Good Times in Good Air

It’s always interesting to see how traveling changes people’s perspectives.  My friend’s Helen and Mitch first arrived in Buenos Aires 4 months ago, scared, terrified to even leave the hostel, thinking everyone on the street was out to murder them.  The other day I met a bunch of fresh travelers just arriving from Sidney, and they were all terrified by the city and felt like they were living in the ghetto.

Me on the other hand found Buenos Aires to be an unreal change, a super safe city that felt unbelievably modern.  The first day I was able to get my head and beard trimmed, buy a book in English, visit the market, wash my clothes, have a hot shower, and drink the water, all in about a 4 block radius and all of 2 hours.

I felt slightly like an ignorant westerner when I asked the hostel check-in guy if they have hot water, he gave me the look like I was retarded and I half expected him to say, ‘yeah and we have electricity too.’  I was also shocked and leery that I could drink the water.  It absolutely blew my mind that BA has a subway system, fuckin SF doesn’t even have a subway!!

After exploring the city for a few days, I’ve found that it has pockets of very nice, modern accommodations, surrounded by ghetto scary looking streets.  If you’re walked down a random street you might be terrified, jump one block over and the streets turn to cobblestone, the buildings turn clean, and the language turns decidedly more English.

I like it a lot here, and I’m excited to explore the night life.

Buenos Aires skyline from Puerto Madero

Another view from Puerto Madero