In our last few days in Buenos Aires, we decided to visit two museums – one honoring a national hero, Evita Peron, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MALBA) rated as the best museum in the city with a large collection of South American art.  The Evita museum chronicles her life, through films, photographs & a collection of personal items, as a performer and as an advocate of the workers & the poor when her husband was the Argentinean president. The museum was somewhat interesting but with limited English information, it was not as impactful for us as it could have been.  Interestingly, the fabulous outfits Evita wore on tours of Europe in the 1940’s looked quite up-to-date and very chic-especially her beautiful shoes.  Evita Peron is still idolized by many Argentenians as we experienced the other day a parade in her honor in front of the pink presidential palace.  The MALBA museum was quite interesting but we don’t have the same appreciation of the genre as others may. Sometimes the paragraph describing the artist’s concepts were almost incomprehensible.   The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, research and promote Latin American art from the onset of the 20th century to the present.  An interesting fact is that the contemporary and unique design of the museum was made through an “open call” contest with 450 proposals from 45 countries.  The selection was left to an international jury who awarded 1st prize to three young (you guessed it) Argentinian architects!  We had lunch at the museum cafe which was top notch.

We also went to the Sunday market in the “communa” of San Telmo, one of the 44 neighborhoods in BA.  The market, which sells mainly cutsie artisans and antiques, was very large and stretched for blocks.  We had little interest in 99% of the products that were available; however, it was fun to experience the live music and hustle and bustle of this popular event.  It was a very crowded market and the travel sites all extensively discuss the dangers of pick pocketers.  It really didn’t appear to be an issue. In our walking, the police (both federal & city) are highly visible

It has been very intriguing to experience the Christmas season in Buenos Aires.  There are few holiday decorations throughout the city and one can hardly tell that Christmas is only a week away.  We found this very surprising since the country is predominately Catholic and the churches in the city have lines out the door on Sundays.  We were at a lovely mall right in the city on Sunday and it was very quiet.  Perhaps, the Portenos stay home on Sundays or the economy is in such disarray that the Argentinians can’t afford purchasing gifts.

The  first part of the “40th Anniversary World Tour” has been the most awesome experience of our life so far.  We have learned so much and have truly experienced many cultures as we tried to take our time and truly “live” in each country.  We head back to the states on Tuesday for ski season and restart our trip back here in Buenos Aires and the Argentinian part of Patagonia  in mid-March.  It’s time to sign-off and say “until next time”.

D & L

On Friday we decided to head up the coast to a small resort town on the river delta. Tigre is the rowing capital of Argentina as the delta is filled with small islands with several rivers and numerous channels.  The  somewhat picturesque town of Tigre is a bit of a hodgepodge with faded glamour.  It is about 12 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.  Our one hour train ride (cost: $0.60) included 16 stops on the way! The very modern, clean, air-conditioned cars were filled (a train leaves every 15 minutes) and punctuated with entrepreneurial singers, sellers of food, key chains, headphones and some limited beggars.  The singers’ were quite entertaining; and initially we thought the train had piped-in music.  The train wound its way through some very cute suburban towns as well as an area that had a number of tennis clubs with a combined total of probably 50 clay courts – we have never seen so many courts.

Upon arrival, we took a boat ride around the delta in the brown muddy river.  Beyond the first section of the Rio Parana, which is very wide, you almost feel like you have stumbled into a tributary of the Amazon.  All water to the residents is from the very murky  Parana Delta which is filtered and used for everything but drinking water.  Children go to school by boat buses and deliveries and getting to and from town is by the “locals” water taxi.  The most magnificent and very impressive structure in this town showed up within minutes of the boat ride.  It was the town’s former casino, the Tigre Club, now the Museo De Arte.  The traditional and mostly shabby houses on stilts peep out from the vegetation along the river bank.  There are also a number of petrol stations and old restaurants & hotels that line the edge of the river.  There is even a mobile library.  Our boat cruise was a non-event as was the subsequent “sightseeing” bus trip around the town.  From everything we had previously read about Tigre, we kind of knew the area’s limitations before we visited;but, we were curious on why it it such a popular tourist destination.  There is a large amusement and water park on the rivers edge; perhaps this park explains the areas popularity.  The Tigre is actually a favorite weekend destination for Portenos and is home to about 3,000 full-time islanders. Other than our 7+ mile walk to from the train station, the train ride was the highlight of this adventure.

Buenos Aires is made up of 40+ “communas”.  Palermo, where we are staying, is similar to the upper west side of Manhattan.  It is the most popular area, trendy and contains more clothing boutiques and restaurants than any other part of the city.  Recoleta, closer to the water, is similar to the upper east side of Manhattan.  It has classic buildings, including some embassies, and small high-end shops & art galleries.  The city has a significant Italian influence in the architecture, food & a cafes on every corner (also lots of pasta & gelato), staccato Spanish (that sounds like Italian) and hand gestures.  On one of our “free” walking tours, we were given a lesson in “Argentinean” hand gestures and the “art” of ordering various types of coffee.  It was hilarious.

