My Home for the duration



Where does she stay, one may ask, during her lengthy sojourn in Buenos Aires. Vacation Rental apartments are abundant, and range from about 650US Dollars to the 'Sky Is The Limit'. Googling Buenos Aires Apartmetn rentals on the Internet brings up a number of rental agencies.

A really 'barato' - cheap - one is usually a studio, often without balcony, sometimes without elevator, or in a less desirable neighbourhood. However - some pretty nice gems can be found even for that low a price, if one does not mind 'small'.

My 'pad' is in Palermo Viejo, a fun residential district in Buenos Aires, but with every shop, restaurant and service imaginable at one's doorstep.

My living room/dining room with a view to the tiny kitchen waaaayyyy back.

Simple, but neat...

The apartment is located on the third floor, important! Buenos Aires is famous for power outages, and hiking up endless dark flights of stairs is not fun - especially during a heat wave.

My balcony. Not exactly a grand view of nature as I enjoy from my balcony in British Columbia. BUT, for metropolitan Buenos Aires pretty good. The inviting pool below belongs to the brand new condo building next door - sigh!
But I have a folding chair, which the owner purchased for me at some far away shopping centre. Of course I had to pay for it.
250 pesos - delivered...

A bit of summer on my dining room table...Gerbera from a street flower stand - 12 pesos.

And this is what the latest version of a 100 Argentinian Peso bill looks like. Kristina, La Presidenta, is unveiling the design, which features her favourite Argentinian Saint: Evita Peron
This 100 pesos is worth - today - about  $20 Canadian.
Tomorrow, the peso may be worth less, judging by the trend of an ever sinking value of the peso in international markets and pretty rapid inflation at the home front..
Good for purchasing power in foreign currency, but not so good, if one needs to withdraw cash from an ATM.
Daily withdrawal limit is 1000 Pesos - about 200 Can Dollars, once the local bank fee is deducted.
Good way to stay within a budget...if people are into heavy duty shopping.
Credit card purchases work, but the price of goods is usually increased by 5-10 percent by the shop owners.
Cash is King here.

In case readers do not know Kristina Nestor Kirchner, here she is: La Presidenta de Todos los Argentinos.

What else is new...a very wealthy European multi-millionaire, Eduardo Elkann, endured a double Whammy New Year surprise: Robbers broke into his Hollywood style mansion surrounded by park like grounds in posh sea-side Punta del Este in Uruguay, just across the River Plata. They liberated the strongbox, which contained about 3.5 Million Euros worth of jewels, and took off - strongbox and all.
The millionaire's plight made the press, of course. I am not sure, whether the perpetrators met their fate at the hand of the Federales in hot pursuit yet.
The Millionaire did, though. When the news broke, the police and officials asked themselves, why Mr. Elkann had not bothered to declare all these imported goodies, when he arrived from Spain? After all, everything over 10.000 US dollars has to be declared to Customs upon entering the country...
Going after the fine for illegal currency importation is much more profitable than chasing down the thiefs.
As the News call it: De Robado a Multado, meaning: from being robbed to being fined....all in one day.
Happy New Year, Eduardo!
On the subject of robberies. There are a few more of them, mostly the run of the mill stuff. But one robber cleaned out the victims valuables...and then left her small baby behind, she sheer forgot it! Must have been a really impressive haul.

Buenos Aires has its usual surprises. The RURAL, beloved Art Deco exhibition grounds just like the Ex in Toronto, has just been expropriated and is now 'in the hands of the people', meaning the Government. The farmers are restless....

The City sprang another surprise upon its daily commuters. As of today, the city runs all the subways, having taken over the management from - I suppose - an independent company. First order of the day: close Line A (that's the one with the great tourist attraction of Anno 1913 wooden subway cars) which runs along the main artery of the city, Calle 5 de Mayo. Duration of closure: 1-3 months...to upgrade to new trains.
Patriotic commuters revolt - getting rid of one of the city's iconic treasures. Never mind having to find alternative ways of getting up that long haul...buses are slow in BA traffic.

But, to ice the subway cake, rumors have it that the fare will go up from 2.50 pesos to 6 pesos or more - who knows. Someone has to pay for the new cars...Must be my presence, last time I was here in Buenos Aires the fares rose from 1.50 pesos to 2.50 pesos, hmmm...
Needless to say....commuters are restless...

Garbage collection in Buenos Aires - for all 13 million residents, happens every night except for REALLY important holidays, like New Years Day. No recycling, everything finishes up in plastic bags - or outside plastic bags - on sidewalks each evening. Collection trucks rumble and roar through the city all night long. Well, the city is thinking of taking that little job on as well. Apparently the company presently doing the job is not doing the job well enough. What if? There will be a lot of used garbage trucks for sale somewhere.....hmmmm...
The residents are restless...