I spent today in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s the richest and largest city in
Argentina. There’s no real industry
(tourism perhaps is one), but that of government administration. Argentina is a relatively new democracy/republic
(only about 14 years old), and they are hopeful to return to the fold of free western
nations (it’s hosting a future G20 summit).
Inflation is still a problem here, but not as bad as it once
was during the dictatorships. The
Argentina peso isn’t allowed to be outside the country so the cruise ship
couldn’t exchange money; most people/vendors will also take American
dollars. In fact, the only way to buy
property (a house or apartment) in Argentina is with cash in US currency. They don’t have mortgages, so you have to
have the entire amount in American dollars.
Buying a $100,000 apartment means you carry that amount in cash on your
person to close the deal, and you better make sure you’re careful in the
transaction.
I took a city tour combined with a walking culinary
tour. We rode on the bus to see the
major sights in the city: wide avenues,
lots of sculpture and public parks, government buildings, etc. You can see why
the city is often called the “Paris of South America.”
The bus ended the tour in the Palermo neighborhood
originally settled by Italian immigrants to Argentina. The walking part of the tour included walking
to four restaurants for distinctly Argentinian foods: empanada with beef, beef sausage with French baguette
bread (like a hotdog but with sausage named a choripan), grilled cheese
(provolone-type and oregano since it’s an Italian neighborhood) and two types of grilled steak
(flank and a thick cut similar to a Porter House or Ribeye), and a final course
of a type of caramel ice cream (they love this caramel).
It was a great day capped off by a second evacuation drill
(we have a few new folks on board) and the sail away from the city.
Tomorrow the ship travels back east on the Rio de la Plata
to another city on the river in Uruguay:
Punta del Este, “the Miami Beach” of this part of South America.
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| The skyline of the modern structures in Buenos Aires as seen from the ship. |
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| More modern buildings visible from the ship; however, everyone warns not to walk through the port area since it is home to a slum. |
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| This replica of Big Ben was given to the city prior to the Falklands war. The square no longer bears any name related to Britain. |
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| The "pink palace" is under renovation. This is where Evita and Juan Peron gave speeches to the people. |
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| The rear of the Pink Palace. Did they really use cows' blood to color the paint? |
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| Buenos Aires is famous for its wide boulevards. Neighborhoods were destroyed to make this possible. That's "Evita" (Eva Peron) represented on the side of the apartment building. |
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| Here's the capitol. The goal was to have a "European" look since many immigrated from Europe. French-style buildings were replicated in the city (especially government buildings) |
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| Polo is a popular pastime, and they were at it today (a holiday weekend). |
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| The first restaurant served an empanada (meat pie) with chopped beef, onions, and pepper. |
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| The culinary guide ("German," but pronounced "Herman) shows us how to correctly eat an empanada. |
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| Two different steak types were grilled for us (here's flank steak and some of the sides) |
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| This steak was my favorite. They have different cuts and he said this was like a ribeye or T-bone. It reminded me of a Porterhouse cut. |
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| Final stop was for the caramel flavored ice cream they love in Argentina. |
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| As the ship exited the port, the folks were waving at the folks on the ship. |
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| It was a great Saturday afternoon and folks were fishing. They waved at us, too. |
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| It's a four-day weekend here. It's Carnival (which isn't as big a celebration here in Argentina with parades) and these folks were among those sailing in the river. |
