I arrived in Buenos Aires where Len had arranged for the Sandanzas Hostel to collect me from the airport as their flight from Ushuaia would arrive for a few more hours. This was my first trip outside North America or Europe. It was a little different right from the start. The person who picked me up hardly spoke any English at all, and I had only basic Spanish - ¿Habla usted inglés y ¿dónde está el baño.
After about an hour's drive he drops me on a small street where there did not appear to be any kind of sleeping accommodations. Seeing I was perplexed, he pointed to a door then rang a buzzer on the wall which alerted someone on the inside to release the lock and let me enter. I was beginning to think “Where in the hell am I?” However, the fellow behind the desk, who spoke English, was anticipating my arrival and settled me into a lovely room which I was to share with Len and Michaela. He then gave me a small lunch and I settled into a lovely sitting area, reading my book and waiting for the kids to arrive.
As they were being buzzed in, the clerk motioned to me that they had arrived. I motioned for him to not let on that I was right behind a small wall in the passageway. As Len passed me, I stepped out. We laughed and hugged each other. It was so good to see him again after nearly 10 months into their Big Trip II. I was shocked and very surprised when Len began to talk to the clerk in Spanish!! Was this scruffy looking young man really my son? He seemed so incredibly confident and relaxed in this place.
They settled into the room, with me delivering fresh supplies for them - ear plugs, natural toothpaste, deodorant and even needle and thread complete with patches for their jeans. We then went out for a steak dinner. Argentinian steak is unbelievably tender and as I was to find out over the course of the next couple weeks, a staple dish. A note about the food in Argentina. They really care about food and do it very well. Howeer, they don't actually eat much besides beef, bread and ice cream, washed down with beer and red wine.
The next day we toured around Beunos Aires. (Be careful not to step in dog poo) Not far from our hostel was La Casa Rosada (The Pink House) is the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. There must have been something going on because there were lots of riot police in front.
We continued on to Nueve de Julio, an avenue that has up to seven lanes in each direction and is flanked on either side by parallel streets of two lanes each. There are two wide medians between the side streets and the main road. This is also where Obelisco de Buenos Aires is located. A national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires it is located in the Plaza de la Republica, in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, it was built to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city.
The traffic is crazy!! Diesel fumes nearly choke you and the haze blinds you. The lines on the street must be for decoration, because a 3 lane street easliy has 5 lanes of cars darting in and around each other, while the drivers are almost completely turned around to talk to someone in the back seat or drinking mate (a herb tea). Mate is an obsession here - our obsession with Tim Hortons coffee is nothing compared to mate. It is drunk from a hollowed out gourd and sipped with a bombilla (a metal or bamboo straw with holes to sift out the mate leaves). One person has a sip, refills the liquid then passes it to the next person, and so on. It has a very distinctive flavor and takes some getting used to. I heard it described as old cigarette butts swept off a bar room floor. Well, not quite that bad, but distinctive!
That night I insisted that we go for tango lessons. I had a blast! Later Len said it was more fun than he had anticipated. Then we went to a proper tango hall and watched regular people simply dancing the tango for pleasure. The dance hall looked like a theater where one would go to enjoy the opera, complete with fancy balcony seats. People sat around at tables, enjoying a drink, and dancing. What a pleasure it was to watch. Some were awesome! Such passion! I can't imagine a better performance had I paid to see it.
A couple of things of note here. When we entered the dance hall there were very few people so we sat at a table a respectable distance from the others. Len and Michaela commented to take note how quickly people would begin sitting at the next table to us. Sure enough! Even though there was practically no one there yet, they sat at the closest table to us. A bit different than Canadian customs. Also, the Argentinians take their tango very seriously. I saw lots shoe shops selling tango shoes, very few shoe shops selling regular shoes. But those tango shoes are soooooo nice, both for women and men!
We had met a street vendor who made silver jewelry, right in front of you. He explained that he had a wife and 2 year old son and felt so blessed that God had given him a talent that he could take with him from place to place. He could provide for his family while maintaining a gypsy-like lifestyle. It kind of made me think what in the hell is wrong with that? Sounds good to me....
The next day we did a bit more touring around. We went down to the harbor and saw The Monumento Las Nereidas. From there we went to La Boca, a popular destination for tourists visiting Argentina, with its colourful houses and pedestrian street where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. We had lunch at a little restaurant, with tango dancers performing right outside the door and a dog sleeping under the table, waiting for scraps from the patrons. Why not?! I foolishly bought souvenirs here. A silly thing to do at the beginning of a holiday.....
That night we went out for dinner and drinks with some friends of Len & Michaela's. We then found an ice cream parlor (Heladeria) – at 2:00 am – and still had to take a number and queue for our ice cream. The ice cream in Argentina makes Haagen-Dazs taste like the cheap stuff! Oh My God is it good!!! Which could explain why there are queues at 2:00 am.
One other delicacy I got introduced to in Argentina was dulce de leche. Yummy! It is a caramel-like spread to put on toast or whatever else you would like sweetened up. But I also found Dulce de Leche liqueur.
The next day we had a few hours to spend before catching a night bus to Mendoza so we went to a gallery which, among other things, featured a strange short film of an elephant's legs. I guess anything can be considered artistic.
That evening we went to the bus station. Now that was an experience! There are very few trains in Argentina and air fare is expensive so the bus depot is the only means out of town. This was also the beginning of some holiday so the depot and buses were packed. There are 75 gates in the terminal, each one filled and some with other buses waiting to pull in.
The buses are fantastic! They are much more comfortable than any airplane I have been on. The seats not only recline, they also have a foot rest. Not so fantastic is the fact that there is a TV that plays American movies, but dubbed in Spanish. When the movie is not playing they play very loud Spanish music that always has a background beat similar to the sound of galloping horses. However, the bus does stop every few hours to let you stretch your legs, find a toilet that doesn't sway and buy a few trinkets from the ladies who know how to capitalize on the bus stops. The bus ride was about 14 hours (yes, one four) and we did stop for a proper meal at a bus stop that actually had a proper restaurant, for a steak supper with mashed potatoes and no vegetables, included in the bus ticket.
I specifically mentioned that there were no vegetables because there was some sort of problem in the country that basically killed the vegetables. When we ordered pizza it was comical to ask where the tomatoes were, they would laugh at us as if we were silly kids asking for gold coins on the pizza.
Off to Mendoza....
