Bueno Bueno Buenos Aires
I've made it to beautiful (albeit somewhat overcast with drizzling rain) Buenos Aires, having made the 700 km trek from Cordoba on a 10hr bus trip across the pampas - Argentina's prairies. (Just to be clear, there's no reason to express sympathy for me, as most seats are like Lazy-Boys and they serve you food on board. So far I've spent about 28 hours on the bus, 20 of them at night, of which I've slept through at least 15).
Unfortunately, I arrived without the bank card I absent-mindedly left behind in a Banco Frances bank machine in Cordoba. ATMs here give you your money before your card, which means that clients like myself, of which there are likely many, can easily walk away with their cash without realizing the card is still in the machine. The 10 second lag between your money popping out and the card resurfacing doesn't help things either, but enough excuses. After a mini crisis, I managed to cancel the card and find a way to use my VISA as a bank card without getting charged through the roof for each withdrawl.
With my finances back in order, I arrived ready to take on all that Buenos Aires has to offer. I found a decent independent hostel - i.e. not a Hostelling International joint, which I have grown to despise - in the middle of Palermo, B.A's Plateau/Grenich (sp?) Village. I was proud to have saved the 20 pesos (about $7 CDN) it would have cost me to travel from the bus station to my hostel in a cab by asking the kind people at the bus station's info desk which bus I could take up to my corner of Parlermo. 80 centivos later (about 30 cents), I was where I needed to be with enough cash in hand to pay for a good lunch of a Milanesa (Argentina's schnitzel), mashed potatoes and cafe con leche.
This afternoon I explored the streets of Palermo and came across the Buenos Aires Zoo, situated about 6 blocks from my hostel. Knowing that I'll be here for at least the next three days, I decided to spend a few hours in what looked to be an interesting attraction amongst the lions, tigers and bears (oh my...). It proved to be both amusing and provocative: the first because it was a real treat to simply wander around the park checking out the residents brought to this slice of old Europe in the middle of South America from all over the world, and the second because seeing these beasts in their various enclosures was quite hard to bear (sorry about the pun...). The zoo, apparently built nearly 100 years ago, brought to mind visions of such an attraction in the middle of Central Park or London in the early 20th century (think Winnie the Pooh), as well as memories of Vancouver's former sorry excuse for a zoo in Stanley Park.
There, the penguins, sea otters and polar bears spent their lives in miniscule cement enclosures, wasting away under the sun with a pool of putrid water as their only salvation from the curious onlookers, content to throw their popcorn and peanuts into said enclosures despite the signs telling them not to and under the ignorant assumption that they're doing these animals some good. Imagine said penguins and polar bears in the middle of South America, where the temperature even at the beginning of winter is about as close to that of their natural habitat as I am to being a staunch supporter of outdated zoos like these. All that being said, however, all these elements combined to produce some decent photos, so there's always a silver lining...
Since finishing my tour of the zoo, (all criticisms aside, a very pleasant experience), I enjoyed a cafe doble and a scone on one of the many cafes lining the boulevards of Palermo and neighbouring Recoleta district, and thought that I would try and pass through the Museo de Bellos Artes before it closed at 730pm this evening. Unbeknownst to me at the time, however, the instructions my waitress gave me to get to the art gallery on the bus put me almost farther away from the gallery than where I was when I began, which I will blame on a language-based miscommunication. The ever-present silver lining to this particular story, however, is that I ended up in an equally interesting part of town, (San Nicolas - think Broadway meets the Champs d'Elysees), where theatres, book shops, cafes and restaurants abound. I've decided to check out a jazz show at 9pm, followed by dinner at one of the dozens of cheap and appealing restaurantes in the area and an easy ride home on the metro.
Unfortunately, I arrived without the bank card I absent-mindedly left behind in a Banco Frances bank machine in Cordoba. ATMs here give you your money before your card, which means that clients like myself, of which there are likely many, can easily walk away with their cash without realizing the card is still in the machine. The 10 second lag between your money popping out and the card resurfacing doesn't help things either, but enough excuses. After a mini crisis, I managed to cancel the card and find a way to use my VISA as a bank card without getting charged through the roof for each withdrawl.
With my finances back in order, I arrived ready to take on all that Buenos Aires has to offer. I found a decent independent hostel - i.e. not a Hostelling International joint, which I have grown to despise - in the middle of Palermo, B.A's Plateau/Grenich (sp?) Village. I was proud to have saved the 20 pesos (about $7 CDN) it would have cost me to travel from the bus station to my hostel in a cab by asking the kind people at the bus station's info desk which bus I could take up to my corner of Parlermo. 80 centivos later (about 30 cents), I was where I needed to be with enough cash in hand to pay for a good lunch of a Milanesa (Argentina's schnitzel), mashed potatoes and cafe con leche.
This afternoon I explored the streets of Palermo and came across the Buenos Aires Zoo, situated about 6 blocks from my hostel. Knowing that I'll be here for at least the next three days, I decided to spend a few hours in what looked to be an interesting attraction amongst the lions, tigers and bears (oh my...). It proved to be both amusing and provocative: the first because it was a real treat to simply wander around the park checking out the residents brought to this slice of old Europe in the middle of South America from all over the world, and the second because seeing these beasts in their various enclosures was quite hard to bear (sorry about the pun...). The zoo, apparently built nearly 100 years ago, brought to mind visions of such an attraction in the middle of Central Park or London in the early 20th century (think Winnie the Pooh), as well as memories of Vancouver's former sorry excuse for a zoo in Stanley Park.
There, the penguins, sea otters and polar bears spent their lives in miniscule cement enclosures, wasting away under the sun with a pool of putrid water as their only salvation from the curious onlookers, content to throw their popcorn and peanuts into said enclosures despite the signs telling them not to and under the ignorant assumption that they're doing these animals some good. Imagine said penguins and polar bears in the middle of South America, where the temperature even at the beginning of winter is about as close to that of their natural habitat as I am to being a staunch supporter of outdated zoos like these. All that being said, however, all these elements combined to produce some decent photos, so there's always a silver lining...
Since finishing my tour of the zoo, (all criticisms aside, a very pleasant experience), I enjoyed a cafe doble and a scone on one of the many cafes lining the boulevards of Palermo and neighbouring Recoleta district, and thought that I would try and pass through the Museo de Bellos Artes before it closed at 730pm this evening. Unbeknownst to me at the time, however, the instructions my waitress gave me to get to the art gallery on the bus put me almost farther away from the gallery than where I was when I began, which I will blame on a language-based miscommunication. The ever-present silver lining to this particular story, however, is that I ended up in an equally interesting part of town, (San Nicolas - think Broadway meets the Champs d'Elysees), where theatres, book shops, cafes and restaurants abound. I've decided to check out a jazz show at 9pm, followed by dinner at one of the dozens of cheap and appealing restaurantes in the area and an easy ride home on the metro.
posted by Per at 5:59 p.m.
<< Home