It's Bargaintina!

WITH an exchange rate to write home about, the vivacious city of Buenos Aires is perfect for travellers chasing bargain-filled markets and a tango lesson or two.

Bright ... The pink-coloured Government House in central Buenos Aires featured in the 1996 biographical movie Evita when Madonna appeared on one of its balconies. Picture: James Shrimpton

IT was a sunny and warm day in Buenos Aires, so our party of four, two from Australia and two from America, decided on lunch al fresco.

We chose a modest restaurant on the fringe of the San Telmo shopping area and ordered steak and trimmings plus a bottle of respectable local red; service was friendly and fast.

The bill: the equivalent of just $A24 for four.

The exchange rate for the Argentina peso these days is about 42 Australian cents – a lot different from our last visit when it was on a par with the US greenback.

You could call it Bargaintina – there are bargains galore for the chief tourist activities of eating, drinking, shopping and sightseeing.

Right now, as in Australia, the jacarandas are in full bloom all over Buenos Aires – the lilac blue-blossomed trees originated in South America.

So how did we spend our three days in BA?

Our group plundered the markets and stores on the cobblestoned streets of San Telmo, where one particularly good buy was a beautifully soft alpaca jumper costing a little over $A50.

Apart from a wide range of items on the market stalls – leather belts were a particularly popular buy – San Telmo is home to many antique stores.

(Shop opening hours in the city are normally from 10am to 7pm seven days a week.)

The famous Feria de Antiguedades de San Telmo (Antique Fair) takes place on Sundays from 10am to 5pm at Plaza Dorrego, offering a variety of handmade arts and crafts as well as antiques.

Stores offering leather clothing, bags and other souvenirs are located around the Plaza San Martin while in Villa Crespo, near Palermo, are many warehouses that sell attractively priced jackets and other leather garments.

Clothes and accessories can be found all over the city with a wide variety of styles and prices; try out Avenida Santa Fe and Cabildo Avenue in Belgrano.

BA has plenty to occupy the serious sightseer, notably around the main central square, the Plaza de Mayo.

There stands the Metropolitan Cathedral, dating back to 1745, site of the mausoleum for Jose de San Martin (1778-1850), an Argentine national hero – he was a prime leader of southern South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.

Watching over the mausoleum are two armed guards in red and black uniforms.

Also on the plaza are the Town Hall and pink-coloured Government House, where one balcony was used by the singer-actress Madonna in the 1996 biographical movie Evita (second wife of the late President Juan Peron.)

Why pink? One theory is that at the end of the 19th century, the colours of the two main political parties were red and white, so the then president combined them for a neutral pink.

The plaza is also the scene of regular protests by an organisation of bereaved mothers demanding to know what happened to loved ones who vanished during the "Dirty War" of 1976-1983, when the military rulers battled against subversives.

Evita Peron, who died in 1952, is buried in one of the crypts of the Cementerio de la Recoleta, which itself is rated one of BA's premier tourist attractions.

It's a veritable village of crypts, graves and sculptures, founded in 1822 and covering six hectares.

The Recoleta district also houses some of the city's most fashionable restaurants.

Luna Park is a venue for concerts (Frank Sinatra once sang here) and is where Madonna held her wedding reception and where Juan Peron reputedly first met Eva.

Argentina is the home of the tango, and a must for tourists is a visit to a nightspot where graceful dancers give expert demonstrations.

The tango actually began among BA's poor with men dancing with each other, then with prostitutes; later the dance was taken to Europe where it achieved respectability – and was welcomed back in Argentine.

Most visitors also take a guided tour of Buenos Aires' world-famous opera house, the 3,500 seat Teatro Colon, which has seen performances by Toscanini, Stravinsky, Enrico Caruso and Maria Callas.

Most colourful area in BA is La Boca (the Mouth), with its houses brightly painted in pastels and a street named Caminito, which has a painters' fair, open-air tango shows and popular cantinas.

Sports fans may also like to take a look at the vast stadium which is home to La Boca Juniors, one of soccer-mad Argentina's greatest clubs.