May 16 continued

The airport is busy - busy and cold. I have succumbed to McDonald´s, something I haven´t done in many years, because it is much cheaper than the cafes and LAN does not have me down for a vegetarian meal so I won´t eat much again for a long time. I am having an egg and cheese bagel after having thrown off the ham. The coffee I am drinking is the first I have had in Argentina and it is gross. Only 1 sugar and it is too sweet.

Oy, where to resume...

Buses in Buenos Aires, smaller than in Australia or America, used to be highly decorated because drivers drove the same bus all the time and, in W´s words, were very proud of their buses. Many are still decorated at least somewhat. Last night I rode in a bus with a scalloped tapestry banner across the top of the windshield and above the front windows were two mirrors engraved with names in each of their four corners.

The city is so full of people and construction and narrow sidewalks that it is frustrating to get around if you are in a rush, which I mostly was - particularly irritating since I am on holiday. I dodged and bumped and careened around. People in Buenos Aires don´t seem to be in a hurry ever, which is good I guess.

Yesterday I took the tourist bus ($25 pesos), which I have mentioned. No morning cafe stop but a subway ride instead. Linea A is the oldest line, opened in 1913 and still running its original cars, wood-panelled on the inside with wooden benches. Buenos Aireans find these trains beautiful, not something I ever hear from Melbournians about their old city circle trams. Taking the tourist bus was a great idea (thanks, W.) It takes tourists around a large section of the inner city, letting people hop on and off as they please and runs commentary throughout. I recommend to anyone travelling to Buenos Aires to take this bus first and then decide which neighbourhods to linger in further.

The bus starts at Plazo de Mayo, the banking centre of Buenos Aires. It is one of those many parts of BA that has amazing colonial architecture, including a cathedral, in streets of stone and windows, yet somehow misses being beautiful. I think maybe it is patchy and yellow grass, fences (even plain wrought iron ones), and, well, too much street, that gets in the way. The bus goes through Retiro, a main street of mansions; the outskirts of San Telmo; La Boca; Puerto Malero, where there is a huge native reserve of marshland and glass skyscrapers recently built to reclaim the port area for the wealthy and tourists; Palermo, which has an architect designed neighbourhood of super-mansions, now mostly embassies, and streets covered in tree canopy, a tiny part of the city beautiful in that aristocratic European way; and passes Recoleta, the zoo, botanical garden and Japanese garden.

I only had time to hope off the bus at La Boca, which immediately became my favourite part of the city. I only skimmed the surface of its charms, but I fell in love. It should be the hippy part of BA, but W said it is dangerous (poor) and unhealthy due to the high level of contamination in the River Plate, which indeed looks brown and sad.