Buenos Aires, Argentina. June/July 2021

[Latbear4blk]

I just finished packing and in a few hours will be departing to Buenos Aires. I have not visited my second home in two years, and besides cuddling my 83 y.o. mother and my old friends, I am very curious about the city in pandemic mode. Things look bad over there right now, with restrictions close to Fase 1 in some places even if they are rolling vaccination with a good vaccine, Russian Sputnik.

The exchange is back to have an official and a parallel value. Today, official exchange is around U$S 1 = $AR 100; while the "blue" exchange is 1 to 150. Due to this huge difference, I will be restricting the use of credit cards (they use official exchange rates) and instead I am taking cash. 

I will stay in an Airbnb for 30 days (less than 400 bucks!), a studio in duplex with two balconies in a 2nd floor (3rd for American standards), in Palermo. This is another reason I am excites. I always lived in Recoleta, and then kept staying in my family place or renting in that neighborhood. This is the first time that I am going to be exploring Palermo, a quite transformed area since my departure from the city. It is full of restaurants and bars, with a quite young/middle class demographic.

Wish me a good trip!

[macdaddi]

Suerte papi. Que vayas con Dios.

 

[davet]

Palermo is a great area but I recall a nuevo part and a viejo part. Palermo nuevo looks pretty similar to Recoleta. Palermo Viejo is the part with cobblestone streets, leafy trees, and hip restaurants. And PV is divided further into sub-barrios I can't keep track of. Sounds like a great trip and I'd love to hear what it's like the time of corona.

[Riobard]

Have a great trip!

[pazubane]

Safe Travels. Hope you have some beautiful interactions during your trip. 

[Latbear4blk]

Already here! One of the best flight I had ever. The plane from DC to Dallas was full, but he long flight to Buenos Aires was probably only have full. I was in the Premium Economy section and only two other people were in those 24 seats. American Airlines service was super nice, the food quite goof for a plane, and one of the cheapest tickets ever, almost 1,1 K.

Ezeiza was also semi empty and totally transformed by the control protocols. After picking up your luggage, you have to take another test (I had to take one before), but the whole process was efficient and there were few travelers. Once I received my negative result, I was ready to walk out to meet my driver.

In previous trips, I would just go for the car services offered in the airport. Two years ago, I paid over 30 buck, which it is quite standard in my international trips. This time I tried something different. I asked my sister to hire a remise service. I paid $AR 1,650, 2K with the tip. That is U$S 20.56 at  the official exchange rate, 12.94 at the Blue exchange.

My Airbnb looks just like the pictures, and the neighborhood is exactly what I expected. I walked a little bit around. As the exchange rate shows such an abyssal difference between Official and Blue, I did not want to buy anything. In the airport, I withdrew $AR 4.000 to pay to the driver and have some cash. I need groceries, but I will wait to see my sister and mother (they are coming in 2 hours) and will sell them dollars at Blue rate. I am not scamming them, my friends, that is what people do here. You do not need to have family or friends. The locals want your dollars. If you go to most exchange shops or travel agencies, they will make the deal with you at Blue prices, without any paper track.

But I was hungry after almost 24 hours eating airport/airplane food. Right in the corner of my place, I found a very affordable restaurant. It looks quite average, and I loved the price although I did not have much time to compare. They were offering a "Menú Ejecutivo" for lunch at $AR 420. I wondered if they were making a pun, "420" is popular here in social media and hook up apps. I did not ask.

I went for the first option, the "mini" bife de chorizo.

Delicious, my first piece of Argentine meat. While I was waiting, I enjoyed being in a Buenos Aires sidewalk. This is a Fase 1 weekend, so there is no traffic and people are walking their dogs wearing masks. This tree was right in my corner.

To give you an idea of local prices, this is the full menu of the place I chose: 

I included a tip, and paid $AR 500 for my bife de chorizo: U$S 5,14 at official rate, 3.24 at Blue rate.

