Trip Report 3- BA Zoo

Fri. April 8

The breakfast spread at the hotel, included with the price of the room (US$58/night), was pretty decent. As much as I enjoy cafecitos, cortados and other variations of espresso, nothing beats a cup of strong black America coffee to start your day. A couple of sweet pastries (medialunas) with some coffee and orange juice and I was ready to start my day.

------------------------------------------- Sidenote: typically one should leave their ticket, passport and U.S. housekeys in a safe deposit box at the hotel when traveling abroad. However, it is nearly impossible to exchange money at a bank here without a passport (a color copy or drivers license will most likely not work (and you will prob. have to wait in line), although the latter did at like the 3rd bank I tried. Having brought a lot of US$ with me (as mentioned previously), I was at last able to find a change place (gratefully recommended by the hotel) right around the corner that exchanged money, at a good rate, with no questions asked.

--------------------------------------- Although I have not had any problems so far, I imagine that BA has air pollution problems given its density and heavy traffic. I couldn't help but think this as I walked along a busy street towards the BA zoo. It is prob. worse in the summer.

---------------------------------------- As I suspected from a perusal of a map, it indeed was a long walk. The unquestioned highlight was my discovery of a joint called Solo Empanadas on Avenida Las Heras. I stopped in and got 3 of them: spicy meat, chicken and vegetables (the latter of which was spinach & cheese, very much like the appetizer dip found in the States). The empanadas are made to order, and even though I got mine to go and ate them outside of the zoo about 20 minutes later they were still hot. They were by far the best empanadas I have had thus far (note: they were the best ones I had the entire trip. although not ubiquitous, branches of this places are interspersed around the city, so if you see one don't hesitate to stop!).

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The zoo itself is quite nice, and I spent a while wandering around, taking a lot of pictures of the animals. They have a lot of animals native to South America that you probably won't find in a North American zoo, especially the reptiles, and there are ducks wandering around all over. If you like entymology, there is a cool room full of mounted insects, scorpions and spiders.

---------------------------------------------------------- It is in the low 70s during the day and can get warm while walking around, esp. in the sun. In need of some refreshment on the walk back, I stopped at an ice cream shop/cafe on Avenida Santa Fe. Without knowing exactly what it contained, I got a 5 peso (more like a bowl) of chocolate italiano and a cortado. The ice cream was extremely rich and tasty, and contained chunks of chocolate and walnuts. I now have a sufficient sugar rush to walk back the remaining 19 blocks to the hotel and check out whatever sights on the way.

----------------------------------------------------------- Dinner at a trendy restaurant in a trendy neighborhood (Central/Palermo Viejo) and 1st taste of Argentine beef in the form of a T-Bone. One can eat a lot of beef down here, and I certainly ended up doing so. While other sources can discuss this topic in much more depth, I would suggest to at least read up a bit of the different ways that different parts can be prepared (at a minimum, to learn what to NOT eat). For instance, you probably wouldn't want to get meat done rare; medium or better is the best way to go (however, I have seen the Spanish word, a punto, defined in different texts as medium and medium rare). I don't want to focus on prices, but even at nicer spots the exchange rate is very favorable for dining. For those who may be interested, a full-out dinner (3-course) + bottle of wine cost will run about US$ 50-60 (total for two persons, inc. tip--customary tip in this country is 10%, which is lower than the 15% in the U.S. that I am used to. Nevertheless, I pretty much always tipped more than 10% during my visit).

Trip Report 2-First Day

Thrs. April 7

I am staying at the Wilton Hotel in Barrio Norte, and luckily they let me check in a few minutes after my early morning arrival as opposed to making me wait until the official noon check in time. The room is more nice than the reviews I had read on Expedia made it out to be, plus the water pressure in the shower is great. Even though the view is of the other side of the hotel, the room is away from the street and quiet. The hotel is a few steps from Avenida Santa Fe, a major east-west thoroughfare that is packed with stores, cafes and restaurants.

