Thursday, February 9, 2012

Trip to Buenos Aires

I actually was not going to blog about this trip because I felt a little guilty that my ticket was free, but then I figured, what the hell......

So yeah I scored this plane ticket to one of the most southerly major cities in the world. My dear old Dad was kind enough to comp. me a ticket, which he obtained through his substantial business connections. He invited a few other family members too, but his rental place was plenty big for us all.

It takes about 8 hours to get here from Miami, so it's no short trip. Plus you land in a time zone that's two hours ahead of your time on the East Coast, so you will tend to stay up late, but then you will sleep late too, while here.

After a week I'm inclined to tell you that it's probably not worth the trip at market rates. You'd most certainly be better off going to Cancun or Costa Rica, if you're seeking the South American tourist experience. Plus you will get more beach time in those destinations and your dollar will go much further.

At the same time, Buenos Aires has been anything but boring and I would probably jump at the chance to stay here for a year or two, because I know that you can't get to know the true nature of a place during a one week vacation visit. If I were 25, I would make it happen, but I'm a bit over the hill and not rich or connected enough to put anything together.

So far, I am mostly enjoying the visit, except that the language barrier has kept me from making any friends, and the people are polite but not too friendly to strangers - that's the feeling I'm getting, so I'm out of luck socially, but there are plenty of sights to see.

Things that stick out: Young people make out on the street here, not just a kiss but a 15 to 20 minutes or more makeout session-something you would never see on the mean streets of home, that's for damn sure.

Another curiosity I've noticed is that 60's and 70's rock is very popular, often being played in the clubs, bars, passing cars driven by teenagers and even the drugstores and markets, so that I feel like I'm back in the 70's-not a bad thing. Plus there's hordes of beautiful women and young couples around, just like it was in the 70's back in the states. Maybe they're about three decades behind here?

There are dogs everywhere. I'm not sure what's up with that. You have to be careful not to step in fresh dog crap, which is often sitting right in the middle of the sidewalks. I've already stepped in it twice in a week.

I've never been much of a traveler, having been perennially poor ever since I graduated from college in the 80's, so this trip is a real novelty. I didn't have a clue about Buenos Aires before I got here and probably won't bother to research the place during or after my trip, so all I have to offer is the here and now....pictures and links to places I've seen.

Here is a link to my better pictures of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires 2012. This will be updated daily and probably won't be complete for a few weeks, as I take hundreds of pictures a day and weed out the bad ones.

I will post some links here to some videos I took with my pocket camera, when I figure out how to do that. So far it's not working like it should.

Recent Pix:

Stealth photography....Check out the bikini-babe on the right.

The parks are packed, all day and well into the night

The bars and bistros do a brisk business every night...

Graffiti seems to be unchecked....

Dogs out the ass......


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