Hop On Hop Off City Survey

Blue sky, 26 degrees, birds singing, trees adorned with that new leaf green, and colourful blossoms everywhere, it must be spring time in Buenos Aires. 

 

Today was a travel recovery day and  the start of sight seeing. 

After a leisurely breakfast we took a trip to a nearby HSBC bank ATM in search of cash.  After an unsuccessful attempt we spoke to a bank employee and he informed us that none of their ATMs had any cash.  He said ATMs without money are not unusual in Argentina.  With an Argentinean peso only worth 4 cents, you need a lot of walking around pesos to get by.  He suggested we keep walking the banking district and keep trying.  We finally found an ATM with cash.  It cost us $10 Canadian to get 4000 pesos (about $148).  Even if a machine has money it won’t give you more than 4000 at a time.

Buenos Aires is located on the western shore of the estuary of the River Plata on the South American continent’s south-eastern coast.  The city’s name can be translated as “fair winds” or “good airs”.  They say that Buenos Aires is the most European city outside of Europe.  I’m not sure who “they” are but we would agree.  Immigrants and trade from all over Europe have had a lasting influence on the area.  

Our hotel folks directed us to the nearest Hop On – Hop Off bus stop.  We purchased our tickets (990 pesos each) for 24 hours of service.  As is our usual style, we never did hop off.  Quite frankly it was a little overwhelming.  Buenos Aires has 14 million folks spread over 48 distinct neighbourhoods and I think we rode through every one of them.  Some date back to the beginning in 1536 while others are ultra modern day.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

You know When You're in Cattle Country - Cowhide Sales on the Street.

Buenos Aires - A City of Parks

La  Boca Arts Neighborhood

Oldest Continuous Cafe in City - 1858

We ended our first evening with a meal Argentine style.  Many restaurants don't open until 8 pm so we enjoyed a drink at the street side bar during happy hour.  Another lesson learned.  We ordered two drinks thinking they were happy hour two for ones.  We were surprised when receiving the bill that indeed the drinks are half price but each person is charged a minimum of two drinks each.  I ended up drinking a low cost $7 Canadian beer.  Buenos Aires is not Mexico City.  You can find a $2 beer but it will be in a can on a grocery store shelf.  A 500 cc beer in the restaurant cost 120 pesos (around $4 Canadian).

We dined around 9 pm with the locals and retired for the evening.