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I put on MTV Latin America (Britney, indeed, is an international star), took a shower, unpacked my stuff and gathered my thoughts prior to heading out. It was gray & rainy initially (bringing a windbreaker was a good move) but after about an hour it cleared up.

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Initial impressions: the city has a high population density and is pretty intense. My initial destination was the Plaza de Mayo, which is the center of the government and an area of significant historical importance. It is the epicenter of the 1810 Revolution and break from Britain, and over 100 years later Peron addressed the masses from here. There were a lot of police around, so I felt pretty safe taking some pictures.

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On the walk there, after several attempts to exchange dollars (apparently it helps to have a passport to do so, and like a prudent tourist I had left mine in a safe deposit box at the hotel), I stopped at a cafe on Calle Lavalle to re-energize. The place had an old school feel to it, and the staff wore white shirts with black bow ties.

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Before my trip I had romantic visions of chilling out at a cafe, sipping coffee and watching the world go by. Now, at long last, it was actually happening, and it filled me with an immense sense of satisfaction. On top of that, a cortado (espresso with a little hot milk) and 2 empanadas was less than US$2.

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The pedestrian mall of Calle Florida is lined with stores and packed with people (beware of pickpockets here). To the extent that traffic in this town is heavy and, as I was warned, drivers are especially aggressive, navigating a lengthy street without cars is quite fine with me. At risk of being redundant, to say that the traffic here is fast and furious is gross understatement; it is insane. In fact, when riding in a taxi I would not look out the front window and felt more comfortable looking out the side.

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Crossing the 20-lane Avenida 9 de Julio was not too bad, however, and the ultra-wide avenue with its oversize advertising signs and the Obelisco at its epicenter is truly a sight to behold. If you take the tour of Teatro Colon (see April 15) part of its basement goes underneath this street; it is a weird sensation to look up and imagine the cars racing overhead.

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I got back from my post-flight walk around 5:00 p.m. and took a much needed rest in my room. Before long I fell asleep and did not wake up until midnight. Although that is the perfect time to out in this town, I was not going anywhere except back to bed, which is where I remained until the next morning.

Trip report- digression

Note of social commentary: the exchange rate that Americans presently enjoy has been brought about at the expense, often great, of the common Argentine person. The AR$ used to be pegged to the US$ (i.e. 1 AR$ = 1 US$), but now the rate is approximately 2.8 AR$ = 1 US$, or roughly 3 to 1. Nevertheless, one of the ways that we can help to alleviate the effects wrought by this imbalance is to visit and spend money in Argentina.

Trip report 1-Arrival

Thrs. April 7 ~ 5:40 a.m.

I am presently about one hour from setting foot on Argentine soil. Rather surprisingly, the Aerolineas Argentinas flight has been much more comfortable than anticipated. The Airbus 340 plane is new and clean, and no one is sitting next to me. With the assistance of some Nyquil I was able to get a moderate amount of sleep, and the food (dinner & breakfast) was actually pretty decent. Plus I woke up in time to catch the last half of one of the schlockiest movies of the past year, "National Treasure."

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The plane just landed. I have US$900 strapped to my calf (in a fit of pre-trip anxiety, I was too paranoid about using ATMs and, coupled with a poor capacity to budget in the abstract, decided to take cash with me. When I ultimately needed to use them late in the trip, the ATMs worked fine of course). It is still dark outside. The adventure hereby officially begins.

Southern Hemisphere Sojourn- the Return

I returned yesterday from 9 days in Buenos Aires, and it was totally awesome. In the interest of being a little more specific, over the next few weeks I intend to type up a rough journal I kept while down there that I hope will be of interest to the general reader and also to those who may be contemplating a trip to BA. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures as well.

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Since it was only an hour time difference, after a long night of sleep I don't feel too out of it physically, but cognitively it is a little weird being back in America.