Forget the often stated chestnut that Buenos Aires Argentina is the Paris of South America, it is really Rome. Buenos Aires is a European City with a distinctly Italian flavor. The Spanish spoken is fast and melodic, the people friendly and courteous, the food uniquely Argentine and the culture a synthesis of 200 years of immigration.

Buenos Aires is a mature city of almost three million people, almost the total population of Panama, packed into a dense multistory environment. It has excellent but confusing public transportation. There is the Subte (subway), a confusing maze of bus lines and what must be a taxi for everyone in the city. The subways are easy to navigate and you can buy passes for a single ride, when we were there a ride was 2.5 pesos, about $.50 soon to increase to 3.5 pesos, soon to be $.50 if their inflation continues at the current rate. The buses use magnetic payment cards and have such a convoluted route structure that guides are available for sale at kisoks where you can buy and charge the cards.

We Stayed in a district called Recoleta. I choose Recoleta in 2008, and because I was familiar with it, we selected it again. It is an older, wealthy urban barrio with a subway line close and short proximity to many tourist attractions. We rented an apartment for a week, two bedrooms in a lovely old building for $850US a week. It appears all real estate transactions in Argentina are done with US dollars, not Argentine pesos.

Much of our travel was done by walking to absorb the sounds, smells and tastes of the city. We worked a large perimeter around the Recoleta barrio into the downtown Federal District and out to the very Italian Palmero barrio.

The streets were safe for walking and crowded from morning well into the evening and in the busier areas there were police posted almost every block. You should not carry your passport with you, leave it secure and make a copy for identification. I never even carried a wallet, too many reports of pickpockets in tourist areas. I kept a copy of my passport, a credit card and cash in a pocket, nothing more.

I insisted on having a working cell phone so Dan and I went to Movistar and obtained prepaid SIM’s, they were free, but did require a copy of a passport to register the number. Movistar could not sell minutes, we had to find a a kiosk with a sign and ask the right questions, can you charge a prepaid Movistar phone to get it done. The killer deal was the one I needed, one peso a day for unlimited internet access, a great deal anyplace.

What to see is best demonstrated with photos so here is a gallery with some descriptions. Plus a short clip of dancing in the park in San Telmo.

Yo see the images full screen click FS in the lower right of the display. For the caption click the i in the upper right corner.

I love Argentina, in 2008 I visited Buenos Aires in 2012 I returned with friends and a lot has changed, not all for the best. In 2008 a US Dollar bought about three Argentine pesos, now the bank rate is closer to five pesos for a dollar and the official inflation rate for 2012 was 10.8%. A typical lunch cost about 25 pesos in 2008 and is double that now. With the devaluation of the peso relative to the dollar the impact on us was small, but for those who earn their daily bread in Argentine pesos the impact has been significant. I was told the current minimum wage in Argentina is 2,000 pesos a month, about $400; not much more than the minimum in Panama with costs much higher. So if you want to shed a tear shed it for the masses living in Argentina, not for the tourists.

If you travel to Argentina in the near future take US dollars or Euros. In 2008 you could get either from any ATM no more, the government has restricted access to other currencies and Argentines are hungry for dollars and secondarily euros. In stores we had exchange rates of 6.5 pesos to one US dollar, from money changers I receive as much as 7 pesos for a dollar. At those rates the prices were not so bad at 5 to one it was expensive.

The costs of all things imported were astronomical. My Macbook power supply fried our first week there. It took some serious hunting to find a replacement in Buenos Aires, only one Apple dealer we could find even had one, they wanted 1200 pesos for the power supply, almost $240, I ordered one from Amazon for $29.

Argentina has taken a path of protectionism. They have very high tariffs on imports and export taxes on many items. Argentina has some of the best beef and wine in the world and a very long border with Chile. We could not find either wine or beef from Argentina in Chile.

