The Times, They Are A-Changin…
Paseo Recoleta, where the Recoleta street fair is located.
For most of us North Americans, early May brings warm weather, sunshine and lots of beautiful, blooming flowers. It is extremely counterintuitive, then, when early May rolls around in South America, and you are bombarded with fallen leaves, gusts of wind and cloudy, rainy days. In light of the change of weather, we’ve altered our schedule somewhat to be as prepared as possible for the cold. Here’s what to expect:
The daytime is usually still pretty nice (high 60s to 70s), so if you want to be outdoors, do it then! We usually eat a late lunch at an outdoor café, and then stroll around the shops and boutiques for a while to soak up whatever sun is left. Many neighborhoods in the city have street fairs on the weekends, so we love to stock up on our souvenirs there, too. We’ve also realized that this is the perfect weather to go for nice, long walks and discover new parts of town. The warm sun feels good, and you don’t get too sweaty thanks to that constant fall breeze.
The chillier weather makes going out at night a tad more difficult, since – let’s face it – we all love to wear our cute miniskirts and tanks when we go out. We’ve realized such outfits are still ideal (and even necessary!) on nights we go to clubs, since you dance so hard you’re bound to get super-sweaty anyway. The secret, on these nights, is to bring a light sweatshirt you can wear to and from the club, and find a place to hang it once you arrive. For example, tying the sweatshirt securely around a nearby banister surely does the trick. On the other hand, bar nights nowadays do require more clothing – but pants paired with a flowy top definitely get the job done.
Our next goal is to take a tourist-y bike ride around the city, because what better time is there than now? It might be a little breezy, but hey, that’s way better than having sticky helmet hair.