19 de Enero - Leaving Bahia Blanca
Today we are killing time before we get on the bus for Puerto Madryn. Bahia Blanca is definitely not a tourist destination, but it has really nice architecture, all from the mid 19th century, which is very ornate and spectacular. Otherwise, this is a port town that is more geared toward fishing and a large naval base than anything else. It is much quieter than any other place we have been. It will be nice to move on and get to the next place.One of the most surprising things to both of us about Argentina is how similar it is to the States in many ways. The food is very similar (pizza, pasta, steak, hamburgers, etc.) and the people all look like they could be walking down any street of any city in the States. It just feels a lot like home here. We have both been other places where it seems very different, even in Europe, but here it is very similar. There are a few differences as well, like we have not seen a single homeless person yet. On our way out of BsAs, we drove through the shanty towns that outlay the city, and the poverty there is worse than anything we see at home, but when walking around, we have only once been asked for spare change. I am asked 10 times in three blocks in San Francisco. People also love to shop here, and the clothes are cheap, and people dress very stylishly. Any time of day there are tons of people swarming the shops in every town, and in some spots people are still shopping until midnight.
There are not a lot of foreign tourists that we have run into. There is a vast system here for tourism, but it appears to be mostly Argentines on vacation. It is nice to be off of the backpacker track a bit. The rooms we are staying in continue to get smaller as our travels progress. We have both had minor injuries in the shower, if you drop the soap and try and pick it up, you will definitely hit some part of your body on something sticking out of the wall. There is just room enough to stand up, and that is it, even moving your arms to wash can be dangerous. We have both exited the tiny showers bleeding from such injuries. In the place we are staying here in Bahia Blanca, you can actually sit in bed, wash your hair, and open the front door without moving...that is how small the room is. We have grown accustomed to it, and actually like living simply. One of our favorite money saving techniques is to self-cater one meal a day, when we can. Last night we had a $1 bottle of fine Argentine Malbec, with some bread, cheese, salami and fruit, as well as some amazing desserts we bought at the local bakery (we are finding one of the best values anywhere are the amazing sweets that are very expensive at home, but cheap here) for about $4 dollars total. The prices are becoming normal to us, and we scoff at paying over $5 for any entre or for a bottle of wine. We did, however, almost splurge and buy a bottle of Diego Maradona wine from a fancy wine shop. Diego is Argentina´s Michael Jordan, he helped them win the World Cup (soccer) about 20 years ago. It was funny to see his face on the label of an expensive bottle of wine.
posted by The Blaus @ 1:37 PM
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