Buenos Aires

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After an uneventful flight to Buenos Aires and arriving on time, I quickly came across a separate line for Canadian / American / Australian passport holders to pay reciprocity tax before getting to immigration. There must be a lot of visitors from these countries to warrant a separate line. I suppose it beats having to apply for a visa before leaving the country.

Once the $ part was taken care of, it was a breeze to clear immigration and customs. For those new to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) airport and need some Argentina pesos, skip Global Exchange and go to Banco De La Nación to get your $ instead – much better exchange rate. They have a booth just before you get to the automatic sliding doors on your right; if it’s closed, go through the doors and make a sharp right to the main office.

Right by the bank is the booth for Manuel Tienda Leon. They offer regular shuttle bus service to Buenos Aires for $45 ARS, or $50 if including a transfer to your hotel. There was a huge line when I arrived so I ended up taking the blue and white Taxi Ezeiza instead. It was a lot more at $150 ARS but it was quick. There are several other shuttle/limo/taxi companies; I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them except I was warned about the black and yellow taxis waiting outside the airport.

It was a refreshing change to walk out into +25C weather because when I left one day earlier it was -20C! I had a few hours to kill before meeting up with the rest of the group so I walked to Plaza de Mayo where the famous Casa Rosada is located. One the way over I walked by the Obelisco, an obelisk built in 1936 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first, but unsuccessful, founding of the city by Pedro de Mendoza. Plaza de Mayo has a sort of a permanent demonstration by the mothers of the desparecidos, victims of the military dictatorship’s Dirty War, since 1976.

Casa Rosada was made famous by Eva Peron’s addressing of crowds of Argentine workers from a balcony of the north wing of this building. Apparently the Argentine president works but does not live here. I went on a tour of the place, interesting, but nothing special.

Catedral Metropolitana can also be found around the other side of the plaza. It has 12 columns on the façade and initially I walked by it thinking it was the National Bank. Standard cathedral (to me at least), but there is a mausoleum on the right side with remains of Argentine independence hero, General Jose de San Martin. Later I would find out that pretty much every town / city has a street named after him.

Once we met up as a group we walked down a pedestrian only street in to San Telmo. It was packed with people in the evening and there were a lot of street vendors, most selling mate, standard household items, and various other things including authentic looking but I am sure fake Mont Blanc pens. “Mate” is used to describe the tea-like beverage made from Yerba Mate, an evergreen tree that grows in parts of Argentina, Paraguay and southern parts of Brazil, as well as the container from which it is drunk. It is drunk with a bombilla (straw) which filters the leaves and shared with family / friends. I had some at various times; the first brew is always very bitter, but it leaves a nice after taste. Supposedly it has many health virtues, even better than red wine!

Tonight I had my first taste of Argentine beef – bife de lomo. I don’t eat a lot of beef but what I had was really tender and I would say better than some of the Alberta beef I’ve had.

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