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.