The weather is fine when we leave Santiago, but the pilot warns that it is going to be a bumpy ride when we land in Buenos Aires. And it is. But we arrive ahead of schedule; presumably there is some slack in a flight time which can be cashed in when the pilot is heading into bad weather. In the terminal, we are fortunate that most of the arriving passengers are from South American countries and have to queue in the Mercosur line while we join the much shorter queue for locals and others. But customs is slow. Every bag is x-rayed and most are searched. On the customs declaration form you are supposed to detail every item purchased abroad and even specify the make and model of your own personal mobile phone. Presumably all the others you are carrying will be confiscated as contraband. It is apparent that, given Argentina’s economic situation, smuggling from neighbouring countries is common. But nobody is interested in our luggage or our declaration form and there hadn’t been the same procedure when we arrived in Buenos Aires from the Middle East a week earlier.

The taxi whisks us in to town. We are staying at the Lola House Boutique Hotel (*) on Avenida Castro Barros in the barrio of Boedo. It is a rainy night and we are off the tourist grid here. A street walker approaches the car at the lights. At the hotel, the driver waits until we are safely inside. But things quickly pick up. After unpacking, a quick dash across the street to the grocery store opposite secures a bottle of wine and some snacks. The shutters are coming down but Arturo, the hotel’s overnight desk, holas across the road and they wait for me. Arturo supplies the glasses and a corkscrew and we find a channel on the television showing a couple of episodes of a US medical drama. The story is about the aftermath of a plane crash.

This is our second stay in Buenos Aires. We had three nights here on the way out to Santiago and we have another three nights on the way back. On the way out we stayed in San Telmo, one of the oldest barrios in the city, at the Hotel Babel (*) on Calle Balcarce. It is an old house directly fronting the street with an enclosed courtyard at the back. The rooms in that part of the building have no windows but open directly onto the courtyard. On that occasion we arrived on a fine night, but having travelled for close to 30 hours, most of them in the air.

So in total we had 5 days in Buenos Aires. The Fodor guidebook suggests a 5 day itinerary which it turns out intersects with ours fairly frequently, so here, in the manner of the guidebooks, is our tour.

Day 1: in the morning sightseeing around the Plaza de Mayo which is the ceremonial centre of Buenos Aires. The Casa Rosado is on the east side of the square and the Metropolitan Cathedral on the north side. Orientation in Buenos Aires is made more awkward because the street maps are usually organised with west at the top and east at the bottom. It makes sense of the city layout but is confusing on the ground until you work out the streets that run horizontally on the map are the north to south axes on the ground. Then walk down the Avenida de Mayo past the Cafe Tortoni and the tango academy next door, and then down the Avenida 9 de Julio to the Plaza de la Republica. Stop for coffee at one of the corner cafes.

In the afternoon stroll around San Telmo. There are many interesting building, including the old covered marketplace. The main square is Plaza Dorrego which is the second oldest square after Plaza de Mayo in the city. If you are lucky, there will be a couple dancing in the square. There are many antique and bric-a-brac stores and a specialist market on Sunday. For supper in the evening find a family run Parilla like Don Ernesto on Calle Carvalo Carlos for New York steaks. The waitress may be making her debut but she will be charming and the experienced staff will hover around to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Day 2: Take the city’s metro the Subte, the Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, to Plaza San Martin. It is a pleasant city park. There is a statue of General San Martin, a hero of the Wars of Independence in 1810, and some old and substantial trees, including an ancient ombú tree propped up on posts. On the other side of the park is the Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas in memory of the Argentinean soldiers who died in the conflict over the islands. Across the road facing the monument is the Torre Monumental, formerly the Torre de los Ingleses, a gift from the British community of Buenos Aires to celebrate the completion of the building of Retiro railway station. The site is boarded up unfortunately.

Stroll back down Calle Florida to the Plaza de Mayo. It is one of the main shopping streets, though in truth somewhat unremarkable. However, should your old walking boots fall apart while you are visiting there are many shoe shops from which to buy replacements. From Plaza de Mayo, walk down past the old dockyards to the Reserva Ecológica Costenera Sur, a nature reserve which was created by building dykes to enclose basins which could then be pumped out and allowed to silt up. At lunchtime there will be many office workers out jogging and along the original promenade there are numerous grills serving lunch.

