Day 2 - Argentina 2025: Exploring Buenos Aires

I am still getting my sea legs regarding this city, and as I always do I figured that a city-wide tour using the hop on - hop off tourist bus would be the best way of getting started. But first I had to find the starting place. The internet was no good because the online maps were fuzzy and only mildly informative. Nothing to it but get to the immediate neighborhood, via metro, and then asking around. I took the opportunity to stop at a bank, to get money, and that turned out to be a problem. I figured I could start with ARG$ 150,000 but the stupid machine kept complaining that the amount requested was too large and I had to whittle it down to ARG$ 50,000 plus an ARG$ 10,000 commission. That is US$10 on a US$50 withdrawal, or 20% commission! Outrageous.

Finding the bus stop was difficult. First of all, people started by making fun of my Mexican accent and launched in a routine of their favorite Chavo del Ocho routines. Ha, ha, very funny. And who are they to say I speak with a funny accent? Argentinians not only have a characteristic sing song, but have also invented a new pronoun (vos instead of tú) and a couple of unique verb conjugations (vos comÉS instead of tú COmes, or the imperative estuDIÁ instead of esTUdia). But they are kind at heart, and they would never want to disappoint the tourist, so instead of saying "I don't know" they send you on a wild goose chase several blocks down the street. Eventually I got there, just in time to take the first bus run (9h30). My plan was to do the whole circuit, making a mental note of the places I would like to revisit, and then stop at some of them on a second go around. I had not counted on the fact that Buenos Aires is a big city (3 million people), where the whole circuit took 3.5 hours. When I got back to the starting point, at 13h00, there was a huge line of people waiting to hop on and only 8 seats available. How true are the words of the proverb that says "the early bird gets the worm". 

I finally got out of the bus at the historic district of San Telmo, known for its lively outdoor market, quaint commercial streets, and a whole lot of history. For example, this is where Quino, the author of the comic strip Mafalda, did most of his work. Mafalda is this 8 year old girl who is a fabulous example of social and environmental conscience, and she and her gang of friends are famous around the world, so I would invite you to check some of her adventures. I also took the opportunity to have lunch, which in itself is a bit of a challenge because many restaurants have gotten away from printing menus or adding prices to the menus they have (a consequence of a high rate of inflation) and have instead gone the route of scanning a QR code (which tourists cannot do because it needs access to wi-fi). Given the old rule that if you have to ask for the price you probably cannot afford it, I checked a couple of places until I found one that offered the "plato del día" for a very reasonable ARG$ 13,000 (chicken breast Caprese with potatoes, a beer, and dessert). Perfect!

On my way back to the bus stop I saw a travel agency that offered day trips to Uruguay, across the Río de la Plata, and I jumped at the opportunity to book an excursion three days from now. I also found out that they did money exchange, with no commission, so I asked the nice young woman to exchange for me US$ 100. "Gladly" she said with a radiant smile, and proceeded to count one hundred ARG$ 1,000 notes. When was the last time you carried US$ 100 in one dollar bills? It forms an impressive roll, and as I walked out with a bulging pocket I felt as vulnerable as a kid with a bagful of sweets.

I was fortunate to get back in the bus when it came around, but the afternoon was getting on and this was likely to be one of the last buses. So I just stayed on, enjoying the afternoon breeze as we drove to this beautiful city. I should add that mornings are very hot, but come mid-afternoon the clouds roll in (sometimes accompanied by afternoon rain) and the temperature becomes very pleasant. I already mentioned that there are many small parks in Buenos Aires, but now I will add that there are also some vast parks that parallel the river, which have smartly been devoted to sport facilities, horse racetracks and polo fields (the Argentinians are besotted by horse sports and betting), and buffers between the port facilities and the posh residential neighborhoods. Buenos Aires is also a city of sky scrapers that are headquarters of corporations or very exclusive residential flats. In contrast, the river port is where one finds the color and music of this mesmerizing city, which is famous as the cradle of tango music and dance. I tried to book a tango show, but there was nothing available for the next couple of days (the city is crawling with tourists), at least not at a price or a time that would suit me (as I mentioned before, the Bonaerenses are night owls of the extreme kind).

I am still getting used to how expensive everything seems to be (the ugly result of inflation), and how locals can afford those prices. I guess I am just a country bumpkin not used to big city prices. I have the feeling that what shocks me is that when I was in Argentina, 20 years ago, everything was dirt cheap, and I foolishly thought I would find more of the same. Instead items seem to be fully-priced in comparison with places like San Francisco. Tomorrow I will take to the streets.