30' after opening my Grindr, I had 15 hits. 10 of them were attractive men and young men. The good thing of having so many, you can pick only the best. I am talking with a 24 years guys very cute. I am not planning to do anything today anyway, so we are talking about meeting during the week. I am also talking with my boy Y, the Venezuelan hottie into chubby men that I met 2 years ago. I talked about him in my report here, (he was 22 back then, 24 now, I make the acceleration because I mention several possible ages in that linked report)and also wrote abut him in my blog. He is getting me pot and we will meet tomorrow. All this is sex for free.

I have not yet decided who the first professional will be, or when. The offer is generous. I wrote a report on my candidates, but since then more have been added to the list.

Now, I am going to wait for my mami while I catch up on my networks.

That's all for today, folks!

 

[Lonnie]

I hope you have a wonderful trip...how could not with a reunion with beautiful Douglas and remember give Tomy's gorgeous ass a kiss for me.

Now there seems to be another Tomy from Brasil? Maybe size him up too?

[msclelovr]

Please continue your excellent reports @Latbear4blk. They bring back memories for me. 

On 6/5/2021 at 4:17 PM, davet said:

Palermo is a great area but I recall a nuevo part and a viejo part. Palermo nuevo looks pretty similar to Recoleta. Palermo Viejo is the part with cobblestone streets, leafy trees, and hip restaurants. And PV is divided further into sub-barrios I can't keep track of. 

I was last there 8 years ago, but @davet have they changed the names of the different areas of Palermo? I recall there were three: Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood being lively with plenty of shops and restaurants etc, whereas Palermo Chico was small and where the truly moneyed lived (as there were no commercial premises). At that time, a fourth area of Palermo was being developed. It I don’t recall its intended name. 

[Latbear4blk]

2 hours ago, Lonnie said:

I hope you have a wonderful trip...how could not with a reunion with beautiful Douglas and remember give Tomy's gorgeous ass a kiss for me.

Now there seems to be another Tomy from Brasil? Maybe size him up too?

LOL. I am not 100% sure, but 90% I think he is the same Tommy. Not only USA escorts rebrand themselves now and then.

[Latbear4blk]

7 minutes ago, msclelovr said:

Please continue your excellent reports @Latbear4blk. They bring back memories for me. 

I was last there 8 years ago, but @davet have they changed the names of the different areas of Palermo? I recall there were three: Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood being lively with plenty of shops and restaurants etc, whereas Palermo Chico was small and where the truly moneyed lived (as there were no commercial premises). At that time, a fourth area of Palermo was being developed. It I don’t recall its intended name. 

There has always been only two Palermos. Palermo Viejo, and Palermo Chico. As you say, the latter is a wealthy neighborhood with fancy houses where many diplomat reside, and where even many embassies are located.

Palermo Viejo was a mix of fancier areas closer to Avdas Figueroa Alcorta and Libertador, and Parque 3 de Febrero (los Bosques de Palermo) and the inside big popular middle class areas. Those areas have been redeveloped in the last decade, realtors marketed and successfully imposed Palermo Hollywood (where I am right now) and Palermo Soho to two of traditional Palermo Viejo neighborhoods.

[TotallyOz]

Have a fantastic trip. I loved the photos. Esp. the steak. A big thing for me is Argentinian beef (in all sorts).

[Latbear4blk]

These first two week, specially this one, I am still heavily supporting my school from distance, and my movements are highly restricted, as at 8pm local restrictions mandate to stay home. I just went for a walk in between zooms and got still more in love with the neighborhood.

Yesterday not only was Sunday, but also the last day of a strict weekend quarantine. Most places were close. Today bars and restaurants were open and, as it was still morning, starting to set up their tables outdoors. Definitely, they seem to be tailored to welcome USA and UK visitors, both countries right now banned from entering. Just a sample:

I chose that picture not because it is exceptional, but rather the opposite. Most places have bilingual menus and signing. By the way, remember that here it is Fall. 

I was concerned when I realized I did not bring any viagra pills, considering the activity I am about to start today (Y is coming this early afternoon). So I stopped by a local pharmacy to check whether or not they would sell me sildenafil without a prescription. The regulation here is unclear, and some places will demand a recipe, some will not. I was lucky and hit bingo in my first try. 20 pillas of 50mg, $AR 3600. If I had paid with my CC, the bill would have been U$S 37. As I used cash, I actually paid 23 bucks.

