Day 212 - A retrospective on two months in Buenos Aires

It's been a while since my last entry. The truth is until now, I haven't had much that I'd wanted to write about. It's not that there wasn't a lot to tell, more the feeling that doing so would have been like trying to write a movie review during the intermission. Or trying to write about Australia by describing each person who lives there.

Let me explain.

In my mind - and simplifying things in an unbearably one-dimension manner - there are roughly three types of travel.

You've got your Holiday. A joyously modern but often depressingly short jaunt into foreign climes. This involves doing your utmost to relax as much as possible as quickly as possible, then trying to do as much as possible whilst still retaining the newly-found relaxed state. People on Holiday don't have time to wander around a neighborhood wondering which restaurant is best or which bars to hang out in. They need it quick and they need it NOW. Which, given time constraints, is fair enough.

Then there is Traveling. Now, I'm not going to try and argue the difference between a bunch of trust-fund twenty-somethings going to countries based on how cheap the booze is vs people looking for something more. I'll leave that to those who care far more than I do. Let me instead offer the interpretation that Traveling is about a lack of concrete plans. About going to a place with no strict idea about when you're going to leave, then staying 'til you get bored or get wind of another place further along the track. Then repeating until you run out of money and/or planet.

Then there is what I'd label an Experience. It's something that seems to be very important to us Gen X and Gen Y lot, in perhaps the same way that Possessions used to be to the Boomers (less so these days, mind) and in the way I suspect Connections are to my younger brothers' generation.

Which brings me, in a very roundabout but hopefully clear manner, to the crux of my rant. When, back in another world and another time, Rachel and I sat planning our trip and decided to devote two whole months to Buenos Aires, we did it to have an Experience that would be greater than could be gained by spending simply a week or two.

I like to think we leave Buenos Aires with more than just a fleeting glimpse of a city. Instead, we've seen something far more interesting. We have, in a very small way, glimpsed the hidden underbelly otherwise known as day-to-day life.

Are you with me now? My lack of blog is because I didn't want to write one page entries on visiting Recoleta cemetery, or eating a fat steak, or watching a football game. What I wanted to write is about what it's like to live in a city like Buenos Aires.

Which is a bit like this.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful city. That fact is really quite undebatable. From the Old World charm of San Telmo, to the Old World money of Recoleta and the New World chic of Palermo, it oozes class. It is the bastard child of Paris and Barcelona spat out at the beginning of the end of the world.

It's also a complete pain in the arse to get around. The pavements are painfully narrow and you take your chances ducking and weaving between the considerable crowds of people in a similar predicament, desperately hoping the multi-coloured buses don't kill you first, either by mounting the curb at breakneck pace or with good old carbon monoxide poisoning. And don't even bother to try jogging here. BA is definitely not a city for the exercise nut.

It's also pretty poor. The contrast is enormous. I remember watching a Porsche pull up at a set of lights, next to the spot where a family were sorting through rubbish, feeding themselves as they did so.

What makes that even more surprising is the fact that, by Australian standards, Buenos Aires is cheap beyond belief. Sure, there are tourist traps in each neighbourhood (or barrio), but if you are shopping at your local supermarket, it is truly insane what things cost. A kilo of exquisite steak for AU$5. A bottle of great wine leaves you change for a tenner. Enough veggies to make a fat salad for less than a quarter of the price of an hours' parking in Sydney CBD.

If you should choose to venture out, there are some great restaurants. Standard in Palermo will forever be one of my favourite restaurants of all time. The 800g, oven roasted (in its' own juices) bife de chorizo is a meal that I recommend everyone takes their Dad/ Mum/ Best Friend all the way to BA simply to enjoy.

