Helloooo Buenos Aires … just a little touch of star quality

For those like Ben and I who were swept up by the musical Evita many years ago (way before Madonna revived it) you will be familiar with the song on the album “Helloooo Buenos Aires”. The minute we set foot into Argentina we have been constantly ear wigged by songs from this show. Now you can imagine our wave of excitement, waking up to an overcast day pulling back the bus curtains to see the freeway rising over the concrete sprawling outer suburbs of BA. After many years of us both wanting to travel here, Ben and I on cue start humming to the tune of “Helloooo Buenos Aires’, mainly because I can never remember words to a song and make them up along the way. This bemuses Ben constantly (he comes from a musical family and knows the words and tune to almost every musical). For those who have absolutely no idea of this tune, allow me to put you into the picture (Madonna’s rendition)

Outer sprawling suburbs of Buenos Aires

Not sure if they ran out of money here

Our first glimpse of ‘Paris style buildings” as we approach the bus terminal

Relieved and tired, we finally arrive at the BA main bus terminal. After 19 hours of bus travel involving 2 buses (4.5 hour bus from San Agustin to San Juan and a connecting bus from San Juan to Buenos Aires of 15 hours), we are in need of a hot shower. The second bus was a somewhat long and uncomfortable overnight trip. Impressed with Argentine buses so far, we gripe about the older bus that was swapped at the last minute and feel ripped off for what we paid.  I won’t go into details other than we were cold, needed earplugs as our seats were in the back row next to the engine and we couldn’t recline our seats or stretch our legs out.  But we survived the journey with a bit of shut eye and no doubt it is not going to be the worst bus trip we will endure.

Although excited, we were also filled with trepidation about our stay here.  Over the past month we had encountered numerous travelers reciting their petty crime experiences either as a victim or second hand tales. There was also the endless forums on the internet about bag snatching from motorbikes, pick-pocketing scams like the smelly mustard and vinegar distraction trick, armed robberies in restaurants or on buses from the airports.  Yes sadly the crime rate has steadily increased here. We had also been warned to be particularly vigilant at the main bus terminal where tourists are often a target.  I had visions of been targeted straight off the bus with my day pack being yanked off my arms. Ben’s motto throughout this whole trip is  ‘it’s not a matter of if but when’.  We are risk averse and ensure that anything we have of value is insured, money and credit cards are kept in our money belt and we carry only the minimum cash for that day. Any data of value is password protected and at this stage our 10,000 photo files are diligently backed up. Yes a small amount of paranoia begins to sink in and the day before our arrival we spend the necessary precautions in backing everything up.

There are two types of taxis here in Argentina.  Remis which is a radio taxi service and a regular street taxi. Reading scam stories involving regular taxis targeting tourists (it’s a bit difficult to blend in the crowd wearing our backpacks) we head straight to the Remis booking booth and pay a fixed price for a taxi to our accommodation in central downtown.  We’ve used Remis taxis before in bigger cities and apart from their good reputation it is also peace of mind not having to watch the meter ticking by in city traffic jams notorious in BA. So with all this in mind we get to our accommodation without any problems and arriving at 9am the lead up to our anxious arrival becomes a non event.  That saying we will not let our guard down for a moment and we treat Buenos Aires as if we are in any big city.

Our room wasn’t ready as we had arrived early before check-in so we left our backpacks and headed around the corner to a local cafe staffed by waiters in their traditional black outfits and white aprons.  We are feeling completely under dressed already, standing out as backpackers wearing our trekking shoes and fleecy jackets amongst this stylish city of suits and classic outfits. Sitting at a window seat Ben is impressed finally with the best coffee he has tasted in 3 months and orders a second and we take up our favourite pastime of people watching. Within an hour we are presented with dog walkers with up to 12 dogs on a lead, and what looks like a teachers protest with drums and chanting.  Yep welcome to Buenos Aires.

A daily visual, the BA dog walkers

Dog walkers in Avenue Santa Fe

Teachers strike protest

I know that lately I have written about some of our accommodation but travelling for a year it does become a bit of a focus when every day is a different bed and hostel.  To finally be in Buenos Aires in a 4 star studio apartment with a separate large galley kitchen (with a window over the sink), marble bathroom with a bath and a balcony overlooking Santa Fe avenue is truly the pinnacle of luxury for us and for only $65USD per night.  It is shoulder season here in Buenos Aires and the hostel prices for private rooms are not at all competitive with the seasons so we splurge a little knowing it is breaking the budget. I justify it by saying “at home in Sydney we couldn’t even get a room over a pub for this price’. With not even 5 hours here we have fallen in love with this city and begin to have inklings of possibly staying here for a few months.

11th floor up and all this for $65 per night

This kitchen has been bigger than some of our hostel kitchens, and fully stocked!!

View looking down Avenue Santa Fe from our balcony…a touch of Paris.

