With catastrophic amounts of snow, we had no choice but to leave the pleasantly warm summer of California and begin a pilgrimage to Southern Hemisphere, where the clock strikes 0 instead of 12, toilette’s spin in the opposite direction (clockwise), and it is currently WINTER! Miles, hot off a Mexican surf trip and I, hot off the tractor escaped the dry heat of Reno. Thirty-six hours later we have found ourselves in Bariloche. En route, we got a big taste of Buenos Aires and here’s what we found:
Buenos Aires Fun Facts:
- 2,891,082 – Total Population
- 36,829.1 – Population per square mile
- 78.5 sq miles – Total Area
- 2/3 – number of resident living in apartments
- 40 – % of Argentinians living in Buenos Aires
- 19th century- year the tango was invented in Argentina
- 11 – The time dinner starts (sometimes even later!)
- 1:1 – There ratio of dogs to people in Bariloche
Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, it was time to locate our hostel. After being inevitably hustled by the pervasive conman who thrives in the touristic environment of international airports (we were told the bus would cost 55 dollars, the same as a cab ride…it was 4 pesos…for two of us) it was onto the bus, clad with enough luggage to cloth a small army.
For but a few pesos (approximately 50 cents) you can get a 1.5 hour bus ride virtually anywhere in the city. And it turns out movie stars ride the bus in Argentina. 15 minutes into our trip across town, a beautiful Argentinian mounts the bus and places herself between Miles and me. Miles, with his silver tongued Spanish suave sparks up a conversation only to find she stars in an Argentinian telenovela called “Cuando me sonries”. A vain attempt to party with her for our only night in Buenos Aires resulted in gaining the knowledge she already has a boyfriend. Who would have thought…
Buenos Aires is quite the massive city. Apartment buildings for miles, skyscrapers, massive dogshits everywhere. As a farm boy from a no-name town in the Central Valley I was a bit overwhelmed at first to say the least.
The party scene in Buenos Aires is “bumping” as some may say. Be sure and take a nap, or maybe even a full nights sleep, because things are just getting warmed up at 2:30 a.m. After a snack, a few good laughs with Caddy Shack and a bit of a nap we ventured out. Our tour of the Buenos Aires night life was everything expected and more, out until 7 in the morning, drinking Fernet (a very distasteful alcohol mixed with coke the Argies go crazy for), a taste of the local talent, followed by breakfast without a lick of sleep.
A quick look into the club life of Buenos Aires:
The architecture around Buenos Aires is largely bland, poor intercity multi-story housing. Until you arrive in the center of the city. Here you will find old euro-styled buildings, luscious parks, and little to no trash on the streets. Unlike the US (where we must have only the biggest and baddest of vehicles), the cars around Argentina are compact and many of them even run on propane. It would be nice to say they are more economically sound, but with no smog restrictions most smoke like global cooling is just around the corner.
