Buenos Aires – Part One

We landed in Buenos Aires (BA) airport feeling pretty rough having spent the night flying 10 hours without any sleep.  I really didn’t know what to expect from our first taste of South America. As we got off the plane we were segregated into two lines, Aussies, Canadians, Americans and then all the other nationalities. Ben and Vicks we ushered through promptly as we were stuck in line. We were lugged with a $100 USD entrance fee each by an abrupt customs official and cattle herded to the next line. Good start on all accounts.

Ben had all the apartment info and had left to baggage by then. As we waited in line an aggressive customs agent was drilling an obviously gay couple in front of us on where they were staying and why they didn’t know the exact address. This started to worry as we didn’t have those details either; I was pretty impressed that I had remembered the suburb to be honest. A tense ten minutes later we thankfully got another official who was blasé but still pretty short. Slightly relieved we progressed to the slowest moving baggage carousel in history and the jeers of Ben and Vicks (collectively known as Bicky) having passed through quickly with no fee on their British passports. I don’t know how that works since the Brits fought a war against the Argentinians and we Aussies had done nothing but be pleasant as far as I know…..Maybe there is something in that?

All the bags were thankfully collected which is always a concern for Justin and I and after a twenty minute wait we were bundled into our transfer van which obviously caters for South Americans who subsequently are small people. Ben and Plum are not small people and we had to have a mini game of twister to get in. With faces squeezed up against windows and bodies snug against each other we set off.

As we drove from the airport I became concerned by the vast amount of slum like dwellings with no windows, no doors, some with half a roof and all literally right on top of each other, some right next to a five lane freeway. It improved slightly as we left the freeway and headed towards the heart of BA.  Everything looked all over the show – as Vicks said “higgledly piggledly” with some nice older looking building next to communist looking apartment block, next to one plainly falling down.

View from our balcony

We pulled up to our apartment block on a non-descript road outside an even more non-descript front door gate.   The smell of arse hits you pretty quick (if you have been to Barcelona you will know what I am talking about). After many jeers of “it smells like ass” we proceeded into the smallest lift you have seen (only takes 2 people at a time and you have to open and close the gate to the lift). Our apartment looked exactly how it did on the net but a miniature version. Again I have to remind you South American (SA) people are generally small and we are not. We laughed at the second toilet because as Ben pointed out he couldn’t actually sit on it as he knees would be pushed up against the wall forming a foetal like sitting position. The boys decided they would have to side saddle it. Hmmm comfy?

Ben and Justin in the apartments tiny lift:

Me and Vix in the apartment

Our crew were feeling peckish by this point so we went along the main street (Sante Fe) and found a decent enough place to get some refreshments. Out of this visit a special thing happened that would set the tone for the rest of the trip. It was the discovery of Empanadas and a little thing called a “liquido de banana con leche” (ie banana smoothie). Empanadas are little pasty looking fellas with all sorts of goodness inside. The main ones are Carne, Pollo and Jamon and queso (meat, chicken and ham and cheese). If you go somewhere a little left field they will mix it up and make up all sorts of combinations.   If you know Plum, the banana smoothie needs no explanation as it is one of his favourite things in the world, as for Ben just times that by 2.

I still wasn’t sure about the place but with our bellies full a nap was in order. We agreed to do a walking tour at 5 and went to sleep. Somehow we woke up at 4:40 and frantically gathered our stuff and bounded out the door and into a nearby cab. We drove for about six minutes before the taxi driver starts rambling about something and starts yelling at other taxi drivers through the window. Confused we looked at each other with a “what the hell” expression. He abruptly stops the cab, gets out and gestures for us to do the same and runs to the cab behind him. The new cab driver yells, gestures, looks at us waiting, gestures some more and drives off. Pissed off our taxi driver comes back his car, we squeeze back in and start driving again. Two minutes later the same happens again but thankfully the new driver takes us and we all crack up laughing……what was that all about!!!

Thankfully the tour runs on SA time so it hadn’t left even though it was 5:10. Our guide introduced herself as Macarina (yes like the song) but asked nicely not to sing the song and assured us she has heard all the jokes before and to just call her Maca. The tour went through the Recoletta area which is the posh end of town. It was great to get the history of the city of how BA went from a relatively poor SA city to a booming post World War meat producing powerhouse. After the World  War many Europeans came to Argentina, discovering its rich and fertile soil all over again. Many bought up land cheap and started farming cattle, exporting it back to war ravaged Europe, making an absolute fortune. They made BA their home but wanted it to look more like Europe so they literally dissembled houses from Europe and shipped them over reconstructing them to their former glory in BA.

Free walking tour in BA

Argentinians are known for their arrogance and vanity. During this time the wealthy elite of BA were determined to “out do” each other. If one family built a Palace the other would construct one bigger in front of the others to block the originals view. This was coupled with many interfamily marriages almost like the dynasties of the European monarchs to secure power and status. It sounded all very bold and the beautiful if you ask me.

Unfortunately with all rises there must be falls. Even though money poured into the country and there was a prosperity never seen before, politics like in so many SA countries brought it to an end. The next forty years were filled with political unrest, coupes, dictatorships, military rule, concentration camps, abductions, protests, crashes of currency and poverty. These times are not long gone and still seen in the people and in the streets of BA. Political slogans graffiti the streets, protests still occur on a daily basis ranging from government corruption to awareness of hygiene during the Swine Flu scare (spewing I missed that one!!). Ask any local about their president Christina (she is only referred to by her first name for some reason) and they will give you a run down with all sorts of gesticulating (these motions always include a pulling back of the face, to represent all her plastic surgeries she has billed to the state)

Just an average monday morning protest march

Dooooowwwn heaarrted…

SA in general has had such a turbulent past from the days of Christopher Columbus to the present day. It is theoretically  the same age as the United States but so much more richer is its colour, culture and history. BA has the look of a European city with European buildings, traditions and language but it is so much more. So what if it is a bit weathered looking, so what if some of the buildings are crumbling, so what if it is a bit dodgy and smells like ass. It is this that makes it unique to any other city I have been to. It is the resilience of the people, their passion for pretty much anything. It’s the vibe the city gives off that cannot be explained and must be experienced. Just to top it off BA gave us the most spectacular sun set I perhaps have ever seen, but that is just BA being vain and showing off again. That is why I have totally fallen in love with it!!!!

Not too shabby

Recoletta

Stay tuned for our second trip to BsAs
Jesse x