Buenos Aires: Microcentro

The business and banking center of the city, with a bustling downtown atmosphere. Because it's also the national nexus for demonstrators from around the country, protests are common.

SEE

Centro Cultural Borges
Calle Viamonte and Calle San Martin, 011-54-11/5555-5359, ccborges.org.ar
Art exhibitions, independent films, and musical shows featuring everything from rock to flamenco fill the calendar at this eight-year-old center. It's located in the same 1896 building as the Galerías Pacífico, an upscale mall. (See listing below.) Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun. 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Entrance to exhibits $1.

SEE

Manzana de las Luces (Block of Enlightenment)
Calle Perú 272, 011-54-11/4342-6973, manzanadelasluces.gov.ar
A block of buildings that form what was historically the intellectual center of Buenos Aires. A network of tunnels connects different sites, including the Jesuit Iglesia de San Ignacio (built in 1675), an elite high school, and a reconstruction of the original Sala de Representantes, Argentina's first legislature.

EAT

Café Tortoni
Avenida de Mayo 829, 011-54-11/4342-4328, cafetortoni.com.ar
A porteño institution. If you can ignore the outlandish prices and throngs of tourists, you can almost imagine yourself sipping coffee with literati at the dawn of the 1900s. Founded in 1858, it's Parisian to the core with marble tabletops, wood paneling, pillars, and brusque male waiters. A visit is well worth the price of a café con leche, $1.50.

EAT

El Claustro
Calle San Martin 705, 011-54-11/4312-0235, santacatalina.org.ar/Restaurant.htm
The menu features enormous, ridiculously cheap portions of basic porteño fare such as grilled meat and chicken. Ask for the traditional chimichurri sauce-made from olive oil, garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, and chili-to accompany your meats. The real draw here is the outdoor seating, on the patio of the Santa Catalina Convent (built in 1745), with its white colonial arches and lush palm trees. Service can be slow. Open for lunch only.

EAT

Sabot
Calle 25 de Mayo 756, 011-54-11/4313-6587
Excellent well-priced porteño food in an upscale B.A. dining hall with austere dark wood-paneled walls and white tablecloths. Its specialty is the tender cabrito al horno (roast baby goat). It's popular with the business crowd, so make a reservavation. Closed Sat. and Sun.

EAT