The Paris of the south, as Buenos Aires is sometimes called, is just that, a sophisticated cosmopolitan European city, transported to the west bank of the Rio de la Plata. Its atmosphere comes from the stream of emigrants, Italian, English, Welsh, Ukranian, Turk and German who have made Buenos Aires their home over the last two centuries.
The hostel where I stayed in San Telmo had a similarly impressive mix of nationalities. On my first night there, as we all sat down to a parrillada in the courtyard, half a dozen different languages competed to be heard around the crowded benches. A parrillada is the Argentinian equivalent of a barbecue, and this being the home of the pampas and the vast cattle ranches, beef is king. Vegetables and salads are often neglected afterthoughts at meals where the emphasis is on meat in huge quantities.
The barrio (neighbourhood) of San Telmo is a friendly bohemian area just south of the city centre. The old cobblestone streets around Plaza Dorrego are littered with dusty old antique shops, pavement cafes and tango bars. At weekends the plaza transforms itself into a flea market and is a great place to watch some street performers, be it amateur tango dancers or Ricky Martin wannabes. I was there shortly before carnival, and while it's not nearly as big as the Rio one, the local school children with samba drums, whistles and dance routines were still giving it their all, to the delight of the crowds, as they practised for the main festivities in the weeks ahead.
Further south of San Telmo is the Italian working-class area of La Boca - part slum, part tourist attraction. Its heart is the Caminito - a pedestrianised street lined with garishly-coloured buildings in lurid yellows, oranges, reds, greens and blues. Here you can buy all manner of pictures and clothes, from caricatures of Eva Peron and Che Guevara to pocket-sized prints depicting the street. Sadly, where the Caminito ends by the docks lies the foulest smelling polluted piece of waterway I have ever seen, a reminder that the industrial development in poorer countries rarely takes into account environmental issues.
Back within La Boca lies Boca Stadium, home of Boca Juniors, the Manchester United of Argentinian football. Here Maradona first showcased his footballing talents. Boca had a derby game with local rivals Racing while I was there and I managed to get tickets. The atmosphere, colour, noise and the crowd's raw unbridled passion that never seemed far from boiling over was awesome. Fortunately the game ended in a 1-1 draw, so everyone went home safe rather than elated or despondent.
Getting around Buenos Aires is very easy. From a tourist's point of view, all the main attractions are easily reached by either Subte (underground) or bus. The Subte has five lines. The main line runs on a north-south axis through the city from Retiro in the north to the edge of San Telmo to the south. The bus network is extensive and most routes run 24 hours.
The shopping precinct is centred on the two pedestrian avenues, Florida and Lavelle. These run perpendicular to each other and both seem to go on forever. There is a huge array of shops and specialised stores and if it's bargains you are after, the best bet is leather goods and shoes. For the more upmarket shopper or if you just want to browse, check out Galerias Pacifico - a beautifully restored Parisian-styled shopping mall full of designer shops.
Landmarks in the city centre worth seeing include the Presidential Palace, better known as the pink palace, where Evita enthralled the masses from the balcony. For the arts, Teatro Colon is the piece de resistance, an exquisite building inside and out, and a world class venue for opera, ballet and classical music. To reach it, however, you need to cross Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world and a good 20 minute-crossing experience. Where Avenida 9 de Julio crosses Avenida Corrientes stands the Obelisco - as much a symbol of Buenos Aires as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris.
The inner northern suburbs of Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo, are home to the wealthy and elite of Argentinian society. Here among the classy apartments you will find the chic boutiques, polo gear outfitters, trendy cafes and bars, exclusive restaurants and hip nightclubs. After a morning's sightseeing, spend the afternoon relaxing, sipping a e cortado (coffee with a dash of milk) and watching the beautiful and powerful go by, walking their poodles and Dalmatians or returning from shopping sprees.
No trip to Buenos Aires would be complete without a visit to Recoleta cemetery - final resting place of Eva Peron - a cemetery where even the simplest graves are built as huge mausoleums, larger than your average Dublin 2 apartment. Here the polo-playing classes have their extravagant tombs as decadent in death as in life. But Evita ended up here also, much to the disgust of the aristocracy. The one-time peasant girl who made good has quite a simple tomb by Recoleta standards, but it is easy to find. Just follow the crowds.
Palermo is the playground of the city. This largely parkland suburb contains the zoo, botanical gardens, racecourse, polo grounds and Japanese gardens. At weekends, it is filled with citizens escaping for a few hours' peace or to kick a football around the park.
While tango is not exactly my scene, I was keen to sample Buenos Aires nightlife. So after getting a recommendation from the friendly staff at the hostel, I headed out with a couple of others for a night of drinking and dancing. After a few bottles of the locally brewed Quilmes beer we headed for a local Argentinian and Brazilian dance nightclub. After sassing and swaying to the native rhythms with the locals we headed on to the bigger clubs in Palermo where we bopped the night and most of the morning away. As we left for bed at around 9 a.m. the place was still going strong.
If a parrillada symbolises the food of Argentina then mate is the drink. It is a tea-like drink that all Argentinians seem to love. Everywhere you go you find locals sitting around in parks, on benches sharing a mate. It is a friendship drink, which everyone drinks in turn from the same gourd, through a pipe shared by all. To the uninitiated it has a pungent smell with a bitter taste to match. I found it, however, to be a great hangover cure.
If you feel the need to get out from the city for a while there is a big choice of day-trips. The Pampas is only a few hours away, with historic gaucho towns such as San Antonio de Areco. The Delta del Paran, two hours' north of the city, has many water-based activities and you can go on trips to various islands.
Uruguay is less than an hour across the Rio de La Plata by hydrofoil. And if you still want more after all that, there's Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego to the South, Iguazu Falls to the north and the Andes and Cordoba to the west. They're another story.