Villa Crespo

The first day we wandered the streets around our apartment in Villa Crespo, we became overwhelmed by the grocery options. Strawberries and asparagus were stacked up neatly at the frequent vegetable markets reminding us along with the crisp sunny days that it is spring here. Steaks of sirloin, T-bone, or strip were being trimmed swiftly and laid in rows on butcher blocks next to the hanging garlands of chorizo and blood-pudding on every other corner. Small signs outside of stores let you know that you could buy fresh pasta inside, and the occasional baker needed know such indication besides the smell of pastries and bread flowing from the store. Every day, we wander the neighborhood looking for gems we haven’t found yet. So far, we’ve discovered the fishmonger that sells salmon cannelloni’s and the ice-cream parlor that has been making ice-cream since 1938, amongst others.

Two blocks north of our cozy studio apartment, you enter the streets of Palermo Viejo, characterized by tree-lined streets providing wide, shady avenues and beautiful Spanish colonial architecture. Most of the neighborhood is comprised of super-chic lounges, modern international food, and boutique design shops. This is the neighborhood that is the highlight of any tourist visit to Buenos Aires. At first glance, Villa Crespo is characterized by its graffiti and blue-collar corner parrillas (sort of steak restaurants) and an utter lack of trendy spots. Further inspection reveals a number of restaurants and clubs known only by word-of-mouth. Some of the graffiti is actually named, dated, and documented on flickr. Walking back in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, we were handed a piece of paper with an address one block from our apartment. We stopped in to the packed unmarked venue, drank more beer, and listened to a DJ and a ska band before making it the rest of the way home as the sun was about to rise. This is Villa Crespo, our home for the next month.