The Austins' Travel Blog: The Austin's Trip To Argentina

Bienvenido a
Buenos Aire

Welcome to
Buenos Aires!

Blog 1, 2015

Do you know what Pope Francis, the Queen of the Holland, and Michael Buble's wife all have in common?

You guessed it. They were all born here, in Buenos Aires.

Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires is South America's second largest city (after Greater São Paulo, Brazil). It would be pretty hard to tell that right now because it's summer and like Paris in the summer, most of the population has left on vacation.

Speaking of Paris, B.A.'s nickname is: The Paris of South America.

View from our building

Our Condo

Want to have a look at our new little home-away-from-home. Just click this address once and follow the cues or if you'd like, cut and paste the following address:

http://www.vrbo.com/371311

We're on the 8^th floor, just one down from the roof-top. In a few days, we're going to be sending a balsam wood air plane from this vantage point out into the city.
A request from a friend who gave it to us.

Our First Weather

At first......, temperatures were uncommonly cool here in B.A. but...
then, quite suddenly, over night in fact, the heat and humidity sky rocketed. It didn't take long for the city to show its real temperament. Even the older porteños, that's what the people from Buenos Aires call themselves (people of the port), dropped their conservative formality and started wearing, well...

You know!! Shorts...Hurray!

Our First Kiss

Our cab driver was waiting for us at the airport and in no time we were at our condo, where Betty and her daughter Victoria each greeted us... with a kiss.

Unbeknownst to us, the standard greeting in Argentina is a kiss on one cheek.

Men kiss women and vice verse, women kiss women, and yes, men kiss men.

Sooo, watch out when we get back!!

Whether meeting for the very first time or having already seen one another several times in the same day, it's a staple.

Note that failing to greet each person in a group with a kiss is considered rude.

9 Interesting Tidbits

1) At 15.2 million, nearly 40% of Argentina`s population of more than 40 million lives in the greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area.

2) There's pretty well no English down here. Linda has become excellent at charades.

3) It's hard to rattle the change in your pocket in B.A. because there probably is none. Coinage is almost non existent here. Ever since the financial crisis, smart alecs have found ways to make money melting down coins. Even banks only hand out two or three at a time, once convinced you need them, say for a washing machine. I can only imagine what charade Linda used to get that point across?

4) “Siestas” and “Mañana” really are a way of life down here.

5) Police cars always have their roof lights on. Only when a siren is blasting do you really need to get out of the way.

6) Forecasts for the annual inflation rate in Argentina this year are calling for 40%. And the Argentinians are starting to feel the pinch. Thanks to the Blue Money Market, a quasi-legal (maybe quasi-illegal) store-front money changing system, you get about 170% of the government-set rate for your American Dollar. When I left the place the first time, I felt positively giddy.

Taxis are everywhere.

7) Taxi, Taxi. Usually before you can get the second word out, one's there. They are simply everywhere and in great numbers.

8) Graffiti is legal here.

9) Property owners in Buenos Aires have the responsibility of providing the sidewalks in front of their place of business. As a result, navigating your way down the “aceras” of B.A. can be adventurous or even dangerous.... enough to have you ending up on your "acera".

Get it???

What we've seen so far:

Due to a really bad flu, we weren't able do all we had planned in this, our first week. We did, however, get into the city via the subway, which by the way, costs an outrageous 30 cents for any distance in one direction. Here are some pics of what we have seen:

La Casa Rosada - the salmon-colored presidential office at the end of the Plaza de Mayo is said to give off a special glow at sunset. It is said to be the result of the old-traditional practice of mixing bovine blood into the paint in order to prevent damage from the effects of humidity.

Sculptors working on a new statue at the back of the "Pink House"

The Cabildo de Buenos Aires was once the government house of the Vice royalty of the Río de la Plata. Today the building is used as a museum.

The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral is the main catholic church in Buenos Aires. And yes, the Pope did work here before he got his new digs.

The inside of the cathedral

The changing of the guard at the Mausoleum of General San Martín

inside the Cathedral. Note the black sarcophagus in back guarded by three life-size female figures that represent Argentina, Chile and Peru, three of the regions liberated by the General from the Spanish Empire.

Buenos Aires has a whole new generation of architecture too.

But we still like the old stuff. This is a view of the ceiling of one of the original shopping plazas on Florida Avenue, where our current favorite little restaurant is.

The Argentine Military Government instituted a Dirty War from about 1974 until about 1983. It was in effect a period of state terrorism in Argentina. Tens of thousands were kidnapped and murdered, thus becoming known as "the disappeared", in an attempt by the junta to silence the opposition. This is one of many plaques to be found just off the Plaza del Mayo in memory of one of those "desaparecidos".

Argentina has not forgotten the War of the South Atlantic (1982) or if you will, the Falklands War. Right in the middle of the Plaza de Mayo, these veterans are allowed to assemble. Books and posters are not uncommon to see either.

In March, 2014 President Christina Fernández de Kirchner visited the Vatican where she pleaded for Vatican intervention on Argentina's behalf.