Night view overlooking Avenida Santa Fe

When travelling long term, food and eating become another focus; especially in Argentina and Chile where the diversity of food is lacking unlike the variety of choices we have available in Sydney. At home we took for granted the fact that every night of the week we could eat around the world from Indian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese to Greek food. But with a great Italian food influence here in Chile and Argentina we are craving for anything outside their norm of pastas, pastries, pizzas and an overload of BBQ meat. With the lack of kitchen facilities like ovens and the need for speed when sharing hostel kitchens, we are desperately craving for a more simpler reminder of home – a roast chicken dinner with gravy, baked potatoes and fresh vegetables. Finding a baking dish in our well stocked kitchen, we task ourselves with a mission to fulfill this craving. Surely not a Mission Impossible. Hours later we are still roaming the streets of downtown only to stumble upon express chains like 7 Elevens with only pre-made pastas and pizzas. It is a race against the clock and we head back to the apartment to make use of our technology and google supermarkets in this area. An expat forum advises one 10 blocks (2km) away. We finally find a fabulous place with everything we need only to then endure the lengthy queues of Argentine city supermarkets. Armed now with chook, the necessary vegetables, a bottle of Malbec and ice cream for dessert we head back in the rain ducking umbrellas in the rush hour on narrow pathways. Wet and hungry and two hours later the dinner was the most rewarding meal we’ve had in months. Eating our dinner at 10.30pm we have assimilated with the rest of the porteños (BA locals). Mission accomplished!!

Excited to have our own kitchen

Roast chicken dinner marinated with chimmichurri herbs

Home baked roast chicken with gravy and baked potatoes. Cheers.

We are like excitable children each day we step out onto the pavement. Not sure what it is but BA oozes a vibe like no other city we have been to so far. The Lonely Planet still has the best description –“It’s a rough-hewn mix of Paris’ architecture, Rome’s traffic and Madrid’s late-night hours, all spiked with Latin American flavour”.  The often used travel article headline “BA, the Paris of the south” lives up to it’s name.  However, there is something noticeably unique about this astounding metropolis. It is a melting pot defined by its tumultuous political history, decades of booming wealth in the late 1800’s to early 1920’s, lavish government spending on public works and buildings and diverse immigration influences. Yet at the same time with the financial struggles that this country currently faces, with excessive inflation at an unofficial rate of 25%, we are starting to see hardship and tough times ahead for the porteños and the rest of the population. Travelling through this beautiful country it is sad to see the impact of a weakened economy. Declining confidence in the peso and rigid foreign exchange laws force people to buy US dollars at a premium of more than 70% over the official rate. For the past month our official exchange rate for the US$ has been 5 pesos. Now we learn that in BA $US1 can buy 8 pesos on the black market. At this stage we have no US dollars to trade only Aussie dollars, which although still above parity, nobody wants. Indeed worrying times ahead for Argentina.

Our first 3 days in BA we take in the sights of the central district.  It becomes easier to navigate our way around as the city is built on a grid system. Everything is described as how many blocks left or right away from the main avenue 9 de Julio, the largest avenue in the world. We ditch our trekking clothes for a more suitable city attire, put our summer walking shoes on and walk all day, the only way to see a city of this size. At one stage we even get asked for directions. We are fascinated by the amount of Neoclassical buildings in the centre, visit churches, drink coffee in old historic cafes like Cafe Tortoni and take a tour through the beautiful Teatro Colon. We also visit the old public congress building inspired by the Capitol in Washington DC, the Casa Rosada (pink palace) where the Presidential offices are and sing don’t cry for me Argentina where Evita preached from the balcony. It is only a week since the inauguration of the new Argentine Pope Francis, so we make a special effort to visit the Catedral Metropolitan where he held residence as a cardinal.  Like Paris, BA is divided into inner districts called ‘barrios’. Recoletta, Palmero and San Telmo barrios are well known but there are so many more and each offer their own unique character and attractions.  BA also has a thriving culture of arts, literature and movies and the choices of museums and bookstores are extensive. We tackle a couple of the main museums like the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (Malba) and spend lazy afternoons trying to enrich our knowledge of modern art and admire the old masters works on exhibit.

The Teatro Colon theatre

Obelisco on corner of Avenue 9 Julio and Corrientes. 67m high and built in 1936. Note the yellow flag signifies the Vatican flags of the newly elected Argentine Pope

Typical main road in the centre

Palacio del Congreso. Modeled on Washington DC’s capital building

One of the many plazas in BA

The side of Casa Rosada (the pink palace) and the balcony where Evita and many other politicians preached from

Typical Neo Classical building

Fabulous waiter in Cafe Toteni

One of the many beautiful cathedrals under restoration.

With far too much to absorb and see here in a mere week, we decide to extend our stay and experience a more “bohemian” district near Palermo called Villa Crespo. Our time here will be the subject of several more blog posts to come. Yes we are certainly realising that Buenos Aires has that little touch of star quality.

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