A longer trip to the Patagonia region of southern Chile and Argentina brought us back to Buenos Aires, a city we first visited and enjoyed in November 2008. We started producing this blog during that trip. The years have flown by to be sure.

BA in our experience is the most European-like city in South America, and the one we would recommend to our U.S. friends as an introduction to this geographically diverse continent. We believe you won’t be disappointed.

Many Argentinians trace their lineage to Europe, first to Spain, of course, as that nation settled and conquered most of the continent save for Brazil during the 16th Century Age of Exploration. In more recent times there was a a large wave of emigration from Italy at the beginning of the 20th century and again after the end of WWII.

Other nationalities are represented but the Italian influence here is clear, from the pizza parlors and trattorias that can be found throughout the city to Italian words like “ciao” and “buon día” that are part of the local vernacular. The pizza, we can attest, is quite good. Ice cream that is similar to gelato is also revered here.

This was a quick trip to the city. We basically had a nice outdoor evening meal — Italian of course — after flying from Santiago. The next day we did a half-day city tour as part of our group tour. We had covered much of the same territory 18 years ago, though on this trip we took time on this visit to see the downtown cathedral where the late Pope Francis served as archbishop prior to his election to the papacy. We didn’t go in during our first trip, and Francis never returned to Argentina as pope

We watched the changing of the guard that is posted at the tomb of General Jose Francisco de San Martin, the liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spanish rule. The event was supposed to start at 9 a.m., but as our local guide joked not even the Army is on time. It was closer to 9:15.

We also went to La Boca, the colorful working class neighborhood that is also home to a popular Argentine football (i.e. soccer) club. First time visitors probably should go once but it is a tourist trap. Had we been able to deftly opt out of that part of the trip we would have skipped a return. Very touristy and crowded. Two cruise ships were in town so the area was especially teeming. If you go, stick to the small area of colorful buildings. Outside of that area it gets dodgy, and only go to La Boca during the day. It’s strictly for locals after about 5 p.m., when even the police clear out.

Finally a word about safety. As far as violent crime goes we have found BA to be a safe city. We didn’t ever feel threatened during our first trip, when we stayed in the Palermo neighborhood. Palermo was more of a neighborhood in transition in 2008, but now we understand it to be quite trendy, similar to the gentrified parts of Brooklyn. We thought about trying to revisit old haunts but we didn’t really have the time.

This trip we stayed in Recoleta, essentially BA’s answer to NYC’s upper east side. Very safe. The big thing one needs to be aware of in BA is pickpockets in heavily touristed areas. But the same is true in popular European cities like Rome, Paris and Barcelona. In short, normal tourist precautions apply.

We enjoyed our week or so in warm weather before we head for the cooler and windier conditions of Patagonia.