Buenos Días from Buenos Aires: Weekends in Argentina

Bienvenidos! Thanks for checking out my column this week. I’ve been in Buenos Aires for more than two months now, and I’m happy I still have at least two more months left. I recently made a bucket list of activities to do and places to go before I leave Argentina, and I am eager to cross each one off the list. Weekends are always jam-packed with different museums, churches and festivals. And night-life options are endless. Concerts, dance nights, pub crawls, secret bars—the options available on a Friday night are overwhelming. It’s a sharp contrast to Athens in which you tend to go to the same places on the weekend and your night always ends at O’Betty’s or Big Mamma’s. Although I love Athens and find myself craving a Mata Hari from O’Betty’s, I appreciate the wide range of activities a large city has available.

Lately, my friends and I have been going to some fascinating bars, such as ones that require a password to enter. We decided to go to a famous speakeasy, a prohibition-themed bar, called Frank’s. Every night the bar posts clues about what the password is for the day on their different social media accounts. We found two clues from Twitter and Facebook. The first was a hint saying that the password is a person who used to be an ambassador for Ghana, and the second was a picture. We found out Shirley Temple was the password, and we knocked on a large, black door and told the bouncer the password.

After we got in through the first doors, a woman waited by a red phone booth and told us we had to punch in a code in order to enter. She gave us a four-digit code, and after I picked up the phone and punched in the code, one wall of the phone booth opened to reveal a dark hallway which led to a classy-looking bar with decor from the ’20s. The drinks were very expensive, about $12 for a cocktail, so many of us didn’t buy a drink. But we had a good time anyway.

Frank’s was not the first secret bar I had been to. One bar called Puerto Uno Bar was hidden from the street without a sign. It was just a black door that we knocked on and someone opened a little slit in the door. The bar was beautiful with many sparkling lights and a tree. There was literally a tree in this bar. They played Latin music, and we had a fun time listening to music and taking in the atmosphere.

Buenos Aires definitely has some awesome bars worth hanging out at with your friends. I’ve been to Skybar, a bar that overlooks the city from the top of a hotel. Another bar called El Bandarín is an old bar founded in 1929, and the owner’s grandfather used to own it. It’s definitely a locals’ bar, and its decor consists of flags of different sports teams. I went in the afternoon and had a sandwich, and I got to talk with the owner of the establishment. It was interesting learning about the history of the bar and the neighborhood.

I love being in a city with so much to offer. With its history, architecture, food, people and nightlife, Argentina never bores me. I look back and see all I’ve done so far in the country, and I get excited to know there is still so much more to do. And I am relieved to know I still have time to check off everything from my bucket list. 

Jessica Hill is a sophomore studying journalism and global studies. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Have you experienced Argentina's nightlife? Contact Jessica at jh240314@ohio.edu or tweet her @jess_hillyeah.