A stroll down the Rosedal in the Bosques de Palermo on a Sunday afternoon will almost certainly include an encounter with a group of freestyle slalom skaters practising their latest moves. Ultra-cool and strangely mesmerising, the slalom skater is hard to miss. With a row of miniature cones lined up on the pavement, he dances his way around them, snaking in and out with incredible ease and true skill.

In a tiny barber shop in Villa Crespo exists the domain of one particularly unique, larger than life hairdresser, philosopher and matchmaker extraordinaire. Meet Julio Pan, hairdresser to the footballers. The front of Julio’s eponymous emporium is plastered with signed photos of footballers whose hair he has carefully coiffed.

Following in the footsteps of Paris, Rome, Tokyo and Berlin, for the second year running, the Buenos Aires government has brought the beach to the city. From 8th January until 28th February, the banks of the Río de la Plata play host to the ‘Buenos Aires Playa’, an oasis for porteños and visitors alike who have not fled the sweltering metropolis of BA in search of respite on the Uruguayan and Brazilian shores.

Most of them share the same destiny. Abandoned by their former loved ones, left to the cruel world out there. Living in the streets of Buenos Aires can be dangerous but during the 111-year long existence of the city’s botanical garden, an independent homeless community has formed. Many people have tried to remove them from their new abode. They failed. Nowadays they are an accepted part of the park.

We watch a boat lazily meander through the delta. From above the islands look so small, such little pockets of green between the criss-crossing stretches of water. Further out, over the river, there are bizarre formations – islets that are perfectly rounded. We circle them for a closer look.

Maybe it’s the result of too many field trips in primary school, but for whatever reason I have an extreme aversion to group tours. Shuffling around a busy city in a crowd of strangers while straining to hear a guide speak is just not for me.

Argentina – a country where football is played 365 days a year. There is no ’season’. So when football fans are not screaming their lungs out in a stadium, where do they go to experience the beloved pastime themselves? According to many foreigners Goles Y Gambetas on Soler 3231 is a popular destination to get into the spirit of Maradona and test out your football skills amongst friends.

For those who have a little Spanish language knowledge Manzana de Las Luces is certainly an intriguing tour destination, conjuring up images of particularly shiny apples… I was assured, however, that a visit to this square in between Perú and Bolívar 200 is worthwhile to broaden your knowledge of Buenos Aires’ history and to explore the city’s legendary hidden passages.

A few years ago, the idea of working from anywhere just by connecting to the internet would have seemed ludicrous. But with advancements in technology, it’s not unusual now to see young professionals who need nothing more than a laptop and the internet to earn a living.

To be honest, the thought of a tourist bus has never sent shivers of excitement down my spine. Three hours on a bus packed with camera-happy people while wearing enormous headsets and listening to someone tell me about monuments that I was going to forget the name of five minutes later was not really my idea of a good time.