Participants: Lori, Fran, Juli, Caro, Martin
Yoga Retreat Day 1
Today was Saturday. The first day of my third Buenos Aires Yoga Retreat. I had one participant joining from California, two from Cordoba (Argentina) and two from Buenos Aires. I went to the airport with my trusted driver Roberto to pick up Lori who was flying in from San Francisco. Thankfully the flight arrived on time and we were able to return to the city center by 10:00 am. After checking Lori into her hotel in Palermo, we got breakfast at Full City Coffee, one of the first coffee shops in Buenos Aires serving delicious Colombian coffee, prepared by Colombians.
I then dropped Lori off for her first of two spa treatments. As luck would have it my friend José was free for coffee, so while Lori was getting over jet lag, I had a nice catch up with Jose over some Turkish coffee at Sama, a café run by Syrian immigrants.
After that I picked up Lori, who was refreshed after her massage and we got coffee at Moshu Tree House, another of my many favorite cafes.
Next stop was Teatro Colón for a Mozart Gala concert. We got standing tickets on the fifth floor (Tertulia de Pie). We had a nice view and the acoustics were great. The singers were very animated and the songs were in Italian. Teatro Colón is a beautiful theater and one of the jewels of Buenos Aires – a must see. We would be returning on Thursday for a guided tour of the theater.
After the show we walked over to Playa de Mayo and Avenida de Mayo. We stood in line for 30 minutes to get into Café Tortoni. Lori had her first of many Alfajores and I stuck to the tried and tested “merienda” item – medialunas. Lori had a “Submarino” – literally a mini chocolate submarine that melts in hot milk (hot chocolate). Yum!
After Café Tortoni we took a taxi to one of my favorite “secret” spots for dinner – Basque French Restaurant (part of the Centro Cultural Vasco Francés). The mussels and calamari were great. But the steak was overcooked. Lesson learned – stick to seafood here.
Yoga Retreat Day 2
Today we would be spending most of the day in the center of the city and the highlight of the day would be the Fair of San Telmo, which is held only on Sundays. Defensa Avenue in San Telmo is lined with stalls – and it’s a great place to buy souvenirs and other household items as well. There are also street performers such as tango dancers and other artists selling their art.
There’s a good mix of foreigners and locals who visit this market and there and you can always hear some Portuguese – Buenos Aires receives a lot of Brazilian tourists. And because of inflation the peso is very favorable for people coming from abroad.
In the middle of Defensa lies “El Mercado de San Telmo” a huge market occupying a whole city block with dozens of antique shops, food stalls and more. First stop was El Hornero inside the market – to try some of the best empanadas in Buenos Aires. We tried the regular beef empanadas and the Empanadas Salteñas (recipe from Salta) and the Salta style empanadas were way tastier – it might have to do with the fact that they were deep fried!
After checking out the Market we continued along Defensa for the rest of the street fair and got to Plaza Dorrego where they have antique stalls. After a brief walk around there we walked a few minutes to Chin Bar (formerly Chin Chin) on Bolivar Avenue. It was as loud as ever and people there were as friendly as always – especially the bartender, my friend, the one and only Samurai.
Yoga Retreat Day 3
After having given our international attendees the weekend to recover from jet lag and a taste of Buenos Aires, it was down to business! The business of yoga!
We had our first yoga classes of many in the evening. Lori, Fran, Juli and Caro were in attendance and we had a nice class to officially kick off the yoga part of the yoga retreat.
Early on this third day of the retreat we toured Plaza de Mayo, the Cathedral of Buenos Aires and La Boca. My friend and tour guide Raúl did a fantastic job and gave a great tour!
In front of La Casa Rosada and Inside the Cathedral of Buenos Aires
La Boca
Yoga Retreat Day 4
Today after morning yoga we went to lunch at Cantina Palermo, part of Club Atlético Palermo. The attendees tried Milanesa for the first time and it was a hit!
In the evening we had a tango lesson, followed by a tango show.
We got to see some of the best tango dancers in the World perform at La Paz Arriba, a well known cultural center. Buenos Aires is full of culture and cultural centers abound in this huge metropolis.
Yoga Retreat Day 5
Today after morning yoga class the main highlight was a tour of Recoleta Cemetery, one of the most opulent cemeteries in the World. Can you spot Evita’s tomb?
And after the tour of the cemetery we visited the Recoleta Cultural Center as well as the Oak Bar inside Palacio Duhau (Park Hyatt) – one of my favorite bars in Buenos Aires.
Yoga Retreat Day 6
After morning yoga today we went on a tour of Teatro Colón, having seen a show the weekend before. This time we got to see more of the interior as well as some of the lower more expensive floors. It was quite a sight!
Today was also the day we would be immersing ourselves in the most typical Argentine cuisine – the Asado. Meat is an integral part of the culture here in Argentina and Argentines pride themselves on having some of the best meat in the world- specifically beef.
Today we would be trying Bife Chorizo. The equivalent in English would be New York Strip Steak. The Asado dinner was at Las Cabras in Palermos, one of my staples and it did not disappoint! Early in the morning we also had a Mate preparation session. Drinking Mate is a ritual that Argentines take very seriously and it is a whole process – starting with who prepares the Mate and how it is served.
The evening would not be complete without a visit to Alchemy an ice cream shop that has the Periodic Table of Ice Cream!
Yoga Retreat Day 7
After a morning yoga session we got brunch at my favorite brunch spot in Buenos Aires – Malvón, a cute café in Villa Crespo. We caught up with my friend Flor there. We walked a few stores down after brunch to check out Área Fútbol an amazing shop for soccer items run by my good friend Elian.
And in the evening it was time to try some authentic Armenian food at the iconic Sarkis. My friend Gaby joined us for this event.
Yoga Retreat Day 8
Sadly this would be the last day of the retreat. After our last yoga class we had more tour left – it was a street art tour run by my friend Matt at Buenos Aires Street Art – an organization that helps and supports artists by working with the local communities to provide space for street art. It was cool to see Matt in action in his local neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires. We actually toured three neighborhoods – Coghlan, Villa Urquiza and Savedra. I highly recommend his tours and he also has tours in other parts of the city such as Palermo and Colegiales.
The highlight of the tour was meeting Lucas Stoessel a local artist who has a collection of artifacts from the 70s and 80s on the outside of his studio – things ranging from rotary telephones to cassette players to palm pilots and more. Lucas gifted me a giant floppy disk! It was probably older than the floppy disk I saved my master’s thesis on. Shhhh. I’m not telling which year 🙂
That’s a wrap folks! I hope you enjoyed the Yoga Retreat Buenos Aires 2025 recap and hope to see you on a future retreat.
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