South America, Day 7: Buenos Aires, Argentina

When I arrived in Buenos Aires last night from Montevideo, I was a bit short on Argentine pesos, and had little desire to find an ATM at midnight in pouring rain, so I paid for one night in the hostel and promised that I'd pay the remainder the next day. This morning around 9 or 10, I was woken up by a (different) hostel employee asking who I was and what I was doing there, saying I didn't show up in their system. Turns out it takes me a few minutes after waking up before I can speak Spanish effectively...nevertheless, that was resolved fairly quickly. After a bit more sleep, I went out to grab lunch and cash, and paid up with the hostel (receiving many apologies in the process!).

The first major order of business for the day was to buy my bus ticket to Iguazu Falls on Sunday, so I hopped on the Subte (subway) towards Retiro station. The cost-per-ride is hilariously low: ARS 1.10, or about 30 USD cents. "Retiro Station" is actually a cluster of several (two or three, I lost count) train stations, which seemed to host trains for varying distance trips; separated from the train stations by a small cluster of stands and restaurants is the Retiro bus terminal. All along the sidewalk by the stations there are shacks selling cheap food, gadgets, and assorted trinkets. It was the most stereotypically Central/South American thing I've seen so far, but given the crowds, I decided against pulling out my camera.

I had already looked up the bus schedule and companies using a website named Omnilineas, so after a (very long) walk down the hall of the terminal to find the window of the bus company I wanted to take, buying the ticket itself was pretty trivial. From here, I didn't have much of a plan except to wander around the Retiro area. First stop was the Plaza Fuerza Aerea Argentina (Argentine Air Force Plaza), which contains a smaller replica of Big Ben:

You can go inside and see a few pictures, but they won't let you ascend to the upper levels. Today I learned that the 1982 war between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas, to Argentines) was kind of a big deal. Mini-Ben was known pre-1982 as the Torre de los Ingleses (Tower of the English), in recognition of the English-heritage Buenos Aires residents who donated the resources for its construction. Since then, its official name is the "Torre Monumental". Indeed, the whole plaza used to be called the Plaza Britannia, before the Argentine government decided it would rather honor its air force than the enemy.

Right next door in the Plaza San Martin, atop one of the very few hills in this city, is another artifact of that war: the Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas (literally, monument to those who fell in the Malvinas):

As the roses suggest, this is hardly a dead monument.

As I was wandering around the Plaza San Martin, I saw a couple faces that I could have sworn I'd seen in Montevideo. Turns out I was right; Margot and Sarah (possibly totally misspelled) were a pair of Germans who happened to be staying at the same hostel as me in Montevideo just a couple days ago, and decided to stop in Buenos Aires for a day before moving on to Lima:

Wonder how many other people I'll run into again during this trip?

The area around the plazas has some cool statuary, but you're probably getting tired of seeing statues by now, so let's just move on. The one sight I did want to catch near Plaza San Martin was the Museo de Armas, a military museum exhibiting weapons from the Middle Ages to the modern day. I think this is the first non-free (ARS 10 = ~ USD 2.50) museum I've been to on this trip that was totally worth the price. Their collection of weapons (some cut-away so you can see the inner workings) is super interesting, with a lot of exotic pieces. They even have some interesting diversity with a room on medieval Japanese armor and several Persian and Turkish weapons. Recommended.

I await the Gillette pistol with four barrels.

My guidebook suggested checking out the Palacio San Martin, also in the area, as a nice piece of architecture. It certainly has a pretty front, but sadly, you can't get in past the courtyard - it's an official government building (something to do with taxes and imports, from what I gathered):

From here, my plan was to walk back to the Subte line I needed, and see a bit of the city center, rather than just transferring underground from the nearest stop. Here, I discovered the Av Florida, a pedestrian street jam-packed with shops, mini-malls, and at least one full-blown shopping mall, the Galerias Pacifico. The upper levels of the Galerias host the Centro Cultural Borges, a large art and culture center that I had no idea existed. The CCB had a number of interesting painting and artwork exhibits; especially striking was an exhibit of 50 years of Amnesty International posters. Some of the posters, like this one from the Tunisian branch of AI, had beautiful, arresting artwork:

The Centro Cultural Borges also was presenting a tango show tonight: "Con Alma de Tango" (With the Soul of Tango), a nuevo tango show featuring 4 pairs of dancers and a male solo singer, and dance routines that varied between traditional tango and newer forms incorporating elements of samba and flamenco. Fantastically fun to watch.

Cameras weren't technically allowed, so I had to take a no-look shot with the camera in my lap and manual focus and exposure. Turned out well, considering.

The final business of the day was to get some dinner, so I headed over to a cheap parrilla recommended in my guidebook, the Parrilla al Carbon (now styled the Galauno Parrilla al Carbon). Cardiologists, just stop reading now, or forever hold your peace. I decided to go for the house specialty, the bife de chorizo Gala Uno. We'll get to what that is later. First, a piece of bread covered in the most delicious sauce ever. I'm not entirely sure what's in it, but so far I think there's olive oil, garlic, parsley, tomato, and maybe oregano. They had it in Uruguay too...

I think it's chimichurri.

And for the main course: a sirloin steak covered in mozzarella and tomato sauce, served with freshly-made potato chips. Note that in the picture below, half the steak has already been removed and is sitting on my other plate...

Took more years off my life than is worth counting

The steak was a bit overdone, surprisingly (I was expecting the usual medium-rare and got something more like medium-well to well done), but the mozzarella and tomato sauce made it delicious. I'm going to have to try that one back home.

Tomorrow: more Buenos Aires