Palermo

If La Boca represents the darker side of Buenos Aires, Palermo is the much lighter side of town. Here, BA's famous nightlife, fashion and dining collide. If you want to dance until dawn, this is the place. I never did dance until dawn... but I did start eating dinner after 9 p.m., porteno style - that outta count for something, right? At any rate, Palermo is the largest barrio by area, but it is loosely divided into several informal sections including Palermo Viejo (the epicenter of haute couture), Palermo Soho (also popular for fashion, design), and Palermo Hollywood (home to radio and TV stations, movie production offices, and a burgeoning dining scene). But overall, mostly due to its size, Palermo is largely residential, and therefore sort of boring and common during the day. So, since I never did partake of the nightlife, didn't much want to shop (save for the horrendously expensive Nike's I bought to pamper my aching feet), Palermo was somewhat lost on me.

What was spectacular about Palermo, however, was all of the parks. The parks, not just in Buenos Aires but Mendoza as well, are such an integral part of the culture, that they warrant their own post. So stay tuned... more on parks in just a bit.