So I would first like to say that during a CPR training course today, I decided that I am going back to South America in the summer of 2010! This literally came out of nowhere! It's my intuition or something! Now I am really excited to start planning sometime towards the end of this year! I plan on going to every country that I want to go to there..NO REGRETS! ANYWAYS, back to my time in Argentina...
Weather. Came during the Summer season. It wasn't hot, just very humid. It also rained hard the day we landed in Buenos Aires and the next day too. My hair curled up the second we stepped out of our hostel--pretty much in Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Iguazú. But my skin was nice and clear! Nights were hot at first but cooled down quickly. Mendoza on the other hand, we only had a fan in our room so it was pretty hot during the days in our room and somewhat during the nights but we stayed out for most of our time there so it wasn't bad. It was hotter in our hostel than when we were walking the streets of Mendoza. Iguazú was hot in our area of cataratas del iguazú but during our time near the waterfalls, it was hot but not unbearable. California is more unbearable than Argentina during the summer season so I say it's a good time to go.
Hostels. They weren't bad. You meet a lot of good people there who end up being good friends. I say hostels make the traveling experience better. Do it.
Safety. Seriously, we felt 100% safe in all three locations. No one tried to pickpocket from us at all. Never felt scared or worried about anything. I think I felt more safe there than I do in some areas of Los Angeles and even some places in the SCV! But that was just our own experience. All I'll say is don't believe everything you see in the media (but wait until I talk about Brazil...whole different story!)
The Argentine Peso. We liked the Peso better than the Real in Brazil because of the exchange rate. $1 US Dollar = ~$4 Argentine Pesos at the time of our trip. Nothing was expensive in Argentina.
People of Argentina. Mostly the Italian/European flare. The people here are BEAUTIFUL. I really feel that Argentina doesn't get much credit. The whole area had a European feel. I'll call it the "Milan of South America." They are all nice. I don't think we had any run-ins with unfriendly people there. They are also very natural looking; nothing fake in Buenos Aires and everywhere we went while there, for that matter.
Fashion/style/Shopping. The fashion is trendy. Like I said, European style-like but at the same time, their own that separates themselves from everyone else in the world. One of the items I bought myself while there were some pants that I'm waiting to see if that style will hit the US within a year or 2. Argentines dress themselves. Meaning, no one there looks the same. Very cool, confident, sexy. Oh and you will not see any women and rarely any men wearing shorts. Shopping is done mainly on Florida St. Nice area. I loved the flea market on that street; families set up their own "shop" in the evening in one long row and wait for the locals and tourists to come and buy their trinkets.
FOOD. I loved how Argentina offers a wide variety of flavors and cuisines. You can find good Italian food one day, Mexican the next, Middle Eastern, Asian...etc. And everything is GOOD! Nothing to complain about. Argentina is known for its beef and we were definitely not let down! Yerba maté is another drink Argentina is in love with. If someone offers you some, you better not refuse! You can't find it anywhere, but you can buy the set, which I did, and enjoy it. I only tried maté once in Mendoza and the way the guy had made it was PERFECT! I could not have asked for a better dose of maté! Gives you the feeling of home. Oh and if you are ever on Florida St, please go to the City Corner ConfiterÃa on Florida y Lavalle and try the flan. AMAZING! And there is a food cart near one of the bus stations where we stopped at to pick up people that had the best carne asada sandwich that I have ever had! I wish I had more to say about it or how to get there but I don't remember! That is something that I would look for, even if it was from a cart....mmmm...Here of some highlights of my favorite foods there.
Tours. We didn't really take a tours while in Argentina. Just one in Buenos Aires, just to get a quick feel of the area and then go from there. Mendoza, you have to take one if you want to see the wineries and olive oil. We also took a tour of the Andes because we weren't going to do that on our own! Everything we did there was worth it and it wouldn't have been fun if we didn't add some of those elements into our trip. *We did not take any tours in Iguazú.* I really don't think it is necessary. You can easily navigate around that area. Save your money for water!
LocutorÃos. Where you go to make calls to home. Also for internet access. When we got the chance, we only used the internet at our hostels since we did not want to pay for internet. The hostel we stayed at in cataratas del iguazú charged to use the internet there, so we ended up not using it there and of course there wasn't any internet access in the Amazon so by the time we got to Rio, my parents thought we were dead or missing! (We didn't have internet access for about 2 weeks.) Calling cards were EXTREMELY EXTREMELY hard to find in all three locations so we ended up just using the locutorÃos to call home. From what I remember, I believe it cost us ¢0,79 pesos a minute. Wasn't bad at all. More expensive to call home in Brazil.
Postcards. I mailed a postcard home in Iguazú and it only cost $5 pesos, about $2.
Nightlife. WOW the nightlife here is AMAZING! BUENOS AIRES IS A NIGHT CITY! CRAZY nightlife! I'll admit that during the days in Buenos Aires, it is hard to find something to do but at the same time, time flies fast over there so we didn't mind at all. But all the action in Buenos Aires is at night. Argentines go out late; around 2-3 am (That's the time my friends and I usually leave or earlier from our own girls night outs!) and don't get home until like 6 or even 7am. But it is so much fun, you don't even notice the time! One club I really enjoyed there was Club 69.
