Tango, Rugby and Steak..

These are what Buenos Aires is generally famous for.. and dubbed the Paris of South America.

We were very excited about Buenos Aires. The last 10 days we've spent here, we have not been disappointed. We've also had a chance to catch up with ourselves, shop for some necessities, ring family and email friends, visit San Telmo (similar to Portobello Rd) and Boca (home of the Argentinian Boca Juniors, Maradona´s home club) and the colourful suburb of Caminito. We even managed to cross the Rio de Plata and "popped over" to Uruguay for a couple of days, another very pleasant excursion. Bruno also saw a rugby match in San Isidro and we've made up for the lack of salads.. and have eaten more steak than Ive had in a year!!

Other than visiting the main touristic sites, we've made the most of 25C days and have spent our time on leisure walks: in the crowded streets in the centre, the leafy suburbs of Palermo, Puerto Madero (an upcoming trendy docklands area) and the rich area of Recoleta. Our local friend in Buenos Aires reckons we've seen more of his city than he has.

Yes it does bear resemblance to Paris, but as a visitor we were always reminded that we were in South America. Its polluted, very noisy and crowded. There are so many statues of previous presidents, heroes, leaders etc (Though a few of them always return: San Martin, Artigas and Bolivar seem to pretty much have the statue market monopolised throughout South America). You hardly see new and modern imported European cars here. And what we found so bizarre is that it is very difficult to find and book a budget hotel/hostal.

For one thing, there is no signage, so one cannot simply walk past, identify a hostal and make an inquiry. Once we'd finally found a place, we were interrogated over an intercom such as: our names, our needs, our nationality and country of residence (which already is confusing even for us), our length of stay, the colour of our eyes (just kidding)... We were expecting them to ask us for the secret password.. and the more perplexing thing is.. that the tourist information actually rang this place and told them that we were on our way. All this process was done with much suspicion and a TV camera gawking over us.. but you have to be patient because in Buenos Aires there is a lot of crime.. apparently... since the crisis in 2001, crime has increased due to people's desperation. In fact its probably no news to you all that in South America, we were always warned by the locals to watch out.
In Bolivia, a street vendor told us (as we walked home after dinner at 9.30pm) that we shouldnt be walking around on our own and to watch our back. In Montevideo, we were advised which were no go areas.

(Greater) Buenos Aires has 15 million people and it is incredibly dense and crowded. There are people outside in all hours of the day and night. Not long ago, this city was very majestic. It was virtually rebuilt in the early 20th century so the buildings are not as old as in other South American countries. But since the crisis, there is certainly a backlog: street fashion, cars, houses, infrastructure: it´s all a bit behind the times or even somewhat neglected. My impression is that the city hasn't moved on with the new millenium and they are still stuck in the 1990s compared to other western cities.

However, there are signs of recovery - apparently at 8% annual growth since 2001. Our friend Tomas tells us that there is a construction boom and real estate is skyrocketing; i read that next year the car industry is on track to next year beat its 1998 record of 540,000 cars sold.

The local Argentines stand tall and proud as they shop.. they are different to their neighbours. They look more European, the men do look like polo players here and the women slender (some are bordering on to annorexic. Its great for the shopping: no petite section..) There are shops everywhere you turn and mobile "metro vendors" in the metro carriages, just in case you need that elusive hairband, plastic doll or book from Tolstoj while you move from A to B... But surprisingly few (american) chains. A few fast food chains and ZARA are present but no GAP, NEXT, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, no international banks, mobile phone companies or petrol stations,

There is a lot of opportunity here and it is a lovely city. It reminds me a little of what Melbourne was maybe 10 years ago but without the beautiful "Parisian style" buildings and statues. The wide tree-lined avenues, some of the more modern buildings, the blue sky, the way the light falls. Perhaps, a few years from now Buenos Aires will rejoin the leading cities of the world... But there is still a lot of work.

In the meantime, we continue to enjoy this city, its comforts and very reasonable prices.. Tonight we will go and see a tango performance in Cafe Tortoni (a very famous cafe shop here which is almost 150 years old). Mind you, you can see tango and milonga performed on street corners.

NEXT WEEK: we are heading west towards Cordoba (near the home of Che Guevarra) then Mendoza and back into the Andes.

IRENE & BRUNO

---

---