The Allure of Buenos Aires – Hang Time.

What is it about Buenos Aires that I find so alluring, seductive and familiar? Why am I still here?

Silvina y Martha: Lots of reasons to love Hotel Costa Rica in Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires.

Hotel Costa Rica lobby bar where I pounded many espressos in the morning before my walks.

Lobby of Hotel Costa Rica. Looks expensive, but it’s the best value in Palermo.

Silvina always greeted me with a smile and provide me lots of time to practice my spanish here.

As the days whir by and I find myself wandering once strange but now so familiar streets as a local. After more than 30,000 miles somehow I find this city like home. Lost in the city or found in comfort of a metropolitan playground? I alternate between staying in a bunk at Dakar Motos and spending nights at the comfortable and very friendly and economical Hotel Costa Rica, just a few blocks from the action in Palermo Viejo — strongly recommended to anyone traveling to Buenos Aires. The formidable French-owner, Yann and his sweet and lovely Peruvian wife, Patricia are a wealth of knowledge of the city. Staying in both of these places feels more like home than as a stranger temporarily in a strange place.

Doc is still in pieces at Dakar Motos. But that’s okay. Buenos Aires is meant for walking.

Outside of the city, walking the boardwalk at sunset along the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The tree lined and cobblestoned streets of Palermo Viejo help make Buenos Aires seem like home to me.

Fresh produce, fruit and cozy local shops are a far cry from the strip malls, big box stores and homogenized retail of California.

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