Hilary's Trip 2006-2007

Greetings from Buenos Aires!
I arrived in this beautiful city yesterday morning. It's hot and humid, and it rains everyday about 3 PM for a few minutes--it seems--but the weather is bearable, and I'm enjoying being here.
This afternoon, I went on an organized city tour and took some photos, but, unfortunately, the computer in the Internet cafe where I am at the moment can't "read" my camera, so I'll have to post them from another place tomorrow or the next day.
What are my impressions of the city so far? Well, it certainly is different from Mexico City and other cities in Mexico! So much more European, with broad avenues, elegant shops, some beautifully green parks, smartly-dressed men(tanned faces and suits and ties) and women (very "decoltees" with slim igures), and good restaurants. Of course, I'm staying in the Barrio Norte, which, together with the Palermo, Recolleto and Retiro neighborhoods, are very upscale parts of town, so I haven't seen much poverty. I know there are rougher areas, though.
I love red meat, so this is really the place to be. Am looking forward to another steak dinner for $5. As you probably all know, the prices here are very reasonable because of the economic crisis the country went through a few years ago. Tourism seems to be on the rise, and I'm sure this will help the economy. However, as everywhere, tourism sometimes goes over-board. They seem to be cashing in here on the tango and soccer crazes that have made Argentina famous. The "city tour" I took only made 2 stops: one on Carmenito Street in La Boca neighborhood (which is where the tango was born--now filled with souvenir shops and where tango dancers dance for you for a fee) and then the football stadium where Madonna first started playing! I would have liked to enter a church or two, see a museum, etc. Oh, well, I'll go back and do these things on my own. After the tour, I went to visit the Recoletta Friars church and the cemetery where "Evita" is buried, and tomorrow I intend to continue to other sites. The tour did give me an overall impression, though--it´s a beautiful city!
I'm staying at a hostel owned by a young American from L.A. whose mother is Chilean and father Argentinian. It's pretty rustic, but Paul is very nice. (He's given me the name of a great place to learn tango, which I might do tomorrow night.) I've decided to change hotels, though, for my last 3 nights here. From Feb. 8-11 I'll be at the Hotel Central Cordoba. Then, on the 11th, I plan to head up to Iquazcu Falls and then on to Rio. More tomorrow or the next day...

posted by Hilary @ Wednesday, February 07, 2007