Tuesday 2 August 2011
More South American experiences!
Bus nightmares, bargaining, lost paths with lots of history, Che memorabilia, Santa Cruz autonomy demands, 7h delayed goodbye to Bolivia, Tango, boludo & pelotudo, delicious Malbec wines, professional dog walkers, 19th century cemeteries, widest avenue ever, luxurious night buses, eat-till-you-die grills, seaside views, more currency changes, scam attempts, conversations with a tough "libertario", more annoying spoiled and shallow gringo kid tourists with llama sweaters, nights of live music, wild Monkey nights with great hosts, having my guitar signed by Danny Cavanagh (Anathema), "desayunador", stupid shape sockets, funny Argentine accent, neverending walks, dulce de leche, tip-tip-tip or the art of demanding a compensation for a service already paid, brasileiros all over the place, demonstrations, European style palaces, "subte", fake notes, long queues, mate, "dale", Evita, Perón y otros tipos del montón, drinkable tap water!, gauchos, San Martín - the omnipresent padre de la patria, amazing lunch with an Andes´ view with different wines paired to each dish, wide choice of museums, cheap cinemas, ...
Argentina: Buenos Aires. Last stop in South America.
So this is Buenos Aires, last stop of my trip and the most appropiate goodbye to South America. In a way, it has been like a smooth transition before coming back home. Buenos Aires looks, feels (and almost smells) European. The moment I landed here for the first time, after having been travelling for two months in Peru and Bolivia, it felt like I was somehow back in Europe. The buildings felt so familiar, almost like if I had been here before. I have to say that, the city that instantly came to my memory, was Madrid. Probably because I had lived there for four years and the comparisons are fairly easy. I immediately felt that I was back in a big metropolis, with splendid architecture and plenty of possibilities. A place full of dreams to fulfill. And so I easily started feeling that I could live in this huge capital where Europe and South America meet. And they do it in really good terms....
Later I realised that it is not only Madrid influences that one can find here, but deeds of New York, Paris, and other European capitals that make the city even more appealling. Every quarter has its own strong identity and a very specific history that makes it different from the others. Whether visiting the 19th cemetery and palaces of Recoleta, getting lost - and watching your wallet - in the working class area of Boca, having a night out in the lively Palermo, wandering around the Puerto Madero harbour or just shopping in Microcentro with the clear reference of the Obelisco to guide you, the possibilities are endless. The avenues can be extremely long, perfect to walk for endless hours, and they even have the widest avenue in the world, 9 de Julio, with 16 car lanes in total and wonderful and spaceous walking areas between them. As a side note, I have to say that South Americans in general (this goes for the other Andean countries I have visited as well), love naming their streets after important historical dates. This that in principle is really fair and makes justice to their past, can be sometimes pretty confusing for foreigners trying to remember where some places where. Was it 1 May, 9 July, 13 October or 2 December?!
But back to the events and activities to carry out in this city, in the time I have been here I have had the chance to enjoy several arts and history museums, jazz and rock concerts, music shopping and just plain walks to enjoy the wonders of the city. Obviously, tango is a big thing and a really passionate form of art. Unsurprisingly, it is all over the place and all its shapes, from the massive touristic shows to the most local events in the less crowded areas. One thing is for sure, you cannot escape it and if you don't go to any of these shows, you will hear it on the radio of the local shops or from the cars passing by. One of the main quarters to enjoy tango would be San Telmo, where you can also find some of the most bohemian cafes, some of them dating back to the 19th century or so.
But it is not tango all the Argentinians are passionate about. Football is really part of their culture and, despise the defeat at a very early stage in the Copa de America, they still cannot stop talking about it and discussing the reasons for this unexpected fail. If that is not enough, they will probably have their neighbours from Uruguay reminding them at all times who is currently the main team in the region.
And if we had to mention a third pillar in their passionate values, that would definitely be politics. Almost every foreigner might have heard before about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who are still claiming for transparency in the crimes occured during the dirty war decades. Not everyone is on their side though, but nobody said the Argentinians are completely united in what they do. That is actually what makes them so interesting and, again, brings back comparisons with Spaniards or Italians.
Now it's time for me to depart and leave Argentina and the rest of South America behind. I will dedicate a final post to show some thoughts on what this trip has brought me at a personal level and how it has changed the way I see many things in life. But, for now, I will leave you with some pictures of this massive city populated by 13 million people, no more no less.
Later I realised that it is not only Madrid influences that one can find here, but deeds of New York, Paris, and other European capitals that make the city even more appealling. Every quarter has its own strong identity and a very specific history that makes it different from the others. Whether visiting the 19th cemetery and palaces of Recoleta, getting lost - and watching your wallet - in the working class area of Boca, having a night out in the lively Palermo, wandering around the Puerto Madero harbour or just shopping in Microcentro with the clear reference of the Obelisco to guide you, the possibilities are endless. The avenues can be extremely long, perfect to walk for endless hours, and they even have the widest avenue in the world, 9 de Julio, with 16 car lanes in total and wonderful and spaceous walking areas between them. As a side note, I have to say that South Americans in general (this goes for the other Andean countries I have visited as well), love naming their streets after important historical dates. This that in principle is really fair and makes justice to their past, can be sometimes pretty confusing for foreigners trying to remember where some places where. Was it 1 May, 9 July, 13 October or 2 December?!
But back to the events and activities to carry out in this city, in the time I have been here I have had the chance to enjoy several arts and history museums, jazz and rock concerts, music shopping and just plain walks to enjoy the wonders of the city. Obviously, tango is a big thing and a really passionate form of art. Unsurprisingly, it is all over the place and all its shapes, from the massive touristic shows to the most local events in the less crowded areas. One thing is for sure, you cannot escape it and if you don't go to any of these shows, you will hear it on the radio of the local shops or from the cars passing by. One of the main quarters to enjoy tango would be San Telmo, where you can also find some of the most bohemian cafes, some of them dating back to the 19th century or so.
But it is not tango all the Argentinians are passionate about. Football is really part of their culture and, despise the defeat at a very early stage in the Copa de America, they still cannot stop talking about it and discussing the reasons for this unexpected fail. If that is not enough, they will probably have their neighbours from Uruguay reminding them at all times who is currently the main team in the region.
And if we had to mention a third pillar in their passionate values, that would definitely be politics. Almost every foreigner might have heard before about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who are still claiming for transparency in the crimes occured during the dirty war decades. Not everyone is on their side though, but nobody said the Argentinians are completely united in what they do. That is actually what makes them so interesting and, again, brings back comparisons with Spaniards or Italians.
Now it's time for me to depart and leave Argentina and the rest of South America behind. I will dedicate a final post to show some thoughts on what this trip has brought me at a personal level and how it has changed the way I see many things in life. But, for now, I will leave you with some pictures of this massive city populated by 13 million people, no more no less.
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