My Grindr keeps driving me crazy, Scruff so far has been a disappointment. I am saving the most interesting hits after a quick chat to confirm we are a match, I will probably start meeting them this coming weekend. My favorite one:

 

[Latbear4blk]

Somehow, Buenos Aires is more beautiful than usual in the middle of the restrictions. I guess is just my nostalgia. Yesterday was a sunny beautiful Fall day, but today is raining and cloudy. I am still working for my school, so my freedom is limited for this and next week. However, yesterday I left Palermo to have lunch with my mother in my old neighborhood, the famous Recoleta.

90% of the people is using masks, even outdoors.

This is the block where I lived for more than 20 years, in Rodriguez Peña street.

Right in the corner, Rodríguez Peña & Guido, there is a travel agency where you can change your cash dollars safely and without a paper track. If you are staying nearby, that is the place I used 2 years ago. 

After I came back home I fucked my first Grindr hook up (I have a long cue), a cute 26 y.o. athletic guy who asked me to trim my pubic hair because it looked unseat. This was a first time. Additionally, he was not the only one who made that kind of comment amongst my hook apps candidates. Apparently they do not mind for a hairy body, but they want my pubic hair short. As a side note, I had not trimmed my pubis in a long time. Damn, I have a lot of grey hair below my cock.

Afterwards, and already in curfew time (my hook up left during curfew time and he did not care), I contacted my first escort. I am still stuck to my place and do not want to bring anyone I have not already met, so I went for Douglas, the Carioca I have already reviewed. His fee is only $AR 2,500 (26 bucks at official exchange, 16 at Blue's). I will see him tonight, hopefully. 

My friend Y also got my weed supply. I purchased 10 grams at $AR 6,000 and 10 at 8,000. Total of $AR 14,000 (U$S 143 off/91 Blue. I was not sure how much 20 grams was after so many years purchasing ounces in the USA, and pressed cheap Paraguayan when I was living here. Not only I bought too much. Besides, afterwards, an old friend who is getting married got as present premium weed (I do not know how much yet) and he is giving it to me). I will be living in a cloud of weed smoke starting tonight. These are the flowers I got from Y's providers:

I rode in a regular taxi cab yesterday. For a 20' ride, I paid $AR 400 (U$S 4 Off/ 2.60 Blue). 

And I have to get into a zoom. More info later.

[TotallyOz]

Beautiful street and photos (esp. the bud). The street you grew up on is very lovely!

[Lonnie]

What a great looking neighborhood. Seeing the fallen leaves makes me think of winter and shiver...what's the temperature? The weather in general?

[Latbear4blk]

5 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

Beautiful street and photos (esp. the bud). The street you grew up on is very lovely!

I lived there in the 80s and 90s. In those two decades, rather than "growing up" I was "parting Wilde".

 

[Latbear4blk]

3 hours ago, Lonnie said:

What a great looking neighborhood. Seeing the fallen leaves makes me think of winter and shiver...what's the temperature? The weather in general?

In Buenos Aires ( do not forget Argentina is a long country N to S, and BA is right in the middle) the temperature is 

(I am in Celsius with the rest of the civilized world)

The whole country is in the Fall.

[Axiom2020]

.. am.enjoying reading and viewing all of your previous posts and am glad that you're beginning to have a wonderful stay and are viewing it through a different lens.  Perhaps things look remarkably different because of the shut down and closure and the few individuals who are out and about.  ...same has happened to me while I've been in San Francisco, especially during the early pandemic days as well as in parts of the area on the coast where I live in Cali.

I have visited Buenos Aires 4 or 5 times during this century, and each time I've stayed in Recoleta, one of the upscale barrios in the city.  The apartments that I rented from a gay company were always timely furnished, quiet, and mighty welcoming.  My friend and I stayed in a penthouse apartment in one of the Palermos during our last visit.  It was elegant, and the price quite wonderful.

