While I’m stuck here in my epic seven-hour layover in Miami, it seems like a good idea to crank out a few more entries about Buenos Aires. Let’s see . . . where was I when we last left off. This time I think I’ll talk about a couple topics briefly.
Topic Six – Driving
Okay, I haven’t driven a car since 1997 and that didn’t change in Buenos Aires, but I can mention a few things here. The streets here are busy twenty hours a day. I guess this is sort of highlighted by the only nineteen-lane road I’ve ever seen – Avenida 9 de Julio. And the lights that are used to direct traffic are little more than suggestions and respected little more than as such. That goes for both drivers and pedestrians. Both go whenever they feel there’s at least a 50-50 chance that they can make it through unscathed. In the defense of the people on the street here, with all of the insane activity on the streets, I only saw one bad accident, which occurred when a cab driver hit a motorcyclist right outside of my bedroom window one afternoon. Other than that everybody made it through with little worse than a few frayed nerves.
Topic Seven – Argentine Women
¡Dios mío!
Topic Eight – Cleanliness
How do I put this. Cleanliness isn’t exactly the top priority in Buenos Aires. First off, there is dog crap everywhere. Before you come to Buenos Aires, you will be warned about it, but the warnings will not properly prepare you for the amount that you’ll find. I saw a few people picking up after their pets but I saw many more that weren’t. It makes any walk of a block or more like an obstacle course through a stinky mine field.
Also, the level of cleanliness in the streets isn’t as high as it is in, say, Detroit. (Note: Sarcasm) It’s pretty damn bad. I’ve seen people toss empty cigarette packs into the street while standing within touching distance of a trash can. The city seems to do a good job of cleaning up and not letting it get too far out of hand, but it is much different from what I saw in Europe.
Topic Nine – The Night
Okay, before it sounds like I’m bashing Buenos Aires, let me change the subject because I really do love the city. One of my favorite things in Buenos Aires is the night life. Since a four-meal- a-day diet is fairly typical here, the last one takes place pretty late. It was not uncommon for me to go out for dinner around 10:00 or 10:30 and be turned away because the place was filled to capacity. And these aren’t mega-hot spots that I’m talking about. They’re just run-of-the-mill restaurants. I’ve gone to dinner as late as 1 a.m. and never had a problem finding restaurants still serving a full menu.
Another beautiful feature of the long nights here is the late happy hours. I don’t recall ever seeing a place in Washington that had a happy hour lasting until 11 p.m., but that’s fairly typical here. It makes sense since people don’t go out until much later here, but it still took me by surprise.
There are tons of places in Buenos Aires open all night. It’s not quite New York, but it’s really not far from it in that particular respect. There were quite a few nights when I go home after 7 a.m. The morning just sneaks up on you here because places are full so late into the night/early into the morning that you just don’t realize that you’ve reached the wee hours.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m going to move around the airport and might write something else for another posting in a little bit. I figure another few entries about Argentina and then we’ll be ready for Egypt in January.
