Well my second time in BA, 29 years apart. Paris of the south. Not much has changed. I’m still a handsome devil and in common BA, a bit more faded glory than I once was, but it was faded back then too.
Still a fundamentally beautiful city. A few less restaurants, closed shops and empty office blocks. But isn’t that the same everywhere.
Uber works fine and security not an issue in the places you want to go.
“GPS my city” is good for choosing your walking routes, but you can clock up the miles! Plenty of walking to be done.
A city defined by its revolutions.
Avenida Rivadavia is named after Bernardino Rivadavia, the first president of the Republic of Argentina in 1826.
Plaza Once stands for the eleventh of September, which commemorates a rebellion against the government of General Urquiza (another street name in the city) on September 11, 1852
Plaza de Mayo named after the Revolución de Mayo (May Revolution), which had taken place there on May 25, 1810
Avenida Neuve Julio (9 July) commemorates Argentine independence on 9 July 1816.
The latter is a mind bending traffic system roughly comparable in complexity to Swindon’s magic roundabout but on a massive scale.
Av. del Libertador named after the coup d’état that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón on 16 September 1955.
The revolutions went on…. The last being a military coup detat in 1976 which was a pretty dark time with thousands of people being “disappeared”. Military rule ended when General Galtieri was removed from power after Argentina’s defeat by the British armed forces in the Falklands War in June, which led to the restoration of democracy and, in 1986, his court martial prosecution and conviction for war crimes and other offences.
Arrived half expecting to see chainsaw marks everywhere.
Milei, is making his mark though, like his trumpian politics or not. Inflation is down to a mere 4.5% “per month” from 29% the same time last year.
He might be cutting government and public services, but definitely not the police. They’re everywhere.
As are black market money changers. “Cambio, cambio” every 20 yards or so.
Brings me to something I worried about before coming here. What to do about money?
Well, here comes the definitive guide. The peso is tied to the dollar. The official rate is around 900 to the $. That’s what you’ll get if you go to a bureau de change. The black market rate is closer to 1300/$. See the advantage??
So, should you approach one of the shady looking chaps to change your money? Luckily the answer is No! 2 reasons. The dollar is widely accepted and most shops will give you a price based on the black market rate. Funnily enough, so will the credit card companies! So, don’t bother getting pesos out. I got some dollars in the us on the way out. $600 has lasted our 5 week trip with a few left over.
You do need cash for tipping as many places won’t do it on the card machine. Dollars are fine tho.
Argentines are not at all shy about asking for a tip.
Prices are “capital city” but no where near as high as I thought they’d be!
IICPI comes in at 1.43. I’ve resisted renaming the index as the international helaldo price index, IHPI sound more live a venereal disease.
If you take a trip across the Rio de la Plate to Uruguay, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you get 9% vat taken off the bill if you pay by card! Colonia de Sacramento is pretty nice too! IICPI a massive 1.8!
For a sophisticated place, it’s surprising how many people think it’s ok to play their phones at full blast everywhere! Efffing tickertytockers! Haven’t they got earphones here. Boils my piss!
Speaking of sophistication. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is like a mini Louvre! Rodin, Monet,Manet, Lautrec, Gaugin, Vangough, Degas, Cezanne, Kandinsky, Klee, Modigliani blah blah.
Mate! I just don’t get it! But it’s the favoured drink of many an Argentine. They walk the streets with cup and straw in one hand and a thermos of hot water in the other supping the foul tasting stuff through a metal straw. It’s an all day mash of a tea related to holly! They say it’s not addictive, but I don’t believe it.
Eva Peron! Didn’t like the brits apparently, but a bit of a babe. Museum and grave are on the trail. Bet you can’t do it without humming that song.
I’m missing pan pipes a little less.
I’m going to do Iguazú on a separate blog cos you’ve probably dropped off by now.
