Celebrating the Season: Buenos Aires

María José Iturralde, Head Concierge

Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires

• If you are planning on coming to Argentina during Christmas time, prepare yourself to enjoy blue skies, warm temperatures, and a delightful evening breeze. In Buenos Aires jasmine and honeysuckle is in the air, and lots of beautifully colored flowers are everywhere.

• Celebrate Christmas Eve at one of the restaurants with a river view in Puerto Madero. You can have dinner at the terrace while enjoying the reflection of the fireworks over the canal. One suggestion, Chila, offers an elegant Argentinean traditional dinner. Try the homemade Malbec bread.

• For a memorable experience, Four Seasons opens its early 20^th-century La Mansión for a delightful dinner celebration with Christmas carols.

• At midnight the pan dulce and the sidra are a must for the toast. The pan dulce is a sweet bread, and if you want the best one, you can find it at Plaza Mayor, but don't forget to book it at least a month in advance. For toasting, sidra is the traditional drink. This is a popular sparkling sweet wine that has to be drunk right after it's been poured. Find draft sidra all year long at Café Tortoni, the oldest café in the country.

• At Metropolitan Cathedral you can sing with the chorus at the traditional Christmas Eve Mass (10:00 p.m.). It is located right in front of the Plaza de Mayo.

• If you would like to do something different in town, then you have to explore Tierra Santa. It is the only religious theme park in South America. There you can walk along the Jerusalem streets recalling 2000 years ago, eat traditional foods of that time, and be a witness of Jesus's way of life.

• For shopping right up until Christmas, all the malls are open until 3:00 a.m. on December 23 and most stores have special promotions and discounts every hour. These sales are announced with drums by a group of clowns.

• Argentinean children write a letter to "Papa Noel" with their gift requests. That list can be given to him at any shopping mall. The most popular Papa Noel is the one at the Alto Palermo Mall.

Mercedes Arando, Traveler's Assistant & Tour Guide

Patagonia Calling

• In Buenos Aires, and throughout Argentina, the holiday (La Navidad) is all about family and friends. Everything starts in November when friends get together to celebrate the year that is over and the new one to come.

• On December 8th Argentineans decorate the Christmas tree. It is the day of the Virgin Mary and many people in Buenos Aires go to Mass.

• Christmas Eve is a big family celebration. Typically, the man of the house (with a patio or park nearby) will prepare the asado, traditional Argentinean barbecue. We also prepare cold food (remember that in Argentina it is summer) dishes such as slices of turkey (actually more expensive than beef), chicken, a variety of potato or lettuce salads, and for dessert we usually have ice cream.

• Before the new year (Dec. 30), you may see people throwing out paper and old work notebooks from their office windows and balconies as a symbol to usher out the old year.

• On New Year's Eve, celebrations with the family take place and we eat cold foods and set off fireworks. At midnight, firefighters turn on sirens to let people know that the new year has begun. Many people celebrate outdoors in the streets and squares.
  
  

Eduardo L. Ceccotti, Marketing and Communications

Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

• During the holidays, the best shopping can be found in Palermo Soho and Palermo Viejo. A couple of my favorite stores include Almacén de Belleza and  CouCou, wonderful small stores selling Argentine handcrafted items, Nadine Zlotogora and Charlotte Solnicki for designer clothes, Humawaca for leather items, and Sabater Hermanos for lovely soaps.

• While in Palermo Soho, take a shopping break and have a coffee at Oui Oui or Mark's Deli. For lunch in a garden setting try Olsen or Bar Uriarte.

• In San Telmo have a late breakfast at Café Dorrego (in one of the corners). A traditional Argentine breakfast includes café con leche and a tostado (ham and cheese sandwich). The Park Hyatt bakes delicious medialunas (Argentina version of a croissant).

• For great Italian ambience and food, have lunch at Amici Miei (right across the street from the square) or Il Mattarello (near La Boca area).