While I read what you wrote, I reminisced, smiled, and felt sad in thinking about the past vs now, and I identified with you when you wrote that you'd not seen your motherin two years.  ...the same here which I broke for five days last month.  I visited my mother and sister and brother and brother-in-law in Kansas City, MO to surprise and honor my mother on her 101st birthday.  She's alert and upbeat but is homebound because of her health.  i became emotional as I left for California.

Do enjoy yourself and post when you can.  I've always enjoyed viewing and reading and vicariously living through what you've written.

Gracias, Axiom

 

[msclelovr]

@Latbear4blk I wonder if the astonishing remarks by the Argentine President have been widely reported in Argentina? He referred to Brazilians as being “from the jungle”!

Alberto Fernández: Argentine president apologises for Brazil comments https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-57422758

[Latbear4blk]

3 hours ago, msclelovr said:

@Latbear4blk I wonder if the astonishing remarks by the Argentine President have been widely reported in Argentina? He referred to Brazilians as being “from the jungle”!

Alberto Fernández: Argentine president apologises for Brazil comments https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-57422758

Yes, it is a huge scandal and they do not know how to put out the fire. Personally, I am disappointed. I had always casted Fernandez on the other side of Argentine History.

[Latbear4blk]

The more I walk around Palermo, the more happy I am at my choice. After so many years in Recoleta, it is awesome to be back at home but, at the same time, to experience a different Buenos Aires. This is an area that had a lot of redevelopment after I left. There are many skyscrapers, crystal luxury department buildings next to family houses mostly from the 50s and 60s, although there are also older gems. It is not unusual to find buildings like this corner:

 

A traditional house built probably at the ending of the XIX, beginning of the XX century, refurnished and repainted to get a contemporaneous look. My favorite finding was an accident. My boy Y ran out of the anesthesic (dilocaína) lotion he needs for his ass to take my cock, so we had to look for a pharmacy. In our way to the one where I had bought Viagra a couple of days ago, we found this wonder:

I am not an architect, but that building is probably from the 1920s. And who knows when they cleaned those walls for the last time. The inside was just as old and outdated as the outside. A flashback in time that is not usual in this city anymore. The pharmacist is an old man, probably around 80, who needed a long time to move around and deliver an order. He probably is the son of the original pharmacist who opened the business. Surely, he is the last one to keep this pharmacy open. Soon they will be kicked out of the market by the modern uniformed pharmacy chains flourishing all over the city.

I guess you have heard about how good ice cream is in Argentina. I have never been in Italy, but I am told by Italians that it is almost as good as their famous gelato. I stopped by one of the best Gelato chains in the city, Volta. Take a look at those prices!

I bought 1 Kg of delicious creamy pleasure for only 12 bucks at official rate, 7.70 at blue. Perhaps is more expensive than USA ice cream, but you cannot compare. If you want a fair comparison, compare this ice cream to an orgasm. 

I keep checking out my favorite dishes out of my To Eat list. Last night, was the turn for milanesas argentinas auténticas.

Finally, to honor TGIF, I tried my first contract with a local escort, Ander. I was actually expecting to start next week, because Grindr has my dick smoking. It was an accident. I was checking profiles in Scruff, and saw this Colombian guy who I already had in my To Do List. I hit him as a regular hook up and he responded telling me he was an escort. I decided to keep playing the game "I did not know you". We quickly closed a deal for $AR 5,000 (51 bucks official/32 Blue). The guy was amazing. I offered him a photo session, and he told me he will think about it. I will wait for his response to write and publish a detailed review in the blog. Just as a spoiler, he was absolutely recommendable. Pleasing and at the same time demanding, passionate, voracious and uninhibited, indeed I will see him again with or without photo session. 

I was actually planning to hire first Douglas, to start with someone I already know. I even contacted him to check his fee. He charges only $AR 2,500 (U$S 26/16). However, after he told me his fee he vanished. 

