In a nutshell

Trip Start Dec 29, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Argentina  ,
Saturday, March 29, 2008

After 2 weeks on the road, kids starting to go back to school & with 2 weeks left before lift-off to Nz, we had a little more to see & a fair share of odd jobs to complete. The 11 weeks I had spent in Arg had flown by & now it was time to move our stuff out of the apartment, pack our bags & for Vane to duplicate the entire bank, phone, vaccine dealings I had completed in December & say her last goodbyes.

One arty farty Tuesday brought me to the highly regarded Malba to see the sculptures, paintings & contemporary art of famous S. American artists. After 10 mins of browsing I rued handing those papier-mâché masterpieces to my high infants teacher...I could be rich now. No crap, there was a table in 1 corner laid with half old-half new cutlery for 2 people, a couple of spuds on one plate & glass rocks on the other. I tried tilting my head to 1 shoulder to see if it was some sort of illusion but it was like pissing against the wind outside
outside
 . Antonio Berni had some cool Dali like paintings, but the less said about the rest.

Another obstacle was overcome when I finally got to see La Boca, the most colourful & reputedly dangerous barrio of BA. Nobody was willing to accompany me all along & last time Vane went there, a gang tried to rob herself & her friends using a gun. I had hoped to find tickets to a Boca Juniors game but they are gold dust. However we did get a tour of the 48000 capacity stadium & its museum. They wanted to increase its size but locals, not surprisingly, won't sell. It's prime real estate but totally minging reeking of cat piss & dog sh*t. Bocas favourite son Maradona has his own seat there with space for a few cronies. The area behind the goals is unseated like the old Hill 16 & has a seriously bad reputation with thieving common during games. There is a coca cola bottle poster near the pitch but because of the Celtic/Rangers rivalry between Boca & River Plate (the other BA club) the classic red & white colour had to be changed to blue & yellow, the Boca colours, because the founders of the club liked the colours of a Swedish ship docked in La Boca. The toilets are like those in Thai prisons, literally a hole in the ground...class A!

While in the area we also took in El Caminito the famous pathway with multicoloured houses maradona star
maradona star
 . Black with people, stalls selling the usual leather goods & English the most audible language in passing, it's a second San Telmo filled with tourists. We were told to steer clear of the area after 5-6pm & fortunately we obeyed catching our bus before a street fight broke out a couple of blocks away...I nearly missed the Knocka effect.

So naturally leaving the actual moving until the last moment, a horrid last day ensued. Every possession my 'better' half hoarded since turning 4 was raced up & down stairs for hours before being carted off to the family home. Bag packing was left to the final hour but after finally making it to the airport on time we got a chance to relax & look forward to Nz. 13 hours of fun to come...

As I was travelling along I made some notes on BA so here is the lowdown on what I needed to know beforehand.

GETTING AROUND

- Buy a 'GUIA T' at a Kiosco. It's a pocketsized book/street map/bus router & your bible to finding your way round BA.
in the stands
in the stands
 - Buses run regularly, $0.90 for a short trip. Otherwise all buses within the barrios are $1.00. ONLY coins are accepted. Retiro bus station is the hub of long distance travel within Arg & always bring bogroll when backpacking.
- Subways cost $0.90 payable to a person, not a machine, & run in the same manner as London or New York. There are 5 lines each of different colour. To establish direction, follow the location where your line ends. (A subway line contains stops A, B, C & D in that order from west to east. You are at B & wish to get to C so you follow the signs for D in the station & get off at the first stop.) They operate from 6am - 11pm from mon - sat & 8am - 10pm on sun. Be careful of pickpockets.
- Trains into Greater BA cost a peso.
- Flights for foreigners are more pricy. For long distance buses you will be asked for your ID # or if booking an internal flight which for foreigners is your passport #.
- Taxis are black and yellow. The exact fare is displayed on a meter that starts at $1.12 & adds $0.14 for every 200m (two blocks aprox). You can tell if a taxi is in use or not by the light on the front of the car. Radio taxis can be unmarked cars.
- Rent a bicycle for approx $50 (pesos) a day press conf
press conf
 .

MONEY & POST

- The smallest coin over here is 5 centimes so no micro 1 & 2c to get pissed off about. Have some smaller notes on you for kioscos i.e. Don't give $100 for a packet of chewing gum. Not many have change especially coins.
- If you have a mastercard issued before 2002 (approx) & you keep it in the green you can withdraw from an ATM without being charged any money up to the amount you have in credit.
- If for some reason you do need to go into a bank here, they open from 10am - 3pm.
- It was p103 to send 1kg to Europe.

FOOD & DRINK

- In restaurants, bread is normally brought to the table before your starter but is factored into the price. Also service tends to be brutal so don't be in a hurry.
- In supermarkets they sell litre bottles of beer. sideline
sideline
 If you return the glass bottle next time you go shopping, you get money off the next purchase...good recycling enticement.

- Food
Empanadas, humita, tamales
Asado
Fondue
Picada
Facturas - media lunas, pepidas
Dulce de leche
Helado
Queso y dulce

- Drinks
Mate
Quilmes - Brahmas
Gancia
Fernet

GETTING JIGGY

Telos in BA are basically a service purely designed for getting lucky on a night out or for couples living at home coke bottle
coke bottle
 . You can rent a room in a telos for a few hours & hey presto.

- MAIN ATTRACTIONS

EL OBELISCO
TEATRO COLON
PLAZA DE MAYO
LA BOCA - Boca Juniors
CEMENTARIO DE LA RECOLETA
PUERTO MADERO - Nightclubs - Restaurants
PALERMO - Costanera - Bosque de Palermo - Polo - Hipodromo
SAN TELMO - Tango

USEFUL LINES
¿Como estas/Como andas/Que tal? .. How are you?
¿Donde esta el bano?. ............ Where is the bathroom ?
¿Que estas haciendo?.............. What are you doing?
¿Que queres?...................... What do you want?
No entiendo ...................... I don't understand
No se ............................ I don't know
¿Que hora es?..................... What time is it?
Callate vos ..................... physio table
physio table
 . Shut up
Barbaro .......................... Cool
Listo/Bueno ...................... Ok
Permiso........................... Excuse me
Veni.............................. Come here
Dame dos cervezas por favor....... Give me two beers please
Perdon............................ I'm sorry
Cajero Automatico................. ATM
¿Cuánto vale ____?................ How much does ___cost?
Que Pelotudo/Tarado/Boludo........ What an Idiot/A**hole
¿Tenes chicles? .................. Do you have chewing gum?
¿Podes hablar en Ingles? ......... Can you speak in English?
Tengo hambre/sed ................. I'm hungry/thirsty
Te re gusta chorizo?.............. You really like sausage?
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