All about Buenos Aires

All we can really say is Buenos Aires is an amazing city.

Although obviously unfortunate, the financial collapse of the country in 2002 has made B.A. an incredible bargain for Americans which we have been fully taking advantage of. The thing that is amzing is that the Argentine peso was pegged 1:1 to the dollar until then. The prices here haven´t changed much in terms of Argetine dollars, but now the exchange rate is 3:1 peso to dollar. A cab ride costs around $3 on average, and the Subte (subway) is about 25 cents. A good steak costs around $7 and is more than you should eat. A leather purse at one of the more popular designers runs about $40.

The city is comprised of many fabulous boulevards entertwinned with hundreds of criss-crossing one way streets. The buses and taxis have no regard for human life or each other. They appear to be playing a game with each other as they constantly cut each other off and jockey for position at the stop lights. Lanes are simply a guideline. The most interesting bit a driving trivia is that they give a yellow light after the red light as well as before. Our first cab driver explained this as "enter at your own risk" because so many cabs and busses feel there is a good 5 seconds after the red light when they can still drive through. In addition, there are intersections throughout the city with no form of traffic control at all - somehow the driers just intuit when someone else might be coming. The drivers don´t appear to slow down much at all. We think they are just hoping for the best. This means that pedestrians have to be very aggressive as well. Any percieved break is an opening for people to cross. And they stare at you odd if you choose to be a bit more prudent.

So far Sarah has been having the time of her life - cheap shopping, cool restaurants, hip designs everywhere we go. We got cool haircuts at Glam - strangely I look the same, but Sarah has the South American pseudo mullet that all the women have around here. With the help of Time Out we´ve been able to track down a number of local designer shops which have allowed Sarah to greatly expand her wardrobe. Needless to say a country so well know for its beef also has a thriving leather trade, which has become Sarah´s obsession of late. If you´re ever in town, Prune is a good place to go for purses and wallets.

Despite the fact that prices must still be very high for Argentines, there is shopping everywhere. It puts LA to shame, much to my dismay, as virtually everywhere you go in the higher end districts - Ricoletta, Palermo, Barrio Norte, Retiro - you are surrounded by shops that always seem to be crowded. Monday afternoon at around 2 PM we were on a pedestrian shopping area on Florida street and had to literally push our way through all of the people. Sunday appears to be the only day when the streets are not thronged with people.

The coolest thing we´ve seen so far is the Ricoletta cemetary. Originally the first public cemetary in the city, it is now the resting place of much of Argentina´s elite, containing the masoleums of many presdents, writers, Evita, and more. There are over 4000 masoleums, most with intricate sculptures, stained classed and iron work. It´s similar to New Orleans, but much more high end and in much better shape. It is one of the most popular attractions in Buenos Aires.

More on the oddities of Buenos Aires coming soon.