Buenos Aires (Mid April)

Well Reader....

The big bad city is not so big or bad as I anticipated. In fact, for a city, it is great fun. Workers finished their Easter holidays and are now back in action, and the city was buzzing.

My guidebook says BA looks like Paris, tastes like Italy and moves with the pace of New York. I can vouch for the first too. The buildings definately spell P-A-R-I-S but I am not convinced it has NY´s pace though.

I´ve been getting the tube to class which was exciting for the first 10 mins but then with the temperature in the 20s and humidity 70-90% it is hot and sticky and the underground is jam packed with commuters despite the fact that there are only 4 tube lines, none of which are well connected. People seem to wait for 3 trains at peak times before boarding.

Buenos Aires provided some interesting contrasts; we had hi tech security systems in the apartment we rented in leafy Palermo....Colin could put his feet up and watch the CCTV on the widescreen TV to check when I was coming home, and more importantly nosey at the neighbours. Virtually all apartment blocks in our posh suburb had a security guard on the door, some apartments had fingerprint screening before you got as far as the security guard. In addition to top notch security, in the apartment we had 80 TV channels, a champagne bucket and other drinks accessories but no oven and only 2 weak electric hob rings, upon which the traditional kettle took forever to boil. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my bank balance) the city has not yet discovered take out coffee, so those with a caffine dependency need to be patient.

In a way the apartment rather reflected my previous observations of Argentinian life; that the refinements, appearance and the polish of sophistication were present, but some of the basics (e.g.oven) were lacking.

I also discovered why all the brasswork on door ways is so well polished. Etiquette apparently rules that women in BA are allowed to roam around with a compact mirror in front of their face, whilst boys have to make do with examining their reflection in the brass door bell panels. It obviously does the job though, all the boys look very terribly well groomed. I caught this chap tidying himself up outside our apartment :-)

The apartment was a lovely place to stay and it was fantastic to have our own space for a while. The only minor flaw was the lack of proximity to decent eateries, most of which are affordable when you travel on the British Pound at the moment....an opportunity I didn´t want to miss! Almost all were a taxi ride away. Unfortunately taxis are reputedly the weakest aspect of safety and security in the city and it is recommended that you always phone a radio taxi instead of hailing any old taxi on-street. Whilst Colin was happy for me to hop in a taxi, he wasn´t keen to be in one himself, especially at night. So we were limited to restaurants within walking distance for the most part. (unless I phoned, of course!)

Although one night we did manage a night out with Helen, an English Patent Attorney and Thursden, an editor/journalist from Chicago, who I´d met at the language school. We subsequently agreed to don our finery the next night and head for a special night out........a sophisticated Dinner and Tango show. Unfortunately due to the aforementioned taxi constraints we were not at the appointed time and place and to my shame and embarrassment Helen and Thursden were stood up by Colin and I. So if they are reading this....here´s one almightly SORRY!

It means there is only one thing for it, I will have to find a friend and head back to Buenos Aires to see a proper Tango show on another trip. (NB pic above - thanks for the frisbee girls!)

My language school was mornings only so that gave us time to squeeze in plenty sight seeing. We packed in most of the tick list (except a football game at La Boca which neither of us were bothered about).......unfortunately the reputedly wonderful Theatre Colon was closed for renovation, so we went for afternoon tea at Cafe Tortoni http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar an art nouveau coffee house much loved by intellectuals and poets. And me.

We went to Reloceta cemetery (think Evita) where each ornate tombstone was bigger than each shanty house in the neighbouring Retiro area (think bus station). I also dragged Colin along to the Plaza de Mayo on the Thursday at 3.30pm to witness the Madres de los Desaparecidos in my quest to understand a bit more about recent Argentine History. The mothers of the disappeared have split in to two groups. They no longer campaign for Government action, but instead in addition to their act of remembrance they channel their energies in to campaigning for other causes, most of which seem to have very definate left leanings. We didn´t hang about long but I am glad I was there to see their witness. There were obvious parallels between the Mothers´ witness and our Armistice Day, except that this is what a country´s Government did to its citizens rather than a world scale conflict between different countries.

We watched the flag go down at 6pm outside the Casa Rosada, Government House. The homeless man also enjoys the spectacle...he was there with a wry smile for the tourists 2 nights running. Apparently Government House is pink to symbolise national unity....the red of the Federalists and the white of the Unitarians. All the provinces have pink Government Houses too. And I just thought pink looked pretty!


On to cheerier matters...one of BA´s greatest sights, to my mind is the Paseadores, professional dog walkers who manage to walk up to 30 dogs at once negociating the busy streets of Buenos Aires. Here´s Colin´s Abbey Road shot. The rest were too quick for us to take pictures of! Incidentally we didn´t spy any car wash places, just plenty dog washes.


Meanwhile the cats hide out in the safety of the botanic gardens ....

Chao!