What appeared affordable were groceries. I did a food survey of some items for comparison between Argentina, Chile and Panama and will compile and covert currencies later when I post it. We kept our travel costs down by renting apartments for a week in three cities, only two nights were spent in a hotel in Santiago Chile. In all cases, including the hotel they wanted US dollars not pesos for rent. We also did a fair amount of cooking and used a lot of public transportation. While we were in Argentina they were announcing increases in public transportation costs, the subway was 2.5 pesos for a ride increasing the 3.5 pesos.

Many restaurants in Argentina have a seating charge, not only do you pay for your food and drink but you pay for the privilege of paying for your food and drink.

We ate well, lived well, travelled well and saw a lot and it is likely at least I will return.

One more note of significance for those of us in Panama; Copa Airlines is great. We flew nonstop on a Boeing 737-800 a new aircraft. Copa is state of the art we did web checkin, they handled baggage perfectly, the aircraft left on time, although the flight left at 9pm they served us food, drink, a selection of movies and excellent service. Copa runs nonstop from Panama City and we spent less time in the air than in the bus from David to Panama City. On the return trip I neglected to do web checkin because I did not have a printer, I did it from my Iphone while standing in the queue to check my luggage and they printed out the boarding pass at the counter. Copa is a real Panamanian asset, a well run business building Panama City into a hub.

Tomorrow some pictures and specifics on Buenos Aires for the tourist.

I did not plan on a one week a absence but WIFI was not available in the apartment we rented and access with Movistar is slow so here I am on the beach in ConCon Valpariso Chile a beautiful spot a short bus ride from Viña del Mar and a twenty minutes from the historic city of Valpariso. Although I have much to say I will keep this short and add a few photos. We will be returning to Panama Sunday, pass out and be back online Monday.

My recent pictures are on my iPhone and have not updated to photo stream yet so please be content with this singular image of a woman I do not know, posing next to a statute that was not of Don Quixote.

Chile is beautiful, the food excellent and a great place to visit, but unlike Panam, Chile is not home of the happiest people on earth. After almost a month on the road I think we are all looking forward to returning to Boquete.

Yesterday I made an error and lost several posts. Lacking a computer here I cannot add them until I return, I will put them back then.

We also lost twelve hours of the day, basically all Damon the bus from Mendoza to Santiago Chile. The bus ride was fun and I will put some photos below the post, the problem was Immigration, customs and woad contruction. Those who complain about arriving in David or Paso Canoas should avoid the Los Libradores crossing high in the Andes at all costs. When we arrived there we a hundred or more cars waiting in one queue, a steady steam of trucks and a covey of buses. We waited in bus for more than two house. The we watched the bus frozen of us empty it’s passengers and march them several hundred meters to a car crossing and process them there. When our bus had it’s turn we marched into chaos. First question, which queue, the bus driver became the Shepard. Step one check out of Argentina, one man working alone, next check into Chile, they had three people, theme get back into the bus and wait until all the luggage was unloaded. Then back to customs with carry one luggage for scanning, sniffing and searching. In all close to four hours.

Finally Chile is reconstructing the highway, only one land was open and marked with 26 curves, some with shear drops and credit to the bus driver because sitting where we were, the front row top deck was downright scary. Here are a few images from the trip which ended at an amazingly overcrowded chaotic bus terminal in Santiago.

I find myself in an enigmatic position. Living in Panama I have reduced my beef consumption and increased the ubiquitous chicken and readily available seafood. According to all prognosticators this should be better for my health.

Here in the land of beef it could be a criminal offense not to eat beef. In compliance with the law of the land.

We went to a Trip Advisor recommended Parilla, Los Establos, a short stumble from the Florida Street shopping mall.

Between four of us we had two large ojo de bife I believe boneless rib eyes. Sweetbreads asado the best I have ever eaten, riñones asado, kidneys and lots of sides it was the best beef I can remember eating. Now I wonder how I can return to chicken.

My laptop power supply fried two days ago. I found a replacement today. As I was warned BA can be expensive. Finding a replacement took time, buying it would have cost $1199 pesos about four times the Apple price. So for now short updates from my IPhone.

We are suffering still other excellent pizza with beer. But today Mayra discovered arroz con pollo also.