I got to the city exactly one week ago, spent four nights at Juampi’s place (thanks to Caro for the set up), had my first Asado (typical Argentinian BBQ), met loads of people through my host, saw the most beautiful sunset on my first night, worked out with my gym buddy “the cat”, practiced my language skills on an advanced level with Juampi’s super fast, slurred Argentinian Spanish, went out every night and sure wasn’t bored for even a second during these first couple of days in my soon to be called home: BUENOS AIRES.

And while I was exploring this beautiful city and falling in love with it already, I couldn’t help but notice some interesting features here and there & every now and then…

I’m sure this list will expand once I’ll actually live in BA for longer, but for now, these are the things that I noticed or that surprised me the most:

• you might as well call BA “Little Italy”: there’s more Pizza & Pasta places than in Rome, Naples and Milan combined
• apparently olives are an essential ingredient to any kind of pizza
• there’s WIFI everywhere! And by everywhere, I mean E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E: even the bus stations and airport shuttles have WIFI
• speaking of which: one bus/metro ride costs around €0,32, which makes it the preferred transportation option
• plateau shoes seem to be highly fashionable in this city right about now
• something you’ll find at any cafe, restaurant or breakfast place: 1 cafe con leche y 2 medialunas (one coffee with milk and two croissants) for about €2,70-3,50
• by the way, the cappuccino index shows a slightly raised caffeine-acquisition-price-level: €2,80 is probably the cheapest you’ll find
• there’s surprisingly many organic-food-diet-super-healthy-stores everywhere, in which “gluten-free” and “no added sugar” are the new price tags – totally my thing!
• the Argentinian Starbucks is called “Havanna”, haven’t tried it yet & the original is also still around & can be found on every street
• unfortunately, yoghurt looks and tastes more like unnaturally coloured pudding
• BA is so much more than just Palermo, Recoleta & San Telmo! By staying with Juampi in Núñez (a neighbourhood a little north of the centre) I got to see a more quiet & family-oriented part of the city
• Asado, the Argentinian BBQ: lots of meet, some baguette & red wine – it doesn’t need much else for an amazing food & social experience
• Dulce de Leche really is everybody’s favourite candy, dessert or flavour here
• the city is actually really clean and there’s a trash can every 10m
• keys here look like they’ll open the door to Bilbo Beutlin’s bungalow

Amazing sunset on the night of my arrival

First cappuccino across the street from my faculty

Cocktail night @Shout Bar with Juampi & his friends

One of the mentioned organic-food stores…

… in which they apparently sell “Kellogg’s Tresor” as an energy snack (looks & tastes the same, pretty sure they just repackaged)

View from Juampi’s apartment

May I introduce: the AHK (Argentinische Handelskammer) people – great fellas

@BierLife in San Telmo – the name of the bar says it all

Pizza con Palmito (Palmenherz) – an all time favourite of the Argentinians

The keys to Juampi’s apartment could also be used for a treasure hunt

My first Argentinian Asado:

Before

After

Some of Juampi’s high school friends that were crazy about taking selfies

Chorizo y pan – listo

Juampi’s friend was currently housesitting the really nice place of his parents, which gave us the opportunity for this great Asado location

Beef rips worth 60 euros

Above-mentioned plateau shoes – all girls are wearing them in BA

Juampi in his little apartment, in which he let me stay with him so generously, on the morning of my departure to Brazil

I can’t wait to return to this amazing city, explore even more of its beauty, people, secrets and organic food stores and make myself at home and go to university in one of its most central areas, Recoleta. And while that plan is fixed for the time from end-August until December, I’ll enjoy this month of travelling through and exploring Brazil. Sao Paolo until the end of the week, beach vibes on Ilhabela & Ilha Grande this weekend, “no risk, no fun” in Rio, and after my return to Sao Paolo, I’ll check out Florianópolis for a couple of days as well.

Stay tuned for some great Brazil impressions & experiences!