BsAs

First off, I gota say: Greyhound, get your game up bro. The Argentinian buses are light years ahead in comfort and service. Meals on overnight buses, comfy seats and cheaper prices for longer distances? Yea it´d be nice if we had such exquisite low cost travel by bus in the states. Its all good.

So my overnight bus from San Martin took quite a while, going straight up from the top of Patagonia thru mountains, hillsides and small towns of Argentina.

Passed by all those fields where the cows roam. Cows that become some of the best steaks on the planet. A hint as to what lies ahead. We rolled into Buenos Aires a week or more ago. First impressions... They say this city is the Paris of the Western Hemisphere. Its also called Capital Federal, being one of the largest cities in Latin America and capital of the Argentine Republic. The citys metro network, or Subte - short for subterraneo, is dirt cheap and quite dirty. Thats all good, because the better option might be taking the metro as opposed to risking your life in one of the Radio Taxis. Well one of the rides I took was kind of like a roller coaster thru town. And to top it all off, traffic laws, signs and stoplights appear to be suggestions to the avvid BsAs driver. I literally have seen quite a few close calls at intersections. And I had only been here two days. Im tending to look in all four directions when crossing now. I see why Argentina has one of the highest motor vehicle accident mortality rates in the world. No one follows any of the traffic lights! Sometime during the week I think I deciphered the paper correctly when it said 28 fatal auto related deaths occured within 48 hours here.

And where is here? The barrio (neighborhood) called San Telmo. A place where one way streets intertwine with cobblestone roads. A place where local supermercados run by the Chinese were my source for whatever. A place where local deli kiosks put up metal barriers at night so you have to buy things through the hole. Hey, at least its not bulletproof. But that does speak volumes for the safety in this barrio.

Now Im hoping that in this week Im here, knock on wood, Im not gonna get scammed or jacked. Since Ive been here - like two days - Ive heard at least five separate stories pertaining to petty theft in the area where my hostel is. That would be San Telmo, which is next to La Boca...where one musn't venture at night. Period. You might get shot. Or robbed. Sweet. But San Telmo is kinda borderline, just gota watch your back and dont talk to random strangers no matter how nice they appear. For instance, one girl sat outside on the street here. Dude asks for a cigarette. As she opens her purse the dude grabs the dough and rolls. Another couple had their Nikon camera stolen out of their bag, as they sat in a coffee shop. Another traveler was distracted as she walked down the block in broad daylight while some dudes jumped in her bag and took the money, passport, credit card fortune. Another guy was standing on the subte (metro) next to the window. As the subte is pulling out of the station someone on the platform reaches thru the window and jacks his silver necklace.

Its just silly peddy theft in this less affluent part of town. Or if youre driving around town they tend to throw bricks through your window, jump thru it, grab your purse and run. In broad daylight. In NY if we get carjacked its usually cause our doors are unlocked at a traffic light. But in BsAs its just bad luck to have the brick thru the window carjacking. I dont suppose anyone would think of that in the States. But then again, I really dont know. Just watch your back when you walk down these streets and dont trust anyone...not even the crippled old lady who falls over in front of you.Even admist all the petty crime, there are reasons to go out. Des Nivel is one of them. A staple local eatery. Everyone goes there for the best cheap steaks. Good environment too.I must have eaten here I dont know how many times. I feel like I put back on during these weeks in Argentina alone at least half of the 20lbs lost while traveling. And I'll show you why. I'm not one to indulge in steaks, but here you have to. And it was damn good. One time I had been next to a half dozen huge local dudes who came in and just ate two of these each. They just kept piling on the meat. Looked like a scene from the Sopranos or something. They had to be mafia.

So is dessert in this country. Panqueques de dulce de leche. Superb.

Theres a lot more you can indulge in. Mate. Which is the tea in Argentina. Put some sugar and leaves in a wooden cup and drink from a barilla, which is the metal stick that filters out the leaves.Alfajores. Havanna has the best little cake things with dulce de leche inside. Have you noticed dulce de leche is something they put in everything?

I owe all these local food tips to my Argentinian friends whom I met while in New Zealand. Always good when you get the local experience from a local.

Buenos Aires is a great city, with excellent food. The best steaks, some damn good pizza and lots of other stuff I cant list. And its not just about eating, although it seems like thats most of what people do here. Yet local residents dont appear too overly obese. Thats because they eat steaks and all this other great food sparingly, like once every other week. Tourists come in and eat a steak a day. They also come to see the citys architecture, which resembles that of a European city. The countrys White House...is a pink house. Most of BsAs is lined with Parisian like elegance. Im sure to show you some more of it...in due time.