Road Report Archives

Bueno Buenos Aires

I normally don’t like to brag, but I can now directly translate all the Spanish numbers from 1 to 14 without having to count my way up (except for the number 6, which I still find tricky).

Buenos Aires is definitely one of the nicest cities I have ever experienced. I’ve been staying at the Waldorf Hotel in a small but plush room in the city center that costs $30 per night. The towels are so thick and fluffy I can barely fit them in my backpack and the bathroom even has a bidet (which I’ve become so fond of I’ve written several haikus about, but I’ll save them for later).

When I first arrived here I took a 3-hour bus tour to get oriented. The guide spoke English in such a thick accent it was difficult to understand him, but I’ve gotten used to that. He seemed to be delivering the descriptions phonetically because some of it was so bizarre. As we approached the notorious and famous slum of La Boca he said, “This is the most dangerous area of the city, you now have 30 minutes to explore on your own.” When we got back on the bus he said, “Do not go to this area at six p.m.” and it was already a bit after five. A couple of minutes later we passed a river and he announced, “This is the most polluted river of the world.” Every “city tour” has some shopping element mixed in as the tour operators get a percentage, but on this one they made up some story about how one of their buses was having problems so they couldn’t drop us off at our respective hotels now, but they could take us in 30 minutes from a point on the other end of a fancy mall they dropped us in front of, and then handed us 10% off coupons.

Do you like beef? I do too. Buenos Aires is to beef what Paris is to sissy food. It’s delicious and cheap and everywhere, and cheese is just as common. Good wine starts at only a few dollars a bottle in restaurants to make things that much better. Interestingly enough, the locals are almost all on the thin side of normal, weight-wise. I think most of them are doing Atkins without even realizing it. If you ever see any reasonable airfares to Buenos Aires, it’s definitely worth the trip. I just returned to BA from two side trips actually. I spent 3 days at the amazing Iguazu Falls (4 times wider than Niagara) on the Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay border. I’d never heard of them either, but they are an incredible sight and the national parks surrounding them are top notch. I then went to Colonia, Uruguay for two days then to Montevideo for two days before taking the ferry back to Buenos Aires.

The scheduling of this trip and my flights has gone very well up to now, but a wrinkle has popped up. I got a great deal on a flight to Lisbon with a 9-day stopover in Rio de Janeiro, which was perfect. Then I found out the second half my stay in Rio is during Carnaval, which isn’t so terrible, but it means hotels are very full and expensive during the days preceding it and far worse during Carnaval itself. I may flee the city during the big event, but I’ve spent the last few days sewing an elaborate costume just in case (I’m going as Donald Rumsfeld).