I am still struggling with finding a productive routine. I still have to telework until the 18th, and the city closes down at 8pm because of the pandemic. The government just announced new protocols, less strict, and starting next week the city will close at 11pm. When I am traveling, I usually write in the mornings. This time I will probably do as I am doing right now. Once the city closes down, if I have energy, I will write. 

[Lonnie]

18 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

Pleasing and at the same time demanding, passionate, voracious and uninhibited

I'll have you know Latbear4blk...I'm not one bit jealous.

[Latbear4blk]

Many Argentines feel like everything good in their lives is owed to Peronism. From the times of Evita & Perón, when a day is sunny nd beautiful, it is a Peronist day. Well, this has been a Peronist weekend. Spring like temperatures and the announcements of downgrading restrictions in the city got Porteños in the street. I joined them, and yesterday met with a friend nearby my base. 

I walked from my Airbnb to Plaza Italia. In my way, I enjoyed once again my neighborhood.

This single block is representative of many others. In a few meters you can appreciate examples of buildings built along more than 100 years. And next to these typical landscape, you have a nuclear bomb that ruins everything.

I am sure the view from these towers is amazing, but they completely fucked up the skyline and the nearby family houses' privacy. I wonder how much money those developers paid in bribes to get approved a construction permit breaking the standards for the area.

In my way to Plaza Italia, I walked through another development from after my departure. They recycled the areas under and around train bridges. The one near my place is an open outlet shopping mall of local and International first brands. People were standing up in long lines waiting to enter the stores, as there is a limit set per squared meter.

As most shopping malls, this one is forgettable, but I thought you may be curious about American burgers prices. This is a Wendy's display. 319= U$S 3.28/2.05; 359 = U$S 3.69/2.31.  If you compare these junk food prices to what you have to pay for a prime steak (remember? I am paying 420), these are very expensive.

However, in Argentina, fast food crap like Wendy's, McD, and BK, are the choice for the middle class. Just another example of Argentinean middle class' "tilinguería" (a localism for "snobbism" carrying all the cultural nuances that its standard universal synonym lacks of), famous all over the subcontinent. 

I met my friend at the Ecopark. I absolutely loved walking those trails I had walked so many times as a child, when the Zoo was up and running. The buildings are from Buenos Aires' golden age, when Argentina was still dreaming of becoming an International power. They are just beautiful, with many statues, fountains, and just all kind od constructions with high artistic value. The designers of some landscapes show great sophistication, the apparent intention is to show nature taking over the old buildings, as in a post apocalyptic narrative. Additionally, all the vegetation is local species.

Most of the buildings that used to contain wild animals in captivity are now empty. Others have been refurnished. I still remember from 3 decades ago how this used to be a series of small cages with exotic tropical birds:

Most animals have been sent to reserves, but a few still remain as they are too old, or sick to be translated. I saw an old poor elephant alone and away from the open to public areas. Other animals will probably become permanent habitants of a quite open space, in the middle of Buenos Aires.

After te Ecopark, we walked towards Recoleta. This is all the fancier are of Palermo. We walked through the zone we mentioned before, Palermo Chico, where many local Plutocrats and diplomatics live.

Right there, we have the embassy of a favorite American country.

I ended the day exhausted after walking about 7 km, and went back home with the intention to write this report. But Grindr came in the middle of my task, and instead I ended inviting a local who made a party with my dick. I need to close Grindr or I will never hire again. To celebrate a good fuck, I ordered authentic Argentina empanadas.

Another item checked out of my To Eat List.

Today Sunday it was family time. First, I had to stop by the pharmacy to get more anti acids and more lube. Then, my mami was waiting for me with mbaipu. 

Originally the dish is from Paraguay, but we do the version popular in Corrientes. Another check out of my To Eat List. 

After spending some hours with family I took advantage of being back to Recoleta, and ran up to the artisans fair to buy a water pipe.

And now I am here trying to make a decision. Grindr? A contract? Resting? 

 

 

 

[TotallyOz]

Great photos. Thank you for sharing. And, the empanadas look fabulous!

[Latbear4blk]

Soon we will have detailed reports on escorts. So far, I can emphatically recommend two guys I have tried in this trip:

      Ander

 

Tomy