On Wednesday, we went for about a 15- mile round-trip “hike” across BA to the commune of San Telmo.  (We love to walk and it helps us get to know a city in record time.)  Enchanting cobblestone streets & antique shops abound in this precinct of Buenos Aires.  The antique shops are the bario’s main vein.  We expect to return to San Telmo on Sunday to visit their Sunday markets and watch the street tango dancers.  On our way to San Telmo, we walked through the port area of Puerto Madero which has the highest real estate prices in South America.  The port is full of high-end restaurants coupled with low & high-rise condominiums.  We enjoyed a delightful lunch along the port area.  It was interesting that there weren’t that many boats in the port area- clearly very few compared to NZ & Australia.

We walked back from San Telmo through the city plaza in front of the pink palace. There are, on average, 3 demonstrations a day in this area.   We arrived with all of the political parties demonstrating with drums, songs & banners prior to the inauguration on Thursday (tomorrow).  The election was a 52:48% split so every one is still pushing their agenda. There was a lot of passion in the plaza today. On Thursday,  we were fortunate enough to catch the new president leaving one of the buildings near the Pink Palace.  There was a large crowd with lots of police and security; however, we were able to slither through the crowds to near the front of the line.  There was tremendous passion on Inauguration Day with intense chanting throughout the crowd.  We honestly thought we were Argentenian with all the excitement surrounding us!

Our 2nd day (Monday) in Buenos Aires took us on another walking tour to see the downtown buildings including the pink presidential palace (no one knows why it was painted pink). Unfortunately, we couldn’t tour the building as this is transition week when the current socialist president is leaving office and the new right-wing president is moving in. While we were at the plaza, we also witnessed the stealing of a tourist’s jewelry by a motorcycle riding duo. Pick pocketing & petty theft seem to be the most common crimes.

When we arrived on Saturday we learned that Tuesday’s religious holiday created a 4 -day weekend for most.  Many shops were closed these days as we wandered through the city.  Traffic was much lighter – a big benefit. The big negative was that most ATMs were out of cash!  It appears that most Portenos (locals from BA) are on a cash basis for their purchases; so, there are always extensive lines at the bank ATMs throughout the city.  Many restaurants do not accept credit cards.

The other issue is the exchange rate. The fixed rate is 9.7 pesos per dollar. The legal “blue” market rate for US $100 bills is above 14 pesos per USD. Today, the official price for our “credit card” lunch was $80 vs. $53 if we had paid with U.S. dollars.  The new government is expected to eliminate the fixed rate.  Inflation currently runs at 30%.  We were anticipating that due to the struggling economy in Buenos Aires and the exchange rate, prices would be quite low in Buenos Aires.  Not so, prices are sky high!  Not only is food and clothing higher than in the U.S. but there is also a 21% tax on clothing and other items.  The only thing that is inexpensive is Argentinean wine!

After 3 1/2 months of mostly eating out every meal, we were looking forward to taking off our tourist hats, shopping at the markets and grocery stores and living the Argentian way.  Grocery shopping has been quite challenging.   Grocery stores have limited selections for everything.  You can’t even find Greek yogurt in the refrigerated section.  The Argentine diet consist mostly of beef, beef and more beef along with some chicken.  Any fish,with the exception of canned tuna cannot be found at any store in the city.  There is only one fish market in the entire city which is quite far from our place in Palermo Soho.  If there is fish on a restaurant menu, it will be salmon which will be much higher priced than any beef dish.  The variety of fruits and vegetables is also quite limited.  We think it is because they most likely do not import any of these items due to the country’s economic situation.  Surprisingly, the numerous small fruits and vegetable stores throughout the city charge much lower prices than the grocery stores.  Another interesting fact is that there are absolutely no spices sold in any grocery stores.  You can’t even find pepper in the grocery stores or on a table in a restaurant, just salt.  Large “beefy” portions are the signature statement for Argentinean cuisine.

We arrived Saturday evening in Buenos Aires from Santiago. Our apartment in the Palermo section of BA is a 3 level penthouse on the 19th floor. Its 3 decks overlook this lovely city of 13m people.  The floor to ceiling windows offer us some absolutely spectacular views of the city.

We quickly had several impressions of the city:  The “portenos” (natives of Buenos Aires) love their dogs.  Dogs are everywhere with presents found on every street. The language sounds more like Italian than the Spanish spoken in Chile, newsstands & flower stands are present on almost every block on major streets, restaurants are everywhere (they generally have the same hours as Spain – late dinners!) and the city seems safe.  The country is generally bankrupt and there are parts of the city were this fact is obvious.  The sidewalks all over this sprawling city are in sad shape.  It is a challenge at best to keep from spraining an ankle while walking.

Many of Buenos Aires landmarks were built in the golden era when Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world, ruled by rich aristocracy that looked at Europe especially Paris for inspiration.  There is clearly a Parisian flavor in the buildings throughout the city.  There are also lots of Peugots and Renaults speeding around the city.  That being said, the comparison to Paris is a bit of an exaggeration.  Paris has beautiful places everywhere you go.  Buenos Aires has beautiful places but it also has a fair share of ugly ones, too.

On our first full day in Buenos Aires we decided to start with a “free” walking tour. We were joined by about 35 others and a guitar playing guide. We were disappointed in this tour and bailed out halfway through. We then went to the magnificent Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron, among others, is buried. This cemetery has incredible mausoleums, many with basements which we had never seen in our other cemetery tours. Many of the mausoleums were very impressive and fit for a king. Unfortunately, a number were in disrepair.

It was a good day of exploring the Palermo & Recoleta sections of BA as we walked about 8-9 miles.  Buenos Aires is a walking city with most of the streets forming a grid pattern.