The GCW Tour, Buenos Aires & Antarctica: Initial Thoughts in Response to Buenos Aires

In no particular order...

I like individuals, but I hate people -- especially the people at the Ezeiza airport. You get off the plane and get funneled down a long hallway to passport control which is at the bottom of some escalators. But the way the space is organized, there's nowhere to go when you get to the bottom of the escalators. People just mass at the bottom. I'm surprised no one got hurt. Once you're through passport control and customs -- and why did I have to fill out a declaration form if no one was going to collect it? -- you get a similar pile up. Here, though, it's the hundreds of people holding up signs with names on them and no one actually forming a lane to let you get out of the airport. If a lane does form, it's immediately filled by two people who haven't seen each other for awhile and so want to stop and block traffic while they suck face.

At least in November, Buenos Aires and the surrounding area is very flat, very green and very warm. It's really quite lovely. But for someone who comes from Seattle, where the 1.7 mile trip to work includes an elevation change of probably 500 feet or more, it's weird to walk around a place as flat as this. The fact that in many of the neighborhoods all the buildings are exactly the same height for blocks on end only amplifies that feeling of flatness. It's like Odin or Isis or whatever weird gods the Argentinians prefer, got pissed off and stepped on Buenos Aires, leaving it as flat as a pancake. 

But not everywhere. Near the waterfront there are a variety of very nice tall buildings. This made me think that guidebooks would be improved if they included an "Idiot's Guide to Urban Planning in <blah>" for each of the cities they write about. The shape of a city doesn't happen by accident, and I, for one, would be curious to read a bit about the intentions and regulations that lead to a particular outcome.

The little folder that came with my hotel key included ten "useful security tips." It would've been easier if they just said "stay in your room and keep the door locked." And for the record, as freaked out by the warnings as I was, the areas I saw today were quite lovely and I saw no reason to be worried. 

There's something odd about the way money is managed here. The current exchange rate gets you 9.7 Argentinian pesos to 1 US dollar. So it's a pretty easy 10:1 ratio. And when you look in store windows and what not, the prices make sense: 33 pesos for a Big Mac, 380 pesos for a shirt. But the most I've been able to get out of an ATM is 500 pesos -- or fifty bucks. And that comes with a $5 service charge. So I've decided I'll be using my credit card as much as possible here.

Speaking of spending money, Argentinians seem to be interested in all the same crap Americans are. I found in entire store full of Christmas junk. It was just like being in Seattle.

But here's the thing I don't understand. Check out this window I saw in a shop along the waterfront. Notice anything weird? Why would an Argentinian want a big sign about wine that's printed in English? Wouldn't a Spanish version make more sense? 

And speaking of waterfronts, every city should have one. Pretty buildings, a nice waterway, restaurants with outdoor seating and great food -- not a bad place to spend some time. Especially with temperatures in the seventies. 

All in all, Buenos Aires is shaping up to be a pretty nice place to spend a few days. It's just a shame that I'm by myself, given the shop across the street from the hotel (I'm mostly only kidding)...