Saturday in San Telmo
Now that I have gotten everyone up to speed on how we have adjusted to being an expat family, I want to start posting more about our adventures. At the risk of seeming like all we ever do is galavant around town taking in all the lovely sights and sounds of Buenos Aires, I feel like I should provide a little perspective. I tend to approach everything I see on social media with my Pappy's wise words in mind: "Don't believe anything you see and only half of what you hear." This isn't meant to sound like I'm a pessimistic bah-humbug type; in fact, I'm quite the opposite. I tend to view life through rose colored lenses (thus my Instagram handle,
@rosecoloredlindz) and more often than not see the glass "half full", but I never want to give off the impression that it's all fun and games or that exploring with children isn't challenging at times a lot of the time. I feel an obligation of sorts to present the full picture when talking about our experience as expats (and as a family in general) because the intent of this blog is to not only share pieces of this adventure with our family and friends, but also to be an encouragement/source of information for future expat families. When I was preparing to move to Buenos Aires, I searched desperately for expat blogs, and I didn't find a whole lot that would help me understand what my new life would be like or what I had to look forward to; therefore, I wanted to start this blog in hopes that I could change that for the next gal. Buenos Aires is such an interesting city, and there is so much to see and do that you really can never get bored unless you try really, really hard. There will be challenges along the way, but there will also be many rewards.
When we got the word that we were moving to Buenos Aires, we knew that we wanted to live in the city, and we narrowed it down to the neighborhood we wanted fairly quickly. Kyle saw several apartments and was not very pleased with the options. (I didn't fly to Argentina for the home search because there was not really a way to make it work with our busy baseball schedule and limited childcare options for the kids.) When Kyle saw the apartment we currently live in, he knew it was the one. It was in the neighborhood we wanted, very clean and well kept/updated, and the owners are very nice people who speak English (big plus, especially in the beginning!) The only catch was that we would be giving up about 1,000 square feet from the size of the house we were in at the time (which was also 1,000 square feet smaller than the house before it---we keep going smaller and smaller lol.) With one child we had a 3,400 square foot house in the suburbs of Houston, and now with 3 children we have a 1,300 square foot apartment in the heart of Buenos Aires, and we couldn't be happier. I was energized at the thought of downsizing (again) and got to work designing rooms and picking out furniture from IKEA that we could squeeze in to make this work. We traded in our king size bed for Reese's queen sized bed and got bunk beds for both of the kids rooms--the girls share a room.) We knew that we would be spending a lot of our time exploring the city, so we weren't worried about the lack of space or outdoor spaces because the city is well equipped with plenty of lovely green spaces and places to roam. I won't tell you there aren't days I miss having a yard, but I'm happy to say we are happy with our choice and have loved having less "stuff". Why am I telling you all of this??? It's to say that our weekends are filled with wandering around and exploring because three kids cooped up inside for too long is never great, and plus we love the sights and sounds of the city and learning new things all the time. So, yes, we sort of approach life in Buenos Aires like we are perpetual tourists, but quite honestly (minus the whole Kyle having a job here thing--which he is keen to remind me of all of the time), that's what we are--just passing through and trying to soak it all in while we can!
Now that all of THAT is out of the way, I can move on to talking about how we do weekends in Buenos Aires as a family of 5. :) Our best weekends typically are the kind where we start off with an idea of a part of town we want to explore and a few places of interest (usually found by reading Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet, and we head there either via cab or on foot. I feel the best way to approach Buenos Aires is with a great deal of flexibility because it is in that mindset that you will find the hidden gems that abound all over the city. The tourist attractions are great, but the real life and culture happening right before your eyes are even greater.
Last Saturday we chose to wander around San Telmo. Our first and only other experience in San Telmo was on a Sunday. We went to the Sunday market, and to be quite honest, although I loved the atmosphere, it was a little stressful with small children in tow. It was so crowded and we couldn't really see what all was there. For that reason, we had not been back to San Telmo, but I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to try it again since it is a very popular Buenos Aires destination. I found it so much more delightful on a Saturday (for our situation with three kids), and I'm so glad we decided to give it another go!
