A walk down Billinghurst enables you to see the diversity of neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. The northern terminus of Billinghurst at Av del Libertador in Palermo are three grand mansions that are now the Spanish embassy and the ambassador residences of Saudi Arabia and Italy.



Billinghurst crosses into the edge of Recoleta and is lined with mostly unremarkable, contemporary apartment buildings whose only outstanding attribute is their location on the edge of Recoleta and Palermo.

At Av Cordoba the street changes significantly, becoming wider, and the quality of buildings is decidedly not as pretentious. You have entered Almagro. There’s a particularly intriguing structure at the juncture of San Luis, Billinghurst, and Tucuman. Looks like the architect had fun with this one.


Traveling further into Almagro and you’ll just a few blocks behind Abasto and in an old Jewish neighborhood. On one corner is a kosher butcher.



Does anyone know what the word Ufarasta means? I’m assuming it’s Hebrew.



Back to the walk: cross the train tracks, then cross Av Rivadavia where Billinghurst changes names to Virrey Liniers. This large house at the corner of Venezuela (Virrey Liniers 541) is undergoing a careful renovation. It’s quite a massive place. The renovation work continued along the side of the house, too.



I’m a little worried about this place (below) at Mexico 3401, a large corner lot all boarded up….looks like a spot ready for demolition.



Remember the embassy and ambassador residences at the other end of the street, some 37 blocks to the north? Here’s the contrast at the edge of Boedo.



This house isn’t empty. People live there and a family of four, plus dog, live under the highway overpass just beyond this house.

But this isn’t reflective of Boedo, which is a pleasant area, but I’m sure there are not any ambassador residences in Boedo.