Argentina calls to mind Eva Peron, tango dancing, upscale horse ranches, and Jorge Luis Borges.  And when we arrived in Buenos Aires I expected to encounter something like a semi-bucolic, rustic New York.  But I still can't put my finger on an accurate description of the city.  Roughly, it's an urban sprawl that is an amalgamation of European and Latin influences.  It's slightly reminiscent of parts of Madrid, Mexico City, Florence, London, Seattle, and New York, and within each barrio certain nuances are more prevalent.  And did I mention horrific traffic with car emissions topping the scale?

Recoleta

This barrio is a real gem just north of the city center. It's well-moneyed, confident, clean and upscale. Some might argue that it is not terribly adventurous - it could be any high-end neighborhood worldwide - and that its inhabitants are not interacting with the general public, but it is the nicest neighborhood in the city and the greenery makes it feel more luxurious than other barrios.

I was especially impressed with our hotel, the Alvear Palace Hotel. Built in 1932, it boasts French-style construction, a classy bar and some of the best service I've ever encountered. After tirelessly pressing our clothes and offering dining recommendations for several days on end, the hotel staff offered to drive to the port to buy our ferry tickets to Uruguay. Incredible!

The rooms are elegant (fresh, long-stem red roses and fruit are replenished daily) and the beds are luxurious - I felt like I was wrapped in a warm burrito every time I was in mine. The French doors open wide (no safety proofing, thank you) and the hairdryer manages the perfect temperature and air stream. Room Service is also a dream come true. I ordered plain yogurt and received an exquisite yogurt and honey concoction with a fresh strawberry sliced on top.

The hotel is conveniently located near the chic Recoleta cemetery and the café-filled pedestrian walkway, R.M. Ortiz. We particularly liked snacks and drinks at La Biela, because it is right on the corner under a rubber tree with views of the park and the cemetery and the folks of Buenos Aires. There is also a Northern Italian restaurant with al fresco dining on the strip that we recommend. When you get closer to the Recoleta Village - home of the Hard Rock Café - the restaurants get worse and the hustling increases.

Across the park is the specialized mall, Buenos Aires Design and beyond that the National Museum of Art. It's small and accessible and we especially liked the "Brigitte Bardot" painting. In between the two places is a park filled with twirling hippies and tables full of incense.

We also enjoyed the hip and trendy, El Gran Bar Danzon. The bar/restaurant turns out sushi and ceviche (yes, we had sushi in South America) and attracts the young and the restless. We saw more silicon and bleach than we usually do in Southern California.

Barrio Norte

This barrio is mainly residential and utilitarian, but it does house the Xul Solar Museum. Xul Solar was a psychedelic painter (similar to Salvador Dali) who strongly influenced the writer, Jorge Luis Borges. Well, our guidebook misled us and the museum was closed when we arrived, but from what we could see it looks pretty cool.

Centro, Retiro & Monserrat

We spied the obelisk and the Teatro Colon on our way to the neighborhood of Retiro. We paused at the site of the obliterated Israeli Embassy to check out the monument. The Plaza Libertador General San Martin around the corner offered a great place to enjoy the facades of the Palacio San Martin and the Circulo Militar.

After tooling up the non-descript pedestrian thoroughfares of Florida and Lavalle (think Radio Shack, McDonalds and cheap stores), we ended up at the Plaza de Mayo to check out the Cabildo and the Catedral Metropolitana, which flank the Casa Rosada. Think White House, but this one's pink. We popped into the Café Tortoni for ersatz hamburgers and ham and cheese sandwiches. Barb managed to order up the most palatable dish. Be forewarned: they don't have French fries.

Further down Avenida de Mayo is the Plaza de los Dos Congresos. It is a huge square with pigeons and bums. Some of the mendicants are transitory while one constructed a makeshift cardboard house with calls-to-action strewn across it. The imposing Congressional building crowns the top of the square and next to it is our photo op in front of the funny moulin rouge building.

San Telmo

We taxied to the Sunday fair in San Telmo and were greeted with a hubbub of tourists, trading booths, tango dancers and street musicians and entertainers at the Plaza Dorrego. The square is built after a Spanish-style plaza with the Bar Plaza Dorrego anchoring a corner of the open-air space. The fair is worth the trip - it feels like a slice of local history that has been preserved and is replayed every week.

La Boca

We walked through a crummy area from San Telmo to La Boca, which was our first impression of this working-class barrio. The welcome sign to the barrio is misleading because it seems so cheery and friendly compared to the grim reality of the blocks beyond. La Boca is also home to the soccer stadium and pick-up soccer games play endlessly on the fields next door.

So once we were through the danger zone, we found the famous pedestrian street, Caminito. Tango dancers do their thing at the base of the street and street vendors sell paintings and tchotchkes further up the way. The street is filled with brightly painted tin shacks and houses and disheveled kids poke their heads out of windows and doorways. We ate at the former brothel turned no-nonsense café, La Perla. La Perla is right down by the water, so we breathed in the ever-present fish/sewer/port smell. The port is authentic - it even has its own shipwreck. While Christopher photographed, I marveled at the long line for the Diego Rivera exhibit across the street.

Puerto Madero