with a lot of shows. Very reasonably priced for the shows than some of the other places in town.