That said, there are some shockers too. There is a proud history of gaucho (cowboy) culture in Argentina, which seems to have given rise to the attitude that cooking steak is something that every Argentinian male innately knows how to do, rather than needs to learn. There is also a distinct lack of variety of cuisine, probably for the same reason. And for some strange reason, service standards in 99% of restaurants in Argentina simply don't exist

Buenos Aires is also world famous for its' nightlife. Well, I'm gonna piss on that parade a little and say; yes and no. Maybe my concept of nightlife is different. We tried, we really did. However, after tucking into a bottle of red wine and a steak at 11pm, I found it really hard to get into the concept of heading out to a bar that won't start filling til 1am, then onto a club that will be empty until 4am, to dance until sunrise.

There are some really fun bars. Dui Dui in Palermo was our favourite. We also went to some really beautiful ones, like Milion (which, for some strange reason, Melissa George was hanging around in) or Gran Bar Danzon, but the truth is I found them all a bit showy. Too much standing around sipping cocktails watching everyone watching everyone, and not enough c'mon-lets-ave-it. Oh, and Crobar, in contrast, is the worst excuse for an adult school disco I've ever been to. I've listened to longer and better quality mixes from Jive Bunny than at that travesty of a nightspot. Which all adds up the the conclusion that BA nightlife is more hit and miss than trying to pull at a Gay Mardi Gras after party.

And the portenos, as the denizens of BA call themselves? Generally, very stand-offish. Until, that is, you demonstrate that a) you are not from the USA, and, b) you speak Spanish. From that magic point onwards, they show themselves for what they are. Which is some of the warmest, most honest, straight-up, tolerant and friendly peoples I have met in South America.

I don't mean to be BA-centric. There is plenty on offer outside of the capital. Mendoza is a wine region to rival any picture postcard sent back from Bordeaux, with (red) wine that is $ for $ way ahead. Particularly the di Tomasso family and Tempus Alba in the Maipu region, for anyone who is keen on specifics. Iguazu is a natural spectacle that is not only awe-inspring, but must surely make anybody who has been to Niagara wonder why they bothered. I remember being there, watching the school excursions and thinking how pitiful in comparison a good old Aussie school trip to Jenolan Caves or Canberra truly is.

At the end of the day, what two months is Buenos Aires showed was simply that it is a Proper City. Huge, murky and a hard nut to crack. I am still nowhere near truly having its' measure.

At first, I wasn't sure. I'd read so much, built up so many hopes and ideas of what BA would be. The first week or two, I found myself wondering what the fuss was about. Everything seemed so hidden. Almost as if everyone else knew where to go and what to do, except me.

Then things began to change. I began to understand the heavily-accented Spanish a little more. A mental-map of the city started to take shape. I began to understand, still imperfectly but a little better, which bars or restaurants would be good to go to and when. Things started to click.

Friends from Australia made it all the more special. There is nothing like seeing a familiar face in a strange place Exploration is so much more fun when the blind wandering is shared. Steve, Jenni, Esther; seeing you and sharing the food, wine and conversation was a double whammy. I, we, both loved seeing friends again. However, it did remind us so terribly of your absence when you left. But in a good way :)

Wednesday, the day before Rach and I were set to leave, we went for another meal at Standard. We ate the 800g steak (again), drank red wine, then went to Dui Dui for cocktails. Then it hit us.

We may well be back here again. Hopefully, we'll have cause to pass a week or two immersing ourselves in this old, dirty, cheap, amazing city. We'll walk the streets and remind ourselves of the first time we came. We'll talk about the food we had, the places we visited and the conversations we had. Old memories will come flooding back.

However, it will be a holiday. At best, we may be traveling. It's very unlikely that we will ever Experience Buenos Aires again. That fact alone makes me very sad indeed.

However, as they say; don't frown because it's over, smile because it happened. And, for all it's faults, Buenos Aires is a city that made me, us, smile.




The photos from BA here ,here and here , Mendoza here and here, and Iguazu here.

In case anyone is interested, we rented this apartment in San Telmo for the two months. I'd recommend it as a good base if Palermo is out of your price range. Contact Martin at mbueno@allbuenosairesapartments.com. He is a fine host. Please be sure to mention my name.