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Published: April 15th 2014
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This morning I left Buenos Aires. I was, and still am, really glum because I’ve had such a wonderful time here. Even without knowing a local (like I did with Andreia in Brazil) Buenos Aires has been great place to stay and I can honestly say without hesitation that this is a city I could live in. If I had to compare BA with somewhere in Australia, I’d say its most like Melbourne - its cool (except in Summer when its ridiculously hot), is covered in funky street art and has a huge café culture and gastronomic scene (with awesome food, but generally terrible service).
While I was here, I spent a lot of my spare time going to school, which meant getting up early in the morning (well, early for me on holidays), battling the peak hour subway crowds and walking the infamous Florida St to Plaza de Mayo where my school was held. After half a day of school, I usually got home mid-late arvo (exhausted) where I would grab a bite to eat, do some homework and maybe some exploring…….or some napping…….
Although I this part of my trip was focused mainly
Picture in the MALBA
It was hung crooked - almost died. on trying to (unsuccessfully) get a handle on Spanish, I still managed to squeeze a few other things in. The area I stayed, Palermo, is home to some of the largest galleries in BA. I visited the Malba (Museo de Arte Latinoamerica de Buenos Aires) and saw some really amazing pieces. It was similar to galleries you would see in Australia (in terms of building size, layout and facilities) however had some extraordinary South American pieces and I could have just wondered around there for hours. There was an exhibition by a Peruvian photographer, Marino Testino who has photographed seemingly every celebrity alive today, if looking at photo’s of famous people is your thing (its not really mine to be honest) it was a good exhibit. I actually would have stayed a lot longer, had I been alone. Unfortunately the exhibitions attracted the usual idiots who seem to act like the gallery is their personal living room and stomp through each room, talking loudly, touching all the exhibits, taking photos with their flash camera and (my personal favourite) standing directly in front of people who are looking at a piece. Eventually, I just got sick of these idiots and left.
Overall, a fabulous gallery and well worth the 50 pesos (US$5) entrance fee.
I also had a chance to check out the Museum of Decorative art which wasn’t very interesting. It’s basically a large building with pieces showing how people lived back in the old days, but I wouldn’t bother going there if I were you. However, there was a fabulous looking restaurant outside, which was full of ‘ladies lunching’ and had an amazing menu. There was a waiting list for tables, but I needed to press on and visit a few more places that day so I didn’t hang around. Somewhere to book in advance if you are ever in the area…
I also had a chance to visit the Museo Evita. Which. Was. Awesome. It was 20 pesos to get in (US$2) and was built in a house with each room representing a different period of Evita’s life. Each room was filled with memorabilia (clothing, original documents, newspaper articles and old footage of speeches) and there was a great and very moody soundtrack tying everything together. Overall, a great experience educationally, aurally and visually. I spent some hours there and would say
it was one of my favourite things I did in Argentina.
The weather in BA when I arrived was great. March/April is a really good time of year to go, there were many sunny cool autumn days…although it did rain for 3 days straight when Vivienne arrived towards the end of my trip – thanks Viv. I noticed a lot of Argentines spent the sunny days in the parks, drinking mate, rollerblading (yes, rollerblading!) and skateboarding. I also noticed a lot of protesting. It seemed to me like the Argentines take a much bigger interest in the politics of their country than I am used to in Australia and every taxi driver or waiter I spoke to had an opinion (largely negative) about the government policies of the day.
An English friend of mine had some trouble in a taxi with a driver who lectured her on the war in the Falkland’s and made it clear that she was not welcome in Argentina, which we both found quite extraordinary. I also had some grumpy taxi drivers myself, although I only caught taxis a few times because the public transport was so accessible.
Within a few days of arriving in BA I bought a ‘Subte card’ from the local lottery store. Yes, lottery stores – which I have so far seen all over South America. The card was 15 pesos and each journey cost about $4.50 p (or 45c). Although it is not necessary to get a card for the Sube in BA, as you can buy tickets at the subway each time, I found it saved a lot of time for me using it each day to get to school. Also, you can’t buy Subte cards from the subway station (which is ridiculous) so it’s a good thing to try and find when you first arrive. While they are not essential for subway travel they are essential for buses and there are a lot of good routes around BA. To ride the bus you need coins or a subte card and coins are rare and like gold in BA. Each ride I took on the bus cost me about 25c, and the bus drivers were really helpful and friendly (unlike in Brisbane…).
Something interesting was that on the subway in the afternoons, there were always people walking up
and down the subway selling things. They would walk up and down a carriage and (without saying anything) just put whatever they were selling on people’s laps –be it tissues, colouring in books, diaries or even atlas’). Each item had its price written on it and after dropping them off to everyone they would walk through again and pick them all up, or take the cash if someone wanted to buy one. The system worked really well and I saw lots of things being bought by Argentines and it was clearly not just a tourist thing. In fact, most tourists I saw (the longer I travel the easier I notice we are to pick in a crowd) actually looked quite uncomfortable by the process, which I found amusing to watch after being there a few days.
While I saw no crime myself, a friend of mine did see someone hoist themselves through the window of a subway which was taking off, to snatch the phone of a lady who was on the subway. Apparently there was lots of screaming and surprise and my friend was really shaken by it. I didn’t see or hear of any violent
crime (unlike Brazil) but then again I was living in a very safe area of BA and took care to not draw attention to myself when possible.
That said, although I did my best to dress without drawing attention, I found the men in BA to be very forward with women. There were a lot of wolf whistles and people calling out. When I did my afternoon tour in La Boca, I was with a Spanish speaking guide (who did the tour in Spanish – so I have no idea what she was saying!) and a group but still had a bunch of men calling out to me and whistling off a truck. While eating outside on the roof of my school balcony one day I also had a man on the roof of a building across the street yelling and whistling. I don’t share these stories to brag but rather to try and demonstrate the forwardness of the Argentinian male who thought nothing of this over-the-top yelling. At first I found it really confronting but gradually I learned to ignore it.
Oh well, my plane is beginning to land so better head off.
Next stop, Ecuador where I am spending a week in Vilcabamba, a town known for its clean living, yoga, meditation and hippies. You know you are staying somewhere for hippies when the ‘house rules’ include the following:
- Please observe respectful silence over the grounds and refrain from chanting, mantras and singing. The area under the Mango tree is reserved for singing.
Oh well, off to the mango tree I go,
L
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