It was OUT OF CONTROL and I LOVED IT! The dancers are all over the place. At one point it was awesome how they would get on a circular table with a pole and the next thing you saw was that it was coming your way WHILE the dancers were dancing. It was crazy! I had a minute conversation in Spanish with one of the dancers..he was pretty cool! That was my favorite club WITHOUT A DOUBT and I would definitely go back there and experience it again! Just be careful there because the guys act like they can do whatever they want (only in the clubs; they are nice and respectful during the day) with no rules and it wasn't CARNIVAL (or spelled CARNAVAL in Brazil)(ex. There was this guy who walked up to me, grabbed me and walked away without giving me eye contact or a "Hola! Que tal?"! Literally 10 minutes later, he walked up to me and grabbed another part of my body and walked away AGAIN! I think I was actually in shock that he thought he could do that and he COULDN'T EVEN LOOK AT ME! NO THANK YOU! But besides that it was fun and in general, the nightlife is definitely one of the hottest in the world! Nightlife is pretty calm but fun in Mendoza as well!
Argentine Tango. If there was one dance that I could learn, it definitely would be the tango and what better way of learning more about it by going to where it was born, Buenos Aires, Argentina. We chose the perfect tango show. We learned the steps of the tango, had dinner, and watched a tango show--which was about the story of how the tango started. It was amazing! Just simply amazing! Towards the end of the show, the dancers got off of the stage and danced with a couple members of the audience. I was one of the first to get picked! I have always wanted to learn the tango AND dance with a tango professional...a small dream come true! I really tried to keep the passionate look in my eyes and face, like how you are supposed to during the dance, but he was cute and he kept telling me how beautiful I was so I couldn't help but smile! :o) An experience I will never forget!
The ANDES Mountains. AMAZING. We trekked up 5000ft, went down the mountain, and repelled down 47 meters, but I think it was more and you would probably say the same thing if you saw how high we were! Can I just say that it is the hardest thing in the world to trust JUST a rope because if something happens to it....but at the same time that rope brings one of the most cool, calm, and collected feeling when you are flying down the mountain! This was spectacular and the Andes makes you feel like you are at home. If I get the chance again, I definitely would take the opportunity to do this again!
Iguazú, Iguaçú, y Iguassu Falls-Border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. We loved it here. The falls were an amazing site to see. Very calm, serene, and breathtaking. Brazil has the views and Argentina has the closeness to the falls. It takes only 2 hours to see everything Brazil has to offer and 8 hours on the Argentina side. We enjoyed the Argentina side; we loved the closeness to the falls and the environment. Though I enjoyed Garganta del Diablo better on the Brazil side. Please add 2 days to your itinerary to enjoy these falls.
Ease of getting around Argentina. Definitely easy. We walked most of the time and didn't really use any taxis and buses. There is one thing you should believe if you have heard this. The #1 cause of death of tourists is vehicular accidents. The drivers here are CRAZY! NO JOKE! Please be careful when crossing the streets and even walking on the sidewalks because they do park on the sidewalks as well. Traffic is insane and the drivers are twice as insane! Something funny that I remember was when we first arrived and we were on the bus and I saw some woman do a hit and run while trying to park and just drove off! Now I would be afraid to own a car here. I would probably have 4x the dents in my car there than what I have now on my own car! Just be careful. Oh and I will just say that for the most part, the buses and taxis are safe and you shouldn't get worried if you have to ride the bus or need a taxi.
Sightseeing. Some of my favorite places were La Boca, 9 de julio, casa rosada, Parque de la flor, Recoleta, San Telmo, and well pretty much everywhere! Buenos Aires is a beautiful city. In Mendoza, we saw the wineries, the olive oil, the ANDES MOUNTAINS!!!, the hot springs in the Andes, and a gaucho village as well. Everything there was beautiful. The city itself, Mendoza, is not really a crowded, busy area; more like a chill place to just relax and take it easy. We loved it. Cataratas del iguazú and foz do iguaçú was SPECTACULAR. We saw the waterfalls from both sides and really, my words probably can't accurately describe how spectacular this place is. It is an amazing sight to see and I really recommend you put in 2 days in your itinerary for these beautiful falls.
What I wish we could have done while we were there. It would have been cool to take a ferry ride out for a day or two to Uruguay. I hear it's beautiful. I wish that I could have taken more pictures of us and what we saw while we were there. Some of the pictures didn't come out so well. It would have been also cool if we had the time to go to Tigre and Delta. We also both agreed that it would have been better if we had more time there but we aren't complaining because Mendoza was a last minute trip decision and we are both glad that we did it. None of these are regrets, just things that would have been fun to do at the time.
Would I come back? One word--YES. And that is what I will be doing when I make my return to South America next year.
Things I look forward to in the future in Argentina. The Pampas, PATAGONIA, Tierra de la Fuego, making a trip out to Falkland Island (the only way you can get there is from Argentina, Chile, or the United Kingdom), La Salta, Cordóba, the beaches in Argentina, the FOOD, the TANGO shows, more sightseeing, my return to Buenos Aires, the nightlife, Mendoza again...OF COURSE have to pick up some organic olive oil, try to get the chocolate tour, return back to Cecchin, and I wouldn't mind doing more tours in the Andes!
Un paÃs hermoso con tanto a ofrecer.
