United Airlines Seattle to Buenos Aires with one connection at Washington DC. Arrived at the gate barely 5 minutes before boarding (10 minutes better on the second leg). United has cut down services. Only soft drink, no more peanuts or pretzels for domestic flights, and no free beer or wine on the leg to Argentina, at least dinner and crappy breakfast were provided for this 10+ hour flight. We had a late lunch on board with organic salad, organic roast beef, prosciutto from San Danielle on the way to DC, and supplemented our breakfast with Beecher's cheese, organic apple and pear. Jan 24. Tuesday. Sunny with clouds. ~26° Arrived at Buenos Aires' EZE airport ~11am. Americans have to pay US$140/multiple entries, and Canadians US$75/150 single/multiple entry (Australian $40, Mexican $5). A lady at the exit kindly offered her help. Pointed us to Banco de la Nacion (right after the custom) for a better exchange rate (but much longer lines). US$1 = A$4.30. In the city, it was 4.31.
Taxi to AEP airport for A$170, plus A$2 toll. Airport shuttle bus A$70/pp, not frequent. Most people who work at AEP's various counters don't speak English, including those at Hertz and Avis. We stored our luggage with the guard (a 20+ minute process, each bag properly tagged). Big bags A$18/12hr, medium A$12/12hrs. I cannot fathom how our 3 bags came to A$39. Bought a sim card. The helpful girl tested my phone and made sure it worked. +54-1164535933.
Buenos Aires looks Parisian, ornate pierre-de-taille as well as ugly apartment buildings. Big avenues with 11 lanes in each direction. Street side cafes, leafy stately neighborhoods, some huge trees. Friendly and affluent people, tolerating my terrible Spanish.
Visited Monumental Tower next to Plaza San Martin, inaugurated in 1916. Donated by the British residents in Argentina on the occasion of May Revolution Centennial. A frieze of Thistle Flower (Tudor Rose, Wales' Red Dragon + Ireland's Shamrock). The bell chimes every 15 minutes. But the elevator and stairs are closed to visitors. An amiable old gentleman watches over the small ground floor as information center of museums in BA. However, his English is worse than my Spanish, which I found out when buying a post card. He gave us a nice map of all the museums in town.Across the street, at Sheraton, we exchange A$10 in coins and bought some stamps. Buses here only take coins.
A memorial of Falkland Island war is guarded by 2 soldiers at the base of San Martin plaza. San Martin's equestrian statue at its NE corner, where a free guided tour departs here everyday at 5pm (too bad, I didn't know this). We may also want to check out Palacio Paz.
Arrived at Recoleta Cemetery too late, as people were pouring out of the gate. They close at 6:45pm. So checked out the yellow Design Center and the pink Fine Arts museum across the street. The Fine Arts museum has some nice collections. Many French impressionists', some old masters including Goya, 1 Rubens, 1 alleged Rembrandt. A small portion dedicated to local artists. Not very good. 1st floor was under renovation. 2nd floor is much smaller, modern paintings of no interest. 2 balconies overlooking the Law School building, dotted with abstract sculptures.
Had dinner at a small cafe on Ave. July 9th, not far from Obelisk. Mediocre and pricy, A$7.5 per head cover charge. After dinner, headed over to AEP for an early morning flight to Rio Gallegos. Will be back in a month.Practicality:
Aerolineas Argentina refused to give me a transfer voucher, because I didn't arrive in Argentina with them, even though their tickets claims "for all those passengers traveling with the airline internationally, regionally or with a domestic connection".
At AEP, public bus 33 and 45 go to city center for $1.25 (COIN ONLY). Shuttle is A$25/pp. It's nearly impossible to get coins in the stores at AEP, only the 3rd shop where I bought a useless guide (A$19) gave me 4 A$1 change.
Most buses in town is A$1.1.
