Shhh! BsAs Part 2

Christ has had better days
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Buenos Aires, Part

It has been sunny for two days! The temperature is perfect, slightly warm with a cool breeze. An Argentine woman in the elevator apologized for the rain, and assured us "we're all upset about the rain, this is not Buenos Aires weather, no, no!" And now I know what she means. It's very very pleasant weather. Which is an apt description of the Argentines themselves: very very pleasant.

Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread, Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread,Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread

Jumping John
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I know I've mentioned the taxis already, but they have become an excellent part of the Buenos Aires Adventure. You really need to take a cab everywhere, because this city is just so big and spread out. And getting into a cab is like spinning a roulette wheel. They all drive crazy, but I never knew so many varieties of crazy existed! It is truly exhilarating to race along, crossing over 8 lanes of traffic that are stuffed with cabs, each shouldering into each others' lanes, drivers signaling their intent with their hands out the window, or a quiet honk, and the cabs glide in and out so smoothly, it all feels choreographed.

Some Secrets are better left in the Mountains
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We still have not figured out the food and eating rituals here. The feeding times are all screwed up, and all the menus in the hundreds of restaurants are basically the same. Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread, and some odd salads that they like to mix for you at the table. The only flavors you will find on any of these will be the oil and vinegar they bring to the table, and hopefully there will be salt.

We have really been enjoying the 3:1 ratio of the Canadian dollar to the Argentine Peso. Ordering the most expensive glass of wine on the menu will only run you about $4 cdn. Clothes are a pretty good deal for us too, cool t-shirts only $10-$20 cdn, but we have not spent much time shopping. Mostly we're spending time in cabs going to places that are closed or just turn out to be no fun. But last night (Sunday) we actually found a somewhat happing party at the Palacio that led us to a much more happening party at a club called Amerika-- a multi-level, all red, bona fide mega club for about 2000 people. It was pretty jammed for a Sunday night in a sleepy town! If you go out, go out very late. The Portenos take a long time to warm-up, and somehow, even in bars and clubs, they manage to be polite.

Botero in BsAs
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Even though we were out late last night we managed a full day of taking cabs to a lovely ecological reserve (that was closed because it's Monday) and then the Modern Art Museum (which was closed because it is no longer open) . We were all feeling rather put off by taking cabs to places that were closed, so we decided to walk and take pictures of graffiti and eat and maybe try, yet again, to find a nice restaurant.

We have one more day in BsAs, and then we're off to Chile, which will be another world, yet again. This is fun!

Proof that I am here, in my shades from BsAs
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It was another lovely day in Buenos Aires, The weather was perfectly warm, and that lovely gentle breeze was back, and the people were gentle and polite. We visited the Once ("on-say") neighborhood today, which was yet another bustling collection of retailers on a busy, wide intersection. This is the discount shopping area of the city, and every store has it’s windows jammed with shirts and socks and shoes and jeans and whatever you can think of, but all of it a couple of years old, and all of it priced to move. $30 Peso shoes, $45 Peso Jeans, but nothing worth buying. And store after store after block after block, all offering basically the same products at the same prices. It was worth a visit, but it seemed shopping in a giant outdoor dollar-store.

We hunted for a nice restaurant for our final meal with John and Clayton before we head off to Chile, and we found a nice little place where we could eat outside on the sidewalk. The menu was the same as all the other menus, the food was bland, and we all agreed that the food in Argentina is nothing to write home about. And yet, here I am, writing home about it. If you go to Buenos Aires, bring salt and pepper.

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We are currently flying over the endless Argentine countryside, Mendoza, farm land as far as you can see. Soon we'll be passing over the Andes Mountain range, where countless planes have been mysteriously lost. I am sure we will survive, and we are both hoping for a few days of sun and a little beach time in Vina Del Mar.