[Note: There are A LOT of photos which I appreciate, some have stories behind them, while others are just to give context]
Buenos Aires (BA but some call it BS AS)
Capital of Argentina and home to 3 million inhabitants. Nestling on the eastern coast, it is not per se by the coast but apparetly next to the biggest delta in the world. At the moment (February), this is the hot part of the year and temperatures climb into the 20-25 degrees C, rain though can be ferrous but cools the air although not to the extent that it feels cold by Northern US or European standards.
To get here we took the bus, as usual organised last minute and during carnival season ie most of the shops were closed. Rodolfo advised that we could buy tickets for 600 pesos ($67/£45), unfortunately this travel agency wasn’t open until next Wednesday (it was currently Friday). So we went to the main bus terminal and got a ticket for 1100 pesos ($123/£82) (semi cama). The buses are positively luxurious after Bolivia and the roads have tarmac. I’m sure we were told the journey was 18hrs… 24 hours later we arrived in BA. A point I would mention is that my bags were gone through. I know this as there are two parts which are a nightmare to zip up but I make sure they are closed before I go anywhere. When I got my bag off the bus the zips were undone and you could see that some one had tried to put them back together without success. Fortunately I have nothing of value in these pockets.
Taxi- Taxis have proved to be expensive comedy at points. Arriving at 1am into BA with our heavy rucksacks we asked a taxi driver if he could take us to our hostel, he just pointed up the street and said ‘Four blocks that way’. In the day, with the warm sun, lovely breeze and minus back packs it would have been lovely…. but it seems a common thing that they encourage you to walk rather than take their taxi, strange business logic.
However things can swing the other way. My mate Erick asked us to meet him at a particular club so we told the taxi driver and he took us to a club of the name Erick had given us. It was closed, annoyed as we thought the taxi man had dropped us in the wrong place, we paid and got out. 200m down the street we found a sandwich shop and had something to eat with a beer. We then hailed another taxi outside the front of the shop and told him the name of the club we wanted. The driver then proceeded to drive us round the city and drop us in the same club that was shut (200m from where he had just picked us up from) and charged us 70pesos (approx $8/£6) for the experience. As you can imagine we were very unhappy with the con. Our suggestion use the bus system.
Bus- To catch a bus you will need to purchase a card (similar to the Oyster card in London) at a local convenience store (for 20 pesos [$2.20/1.50]) which will need to be recharged before taking the bus/under ground or subway. You only need to tap it once when you enter the bus or underground. For the most part this makes all journeys about the same price (2.50 pesos) no matter how far in the centre you go. As you head out of town the driver will ask you where you want to go and set up the machine accordingly before you tap the card.
There are a number of apps for the phone which you can download telling you which bus to take. The problem, which I have mentioned to the developers, is that these often need an internet connection.
Traffic- Compared with chaos that is Bolivia by road, the traffic here is reasonable obedient. But just take care when crossing roads, as even when the white man comes on to say that it is fine to go people will still turn into the street (and not use their indicators).
Big Ben- According to my tour guide Erick (although he’s better at telling you about beers and River Plate FC than the history to BA), many years ago (when they where still friends) the British Government gifted Buenos Aires with a grand clock tower, which is jokingly called ‘Big Ben’ (though looks nothing like it). Strangely this towers over the park opposite which has a memorial dedicated to the Argentinians who fell at the battle of the Falklands (or locally called Las Malvines). The irony did not escape Erick.
The Falklands- Which leads me nicely on to my next topic. From speaking to a couple of the guys here there is some embarrassment over the Falklands war for two reasons. Prior to the war the Brits and Argentines were good friends, the sport and railway system here all came from the British and they even have phone and post boxes modelled on those in UK (design and colour). Secondly the reason for the war was all political, the general running the country wanted to boost his standing and thought that by taking the islands the locals would have more faith in him. Unfortunately this was a war which the world took an interest in and as such loosing was a national embrassment. Margaret Thatcher’s (the British Prime Minister at the time) popularity soared in the UK while the general here faced civil war. However, the episode has left a deep scare in the country and some really dislike the Brits, for example you can see me posed next to a painting which roughly translates as ‘The Falklands are Argentinian’ (even though a recent vote on the island showed that approx 99% of the inhabitants wanted to stay with the British crown).
Protests- Politics is a funny thing. The current president is the wife of the late ex president, but is considered very unpopular. There is an investigation of suspicious links between Argentina and Iran. The day before the lawyer tasked with investigating the case was due to present his findings he was found dead in his apartment. Ruled as being a suicide, but most do not believe this and a large march took place in the city a couple of weeks back. It was peaceful but showed the underlying anger in the city. Soon Argentina goes to the polls and it is unlikely that the current President’s party will get back in. But this will not be a problem as to get out of the current mess the next party are likely to have to introduce a number of strict controls, which people are unlikely to enjoy. By the time of the next election the people will be fed up with these and vote the current President’s party back in.
Architecture- If you were simply dropped here you would be forgiven for thinking you were walking around: Paris, Rome or Copenhagen. There is a European feel about the city. Apparently with all the wars raging in Europe over the past few centuries, the President of Argentina at the time thought that Europe would simply be turned into a pile of dust. As such commissioned architects from France and Italy to prepare buildings here in a similar style. This makes BA a pleasant city to wonder around, however, it somehow doesn’t have that South American ‘rawness’ that you get a custom to, so me and Rene are still undecided how much we like it.
Costs: BA is reasonable but not cheap. Tips: first change your money on the Blue Market (see my other post), secondly there are a number of apps you can download with maps of BA streets, its subway and bus timetables, three- food: popular here is barbequed meat but an interesting place is Ugi’s pizza which only serves two varieties of pizza (both vegetarian and really depends if you want onions or not) for approx 40 pesos ($5/£3). Beer in shops costs about 40 pesos ($5/£3) but remember the bottle is worth 5 pesos so keep hold of it and the next time you go back you can get 5 pesos off the price. Although latterly we found a supermarket close to centre run by a Chinese family selling beer for 17 pesos ($2/£1.20)
The Dutch: A photo above, with the orange wall, is dedicated to the Dutch, as one of the princes married an Argentinean lady and as such had to abdicate. The small garden also holds a statue of Ann Frank.
The Pink House- Buenos Aires version of the White House in the US (see photo).
Eva Peron- One of the most famous heroines of Argentina is Eva Peron. Made famous in a film, with Madonna, with the famous line ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’. She was important in using her fame to help lift millions out of poverty. As such is pictured on the 100 Peso note. Erick, maybe somewhat cynically, says that history remembers what it wants with another way to look at it being a local hooker who got lucky and married the President of the time….
Road Names- Everything is XX blocks away and most streets are named after countries or dates- e.g. Peru, Venezuela, United States. But interestingly I have not yet found a ‘Gran Bretaña’….
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