Buenos Aires, Argentina

Air New Zealand and its alliance partners now have direct flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina. As part of their promotion we were given free return flights from Mount Maunganui. Kerri and Tyler came to the airport to see us off. Tyler was very excited about the activities at the airport and it will be about 5 months before we see him again and meet our new grandchild. Something to look forward to on our return.

The 12 hour flight was crowded as it was the middle weekend of the school holidays but most of the passengers were from South American countries. We got visas on entry but heard Australians complaining about having to pay $100 US for theirs. The airport was well organised with bus and taxi companies near the baggage collection area and before the doors to the public areas. This saved us from being bombarded by the touts. We could have taken a local bus to our hostel but after a 12 hour night flight it was nicer to go by taxi and to be able to get quickly to bed. Being a Sunday, there was very little traffic on the highway.

The hostel was in the downtown area conveniently located to get to all the sites we wanted to visit. We were surprised at how cold the wind was as we have not brought a lot of warm weather clothing as we are heading for tropical countries further north.The room had a high ceiling and was brightly painted with floral sheets and was not heated so we had to ask for a duvet. It also had a lovely floral pattern. The wind whistled through the ill fitting wooden windows and the noise from the traffic on the Avenida de Mayo, a major road, was very noisy. We have eye masks and earplugs and after donning those we slept for 12 hours and missed the breakfast that was included in our room rate.

 A cook prepares eggs and sets up table with small corn flakes, croissants, bread, and dulce de leche (like a caramelised condensed milk spread). there is a language school across the road so some of the occupants were taking Spanish classes there. As is the modern travellers' way, most young people plug in earphones and glue themselves to their phones or computers and facebook and don't engage much with anyone else.

On the street below us were several families sleeping on mattresses and under tarpaulins. It rained a bit and they had wisely put their mattresses on bricks to avoid getting wet. There was a lot of graffiti on the buildings and road. A few beggars were sitting outside the small supermarkets but were not at all aggressive. The streets are not well lit and often lighting is only from the shops in the street so if a building is empty or a residence it is dark. We had to take care walking at night as the pavers or cobbles would be broken, uneven or even missing and my record of falling when travelling is not good I was especially cautious. For all of this we did not feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

We had free WiFi in the hostel and found a pamphlet advertising a free walking tour of the city area near us. The Free Walking Tour movement is worldwide and you make a donation at the end of the tour as to what you think it is worth. The organisation takes some of the money for advertising etc and the guide gets some. Our guide Martin talked about the variety of architecture in the city and the history of the origins of  Buenos Aires. 

He also told us about his experiences as a child during the protests about the people who disappeared and the Madres and their silent protests. The mothers found the old nappies of their children and wore them as scarves and these became a symbol of their protest movement to find out what happened to their children. He told us of a mother who had a pregnant daughter who was taken tortured and disappeared. He also told us that a military person admitted to dropping the bodies into the river. Pregnant women who gave birth, had their children taken from them and given to military families who were childless. A DNA clinic was set up and families with lost children were encouraged to have their DNA taken so the mothers could trace their grandchildren. One mother was able to meet her grandchild after protesting for 37 years. Of course some children do not want to know their birth families while others do. 

The next day there was a second tour that went to the Recoleta area and we joined this tour with Fernando who was a lawyer for NGOs and represented 

minorities and poor people. He showed us many palacios or huge homes built by the aristocratic families in the early days of Buenos Aires development. Many are now museums. The mix of architecture and the amount of money spent on importing stone and furnishing for the buildings is incredible. This tour ended at the cemetery where we saw Eva Peron's grave along with others that we heard about during the tour. 

We met this dog walker several times as we walked around the French Quarter of the city. There are parks where the walkers meet other walkers and catch up with the day's gossip. We were surprised at the number of dogs being carried about, pampered, and roaming the streets. Portenos love their dogs.

Different parts of the city have different atmospheres and it is a flat city so we spent a lot of time walking everywhere and it is quite compact and easy to get around as it is planned in grids. Small streets are one way so we had to check the parked cars so we could remember which way to look for traffic before stepping out!

Most of the restaurants near us had Italian type food- pizzas, pastas, toasted sandwiches. We enjoyed the empanadas -like a small pie. If you eat at a counter it is cheaper than sitting at a table. Many plates have a cover charge if you sit down. We would have liked some soup but could not find a place that had soup on the menu. Everyone drinks soft drinks with their meal and the dishes of the day always come with one.

The footpaths are busy with men like this one selling hot water for mate which the locals drink through a metal straw and share. People carry their thermoses around under their arm so they can top up their gourds as they carry on with their day. It's  a pretty bitter tasting drink that I think you have to be brought up on. A bit like marmite for us!

One morning we woke to the sound of explosions in the street and were told it was a workers' union group protesting. May 1st is Labour Day here and the protesting has started earlier. We saw posters being glued to buildings and flags flying from buildings with their union names on them.

On our last day at the hostel we decided to head to La Boca. It is an area that has many parts that are unsafe for tourists but the central part is full of shops selling souvenirs and cafes and restaurants especially for the tourists. We bought a SUBE card which you load and use for the subway and buses. Public transport is great and very cheap. After strolling the Boca area we visited the Boca Juniors stadium on a tour. It is known as the chocolate box because of it's squarish shape and the shape is because the people who own the houses that back on to the stadium refuse to sell their land so the stadium can expand. The colour for the football strip was chosen by a group who sat by the port and said we will use the colours of the first ship to enter the harbour. That ship was from Sweden so Boca Juniors have blue and yellow as their colours. The fans arrive 2 or 3 hours before the game and jump up and down on the terraces to unsettle the visiting teams whose dressing room is under the stand.

John getting to know Lionel Messi.!