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The Big Trip Report #16 - Hola de Argentina - Wed, 10 Mar 2004
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Welcome to the latest installment of the Jack & Sue Travel Show, or should
we say "Bienvenidos" seeing as we are back on the road in Argentina.
After a too long and too cold hiatus in NYC, where Jack had a brief but cruel
reminder of the working world, we finally escaped to the summer of Buenos Aires
in early Feb. We have spent a month in this fabulous city studying Spanish during
the week and exploring the surroundings at the weekends.
For those of you who don't know, BsAs (as it's known) is an intriguing, attractive
and cosmopolitan city full of tree-lined boulevards and stunning "fin de
siecle" French and Spanish architecture. It feels much more like a southern
European city than somewhere in South America. The inhabitants (known as Porteños)
are descended from a mixture of immigrants from all over Europe (Spain, Italy,
France, UK, Ireland, Germany, etc.) with a dash of indigenous South Americans
thrown in. This makes the people extremely diverse in appearance. Another little
known fact is that it is home to the largest concentration of Jews in the Americas
outside of NYC (mostly post WW II immigration).
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Argentina produces some of the finest and cheapest beef in the world - it’s
all pampas grass fed, no mad cows down here! The Argentineans love to eat, and
the main course usually involves large slabs of meat cooked on the "parilla"
(Argentine style barbecue). These people know more about barbecuing than anywhere
else we've been. If you're a meat lover this is heaven! Furthermore, the strong
Italian influence assures that almost every restaurant also serves great pasta
and pizza. You can wash the whole lot down with good cheap local wine. Follow
it off with some fantastic Italian gelato, all for about $6 a head. To all you
New Yorkers, it's a lot cheaper than Peter Lugers and tastes even better!
At the moment Argentina is very cheap for us foreigners. About two years ago
there was a financial crisis that meant that the peso de-linked from the US
dollar so the exchange rate went from 1:1 to 3:1. This means everything costs
about a third of what it used to (and is an even better deal for those with
Euros or Sterling). This is good for tourists but very hard for the locals as
their buying power has shrunk dramatically, unemployment is at record high levels
and the country is burdened with an enormous international debt that is probably
impossible to ever repay. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why BsAs has the
largest number of psychoanalysts per capita in the world! However for us, the
preferred form of therapy was retail therapy, at these prices it was impossible
to resist. Quality leatherwear and shoes at about 1/4 of what we'd pay back
home.
We've been working hard at our Spanish, getting up early for school, which is
hard to do seeing as Porteños don't usually eat until 10 or 11 PM. We've
also caught some Tango, Flamenco and even ballet (best seats in the house for
$7). We've also managed some sightseeing, including the Casa Rosada and the
Recoleta Cemetary where Evita is buried.
Last weekend we flew up to Iguazu at the Argentine, Brazilian, Paraguayan border.
This is home to one of the world's most spectacular natural attractions - the
Iguazu falls - 275 waterfalls stretching over 2 kms through primeval jungle
scenery. For us this proved to be in the top two of the natural marvels we have
ever seen
(vying with the Grand Canyon) and you can't get much better than that. It is
definitely one of the wonders of the natural world. Standing at the lip of the
"Devil's Throat" waterfall felt like being at the edge of the world
with nothing but the void beneath us.
Later today we're hitting the road and heading south. Stopping at the beach
for a few days before continuing on to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
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