Our first stop was to wander through Mercado San Telmo, (Defensa 963, Buenos Aires). If you decide to pop in, grab some coffee at Coffee Town and stroll around taking in this wonderful indoor market. There is so much to see, and the smell of delicious local foods fills the air.
Patiently waiting on the taco joint to open. Not!
Inside Mercadito Latino
Plaza Dorrego - A lovely place to sit and watch open air tango while enjoying one of the cafes located in the plaza.
There is no shortage of gorgeous street art in San Telmo.
We left San Telmo and started walking back toward Recoleta. This brought us past Casa Rosada and Plaza de Mayo. The unfiltered Buenos Aires blue skies are a perfect backdrop for these lovely buildings.
We stopped in front of the Obelisco to grab a pic of our three monkeys (who were at this point tired of walking but managing to be good sports.)
Buenos Aires is hosting the youth olympics this year, so that is why there are beautiful Olympic Rings in front of the Obelisco.
Our last stop before walking the rest of the way home was this great park/plaza located directly behind Teatro Colon.
It was a lovely summer day in Buenos Aires!!! If you have never experienced San Telmo on a day other than Sunday, I highly recommend it! The Sunday market is definitely something to see, it can just be difficult managing a stroller and corralling kids down the crowded streets.
Now that all of THAT is out of the way, I can move on to talking about how we do weekends in Buenos Aires as a family of 5. :) Our best weekends typically are the kind where we start off with an idea of a part of town we want to explore and a few places of interest (usually found by reading Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet, and we head there either via cab or on foot. I feel the best way to approach Buenos Aires is with a great deal of flexibility because it is in that mindset that you will find the hidden gems that abound all over the city. The tourist attractions are great, but the real life and culture happening right before your eyes are even greater.
Last Saturday we chose to wander around San Telmo. Our first and only other experience in San Telmo was on a Sunday. We went to the Sunday market, and to be quite honest, although I loved the atmosphere, it was a little stressful with small children in tow. It was so crowded and we couldn't really see what all was there. For that reason, we had not been back to San Telmo, but I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to try it again since it is a very popular Buenos Aires destination. I found it so much more delightful on a Saturday (for our situation with three kids), and I'm so glad we decided to give it another go!
Our first stop was to wander through Mercado San Telmo, (Defensa 963, Buenos Aires). If you decide to pop in, grab some coffee at Coffee Town and stroll around taking in this wonderful indoor market. There is so much to see, and the smell of delicious local foods fills the air.
After exploring the market, we tried to stop off at a well known taco joint to satisfy our Tex-Mex craving, but after 30 minutes of waiting after the posted opening time (common here but some of our members who shall not be named were TOO hangry to wait), we decided to opt for a restaurant across the street, and boy was it a fun find. Mercadito Latino (Carlos Calvo 488, Buenos Aires) is a small, family-owned restaurant. The food was very good and the service was great.
Patiently waiting on the taco joint to open. Not!
Inside Mercadito Latino
We love the beautiful streets of San Telmo
Plaza Dorrego - A lovely place to sit and watch open air tango while enjoying one of the cafes located in the plaza.
There is no shortage of gorgeous street art in San Telmo.
We left San Telmo and started walking back toward Recoleta. This brought us past Casa Rosada and Plaza de Mayo. The unfiltered Buenos Aires blue skies are a perfect backdrop for these lovely buildings.
We stopped in front of the Obelisco to grab a pic of our three monkeys (who were at this point tired of walking but managing to be good sports.)
Buenos Aires is hosting the youth olympics this year, so that is why there are beautiful Olympic Rings in front of the Obelisco.
Our last stop before walking the rest of the way home was this great park/plaza located directly behind Teatro Colon.
It was a lovely summer day in Buenos Aires!!! If you have never experienced San Telmo on a day other than Sunday, I highly recommend it! The Sunday market is definitely something to see, it can just be difficult managing a stroller and corralling kids down the crowded streets.
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