Finally Moved to Belgrano

Over the weekend my family finally moved to the Barrio of Belgrano. We've been wanting to for some time so our daughter could be closer to school. Plus, we just love the neighborhood.

Friends and family have been screaming for pics of the place. So here it is. As you can see above, we went a little over our normal budget for this place. It was well worth it.

We splurged because we finally decided NOT to buy and are going with the the temporary rental apartments for the mean time. It was a tough decision. But with the increasing inflation here (the real number approaching 30% annually), the cloudy outlook for the economy and the bubble like atmosphere in the BsAS real estate market, it was hard to justify that kind of investment.

The other factor was my daughter. The honeymoon has worn off and she is having a tough go of things. Most likely, she'll get through it. Most parents that have similar age girls have said it gets rough but most snap out of it and relish their expat lifestyle.

To help my daughter, we've agreed to only be abroad for a year. With that short a timeframe, it is kind of hard to justify buying an apartment here. Sure, we had always planned to rent it out. But the shorter timeframe with the economic situation here, we just had to say no.

Besides, we were spending too much time looking for housing and not enough time enjoying this wonderful city.

After two months, we are finally set for the real fun to begin. Now we even have the flexibility to pickup at the drop of the hat and see the rest of the country. Say move to Mendoza or Bariloche. Even hike Patagonia for month or two.

BTW, here are a few more shots of our new digs...

Belgrano and Palermo Parks

Took a walk with fellow expat Tom on Friday. It was a long route with plenty of photo ops. Here are just a few of the Pics.


We started near River Plate's Stadium (Ground zero for some fútbol fans here). We then went along the river and crossed along the Jorge Newberry Airport and into the Belgrano Parks. We saw quite a bit of Wildlife.



Some younger than others...





Then we finished up in the Palermo Parks near Plaza Italia.

More From Belgrano

We love Belgrano. These apartments overlook the park and the train station. We were in the red one today. The view was incredible. You can see the river and across to Uruguay.



Most streets are lined with trees and are very peaceful.



A paseo in an old building in Chinatown.

Falling in Love with Belgrano

My wife and I have decided we want to move to Belgrano. With the speculation and resulting run up in apartment prices, we think we are going to forgo buying for now. Especially considering our place in Texas has not sold yet.

Instead, we are are going to rent our house in Texas and turn around and put the money down on rent in this beautiful tree lined barrio on Buenos Aires northern end.

Here are a few pics from there that I took this week.





Belgrano's main advantage is it is much closer to our kids' school yet still in the city. From Belgrano it is easy to catch the subway, train, or taxi to any attraction in the city. For our kids, it should cut back on her morning commute to school. We can even take a cheap cab to get her to school. The hired remis (car service) was $30 pesos (US$10) each way.

Belgrano is totally different than the rest of the city. Many areas feature houses with Anglo-Saxon designs mixed with modern high rise apartment buildings. The apartment buildings are spread apart and are not side-by-side, offering a lot of light from all four sides.

The streets are picturesque tree-lined avenues that are very tranquil. Quite the opposite of where we live know.

Belgrano even contains the city's Chinatown. The chinese food here is good and has the spice we crave. And Las Cañitas is in walking distance. It is an area of town with over 100 restaurants. What more could we ask for!

Hope to share more pics soon. In the mean time, check out some more Belgrano pics from Buenos Aires Dialy: here, here and here.