All posts
Browse the full Discover Buenos Aires archive: expat life, practical city notes, travel details, neighborhood discoveries, and older dispatches from living in Argentina.
Archive listing
395 posts in the full Discover Buenos Aires archive.
Wow! Obama and Macri must have really gotten along when they met today as news just came out that Argentina will no longer require US passport holders to pay the USD $160 reciprocity fee to visit Argentina. That’s right – as of March 24, 2016, US visitors to Argentina no longer have to pay the … Read more
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I’m a big miles and points junkie. I regularly use miles and points to reduce the cost of traveling internationally with a family of four. Of course, good things don’t last and there are two major negative changes coming to redeeming miles on American Airlines … Read more
It was bound to happen sooner or later… Netflix has announced that they will begin cracking down on those who use proxies or “unblockers” to access content outside of their geographic region. Of course, many expats use these tricks to get the version of Netflix from their home country. I love being able to have … Read more
We’re having a moving sale! Lots of household items, furniture, appliances, electronics, baby items and much more are for sale at http://enventa.discoverbuenosaires.com Check it out! We’re adding more things daily… (And yes, we are leaving Argentina. More on that in a future post.)
I did something today that I haven’t done in over 4 years… I used the ATM in Argentina to withdraw money from my US bank account. That’s right, with Macri’s new government recently eliminating restrictions on buying dollars and devaluing the peso, the gap between the blue dollar rate and the official rate has dropped to only about 5-10% … Read more
I love globe squash. Said no one ever. Luckily, I did not even know what a globe squash (zapallito) was before moving to Argentina. I’m sure this is something my mother would have tried to force me to eat had they been in our local supermarket. Anyhow, hot on the heels of yesterday’s Fruit Seasons in … Read more
I love strawberries. Back in the US, you do not think twice about going into the supermarket and buying strawberries whenever you want – fresh, frozen, organic – they’re always there. In Buenos Aires, you quickly realize that fruit selection is seasonal. One day your local verduleria is stocked with strawberries, the next day they’re … Read more
Now that most tourists and expats know about the dollar blue, the question that often arises is “How much money can I bring into Argentina legally?” It’s pretty simple actually: For those age 16 and older, you can legally enter the country with up to $10,000 United States dollars For those under 16, you can … Read more
The Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight this Saturday, May 2, in Las Vegas is being billed as the fight of the century. It’s already set all kinds of records and it hasn’t even happened yet. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao will earn the largest payout in the history of sports. Mayweather was originally estimated to be … Read more
Ok, so we get things a bit slower here in Argentina… Yesterday, Google Maps released a mass transit update for Argentina that now includes subway directions! Yes, you can now use Google Maps to find out the best subway route to get to a specific destination. Unfortunately bus routes are not available, but give that … Read more
I’ve been a loyal Spotify Premium member ever since they launched in the US back in June 2011. I love the fact that I have millions of songs at my fingertips, can set up offline sync on my mobile devices and have the same playlists everywhere. Plus, their product has just gotten better and better over time – even if I … Read more
I could have sworn I wrote about this before, but after searching my blog I did not turn up any posts about finding maple syrup in Buenos Aires. I guess it’s only been in the back of my mind, and now finally time to give you the scoop… Maple Syrup is one of those more difficult to find … Read more
Yesterday I posted an April Fools’ blog post announcing an “Argentina Expat Amnesty Program,” and even with quite a few giveaways in the post, it seems that I managed to trick a good number of people. It turned out to be one of the more read posts we’ve have in awhile, so I thought a quick post-mortem … Read more
Let me start by saying, this is not an April Fool’s joke unfortunately… As of April 1, 2015, any foreign national residing in Argentina for more than 90 days will be required to present a CUIL or CUIT in order to pick up money from any of the money transfer services (Xoom, Azimo, Ria, etc.). This does not apply … Read more
Argentina has just announced a new amnesty program that should benefit a lot of expats living in the country. (Unfortunately this post is an April’s Fool joke and not true.) Recognizing that lax immigration policies and a low cost of living have attracted a large number of non-Mercosur foreign citizens to come to Buenos Aires and overstay their 90-day … Read more
Dim sum used to be one of my favorite weekend activities in New York. Heading to the Golden Unicorn in Chinatown was always a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning while trying to shake a hangover. Now, before I get your hopes up, unfortunately, Buenos Aires does not have a true dim sum … Read more
UPDATE: So, looks like Brilliant Bicycles did not think this promo out too well. They ended the promotion early and also limited the number of bikes they were giving away. That sucks. It’s never cool to change the terms midway through a promotion. I can only assume using emails to confirm friends lead to a … Read more
As we plan our escape from the upcoming Buenos Aires winter, miles and points once again come to the rescue of our family! Now that my son is 18 months old, it’s time for him to have his own seat on the plane. (Yes, he can fly as a lap child until 2 years old, … Read more
Uh oh… About four months ago I wrote a blog post detailing the reasons I thought there was no Uber in Buenos Aires, especially when they were launching in other, smaller South American cities. That post generated some heated discussion in the comments from Argentine readers who took offense with some of my reasoning and pointed out what they thought … Read more
As of March 1, 2015, Argentina has doubled the fee for overstaying your tourist visa for non-Mercosur residents from $300 pesos to $600 pesos. This also applies to extending your tourist visa by 90-days. Considering that it was last changed almost 6 years ago, this was long overdue, and with the rate of inflation here, … Read more
Check out Katy Perry’s “Roar” live from Argentina! I swear if I have to hear this song one more time I might kill myself… It’s only slightly better than “Let It Go“and “Libre Soy” but it’s catching up quickly. Not what you were expecting?
After many years here, I still do not understand why larger quantities almost always cost more. Can anyone explain? Am I paying more for convenience?
It’s always nice to find flavors of home in import-adverse Argentina, whether it be peanut butter, maple syrup, pretzels, or whatever else you may miss… This week I happened to find graham crackers in Buenos Aires. Ok, so maybe not graham crackers exactly, but these Quaker honey crackers are pretty damn close to the real … Read more
I truly believe Argentina has some of the best ice cream in the world. Unfortunately, Argentina also has inflation of around 30%. What does this mean for ice cream? Well, a kilo of Freddo ice cream has jumped 119% since 2011! (If you happen to have USD you’re lucky as the price has decreased almost … Read more