In the evening, book places for dinner at the tango show at El Viejo Almacen on Calle Balcarce. It is a little expensive, although the price does include transport to and from your hotel and sparkling wine with the show. Although the dinner will not match the supper at the Parilla last night, the show is worthwhile. There is a five piece band: piano, bass, violin and two accordions; eight tango dancers; a group of 5 folkloric performers, and 2 singers. The show lasted about two hours and avoids being kitsch in the way shows for tourists often are.

Day 3: In the morning, explore the area along the Avenida Boeda. Boedo is a working class district of Buenos Aires and most of the cafes and restaurants are on or just off the avenue. In recent years there has been something of a revival of the restaurants and theatres. Although several kilometres west from San Telmo, the streets running east to west have the same names, a function of the grid layout.

In the afternoon, take the Subte lines E and D across town to the Palermo district, a somewhat more upmarket district. By the Plaza Italia station are the botanical gardens. This is a fine collection of trees, though the flower beds are largely uncultivated and the greenhouses somewhat run down. Supper tonight is in a traditional bistro on Avenida Boedo. They may seem to be caught unawares by early diners but will recover.

Day 4: Take the Subte line B to the terminal at Avenida L.N. Alem, from where it is a short walk to the reclaimed docklands at Puerto Madero. Construction of the port was completed in 1897, but it became obsolete with the construction of the new port in 1926. The area remained somewhat derelict until the 1990s when it was redeveloped. Today, the long brick warehouses are taken up by restaurants and cafes. The four old dock basins, the Diques, are used by the yacht club. Between the docks and the ecological park there is a run of glass and concrete high-rises. There are a couple of old ships moored in the Diques which can be visited, the Corvette ‘Uruguay’ and the Frigate ‘Presidente Sarmiento’. Bridging the docks nearby is the Puente de le Mujer, the Women’s Bridge, designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava, and intended as a landmark. Lunch today is at the Puerto Cristal restaurant on the dockside(*).

In the afternoon, visit MALBA (*), the Museum of Latin American Art on Avenida Pte Figueroa Alcorta, which houses a collection of 20th century art. The artists’ names are unfamiliar but there are many visually striking pieces. No need for supper tonight, but maybe pick up a bottle of wine and some snacks for the evening.

Day 5: For the last day, take the train from Retiro station for an excursion out to the Parana delta at Tigre. On the way to Retiro, take the opportunity to ride the A line of the Subte. This was the original line which opened in 1913 and some of the original timber rolling stock is still running. The interiors are well preserved but the exteriors suffer from graffiti, which is a serious blight everywhere in Buenos Aires.

Retiro was opened in 1915 and is a fine building. There are a number of people sleeping rough, reflecting economic difficulties. The suburban train is slow and stops frequently, but the view of suburban Buenos Aires is interesting. Tigre is a weekend getaway type of place. At the Estacion Fluvial, book an excursion around the waterways with a company such as Sturla. If time allows it is possible to take a boat ride through the waterways and then out into the Rio de la Plata and back to Buenos Aires. Otherwise take a shorter excursion around the Parana delta, admiring the waterfront villas. The launch will probably by modern and air-conditioned although there are still some of the old timber launches with small copper funnels moored by the jetty. The commentary will be entirely in Spanish but will probably be good and will be well received by the locals. Lunch at one of the cafes by the river before catching the slow train back to Buenos Aires.

In the evening freshen up at the hotel before calling a taxi to take you to the airport for departure. At the airport become somewhat frustrated that, having finally located the bureau de change, you find it is not possible to buy dollars, or indeed any other currency, with your remaining Argentinean pesos. Understand from the teller that this is in fact all the fault of ‘Christina’, Argentinean president Christina Kirchner. Become even more frustrated when you realise that the remaining pesos cannot be spent on spirits in the duty free shop because the route home includes a stay in Qatar, which doesn’t allow the importation of alcohol. Settle for chocolates and fragrances.