The way we travel

The way to see Buenos Aires is to walk around, but sometimes walking is a scary experience, and this is coming from a girl who lives in New York City. The cars on the road have zero regard for pedestrians, so while a pedestrian may have the light to go ahead, cars are making right turns at lightning speed and will not stop unless a person is literally standing right in front of the car. It always feels like you are about to get hit by a car every time you cross.

Managing to avoid death, we've been getting around Buenos Aires mostly by foot, but we also have been taking advantage of the abundance of buses. The bus system here is pretty good, but once you step onto a bus, you never know what you're gonna get, but it's likely to include one of the following: crazy fast driving, uncomfortable seats or squeaky brakes minutes away from total failure. If the bus is standing room only, there is almost no room to move, but people squeeze their way to the door well in advance of their stops because the doors swing open before the bus comes to a complete stop and they slap shut a second after the last person gets off. And you better know where you are going because there are no announcements to let you know what stop you are at. Somehow we have managed not to get lost.

We also take the black and yellow cabs, having to split into two cars to fit all six of us. One person usually has to sit in the front because the backseat is really cramped for three, and usually Dan and I share a cab with Henry and he sits in the front and starts a very lively conversation with every driver. I never know what they are saying since it's all in Spanish, but Henry always manages to make the drivers laugh somehow. There we also get to experience the crazy Argentine driving firsthand (they drive as if there are no lanes on the road and we're always about to hit a pedestrian) but if you look out the window and enjoy the scenery or just listen to the Spanish speaking in the front seat, you hardly notice.

Some things we did today:

A visit to the very hip Soho neighborhood where old meets new: meaning old buildings, new and current stores and restaurants. Very New York City-like. Very likeable.


Cars parked in Soho.

Juan and Inez took us to La Rural, Bueno Aires' yearly farm expedition, and MALBA, the modern art museum dedicated to Latin American artists.


Juan and Inez.


We saw cows...


...and horses and Argentine gauchos...


And birds. They were loud, those birds.

We ended the night with dinner at Da Da where I finally got a break from beef with some pumpkin filled raviloi (apparently pumpkin is really big here) and day six of ice cream.


Susan and Henry.


David and Monica at dinner.