More BA

My stay in Buenos Aires has been longer than I planned.  I am getting visas for Brazil and Paraguay, and for each country I have to leave my passport at the embassy so they can paste the visa with my photo inside, which means I can only do one country a day instead of both on the same day.  I will be picking up my Paraguay visa tomorrow on my way out of town.

I have been enjoying my extended stay here, especially the restaurants.
I can't remember what this was called, but it consists of thinly sliced beef, like a schnitzel, covered with a Holandaise sauce along with pan fried potatoes.  If you have small kids bring em to Argentina, they will love it, you will notice that there are no green vegetables on this dish, and that goes for about everything else I have tried here.


Everywhere I have been south of Estados Unidos, dogs roam freely and get into all the different kinds of trouble that roaming dogs get into.  In Buenos Aires there are very few strays, dogs are leashed and appear to be well cared for.  The poop scooping trend has not hit here yet, so one must watch one's step at all times.  This park has a special doggy playground, a fenced off area where dogs can get into trouble under supervision.

I have been using the 'Subte' to shuttle back and forth between the 'embajadas' of Brazil and Paraguay.   The station nearest me is also where the commuter trains and buses link up with the Subte.  I have never seen anything like the chaos of trying to get onto an already crowded subway car with the addition of a few hundred more commuters.   If sardines were packed into a can like the Subte users pack themselves in, the humane society would be all over it.  I learn quickly,  the stop before the train station bus station stop is only a few blocks farther up, I still get crushed but at least I am in the car, the less agressive commuters will probably be waiting for at least half an hour and many trains going by before they can climb on board.

Buenos Aires is one of the great cities.  Fine attractive buildings, many parks, lots of trees, I have never seen anything that quite compares, although I think that people who have been to Paris or Rome will probably find similarities.  Most cities I am familiar with do not pay much attention to esthetics, or the inhabitants (other than treating them as inconvenient annoyances that get in the way of cars and commerce).  Buenos Aires is clearly a city that believes it must look good and the people who live there should enjoy living there.  

BA is not immune from the usual big city problems, there is graffiti, some homeless, annoying drunks etc., but it is also safe and is one of the most interesting places I have been to.