BUENOS
AIRES is approximately triangular in shape and its boundaries
are marked by Avenida General Paz to the west, the River Plate
to the northeast and by its tributary, the Riachuelo, to the
south. Holding the whole thing together is Avenida Rivadavia,
an immensely long street (it is the longest in the world)
that runs east to west for nearly two hundred blocks, outside
the city limits. Through the very heart of the center runs
the spectacularly wide Avenida 9 de Julio, orientated conglomeration
of four multi-lane roads.
Statistics
Population:
2,965,403 (City of Buenos Aires), 37,812,817 (Republic of
Argentina).
Climate:
5 C° to 15 C° in winter, 25 to 32 C° in summer.
Religion:
Roman Catholic (92 %), Protestant (2 %,) Jewish (2 %) and
other (4 %).
Ethnic
Group: 97 % are white (of European descent) and 3 % are a
mixture of Native Indians and other races.
Language:
Spanish (official)
Currency:
The official currency in Argentina is the peso.
National
Flower: The national flower is the ceibo
National
Stone: The rodocrosita or "inca rose" is the national
stone.
Food
in Buenos Aires
Buenos
Aires is the Latin America's gastronomic capital. As well
as the excellent and ubiquitous pizza and pasta restaurants
common to the country as a whole, the capital offers an ever-increasing
number of cosmopolitan cuisines, ranging from Turkish through
Basque to Japanese. The city's crowning glory, however,
for meat eaters at least, are its parrillas. At the top end
of the range, there are restaurants offering the country's
choicest beef cooked on an asador criollo that is staked
around an open fire. There are plenty of humbler places, too,
where you can enjoy a succulent parrillada in a lively atmosphere.
There are excellent restaurants throughout the city but, with
a few exceptions, the center and the south are best for the
city's most traditional restaurants whilst the north is
the place to head for if you're looking for more innovative
or exotic cooking.
Puerto
Madero, the recently renovated port area, is knee-deep in big,
glitzy themed restaurants, these are hardly the capital's
most exciting eating options. You'll find a far more original
crop of restaurants in Palermo borough, where restaurants are
given added charm by being located in elegant late nineteenth-
and early twentieth-century constructions.
Most
restaurants open in the evening at around 8pm. Most restaurant
kitchens close around midnight during the week, though at weekends
many keep serving till the small hours. There are also plenty
of confiterías and pizzerias that open all night, which
you can enjoy at any time.
City
Transport
Buenos
Aires is actually served by an extensive, cheap and efficient
public transport service. The easiest part of this
system to come to grips with is undoubtedly the underground
railway or Subte, which serves most of the city center
and the north of the city. Buses are the perfect way
to reach the outlying barrios or the south of the city. Taxis
are also plentiful and inexpensive.
The
Subte: The first in Latin America, Buenos Aires' underground
railway, or subte (short for subterráneo), is an
efficient system – you shouldn't have to wait more
than a couple of minutes during peak periods – and certainly
the quickest way to get from the center to another points. There
are five lines, plus a so-called "premetro" system
which serves the far southwestern corner of the city, linking
up with the subte at the Plaza de los Virreyes, at the end of
line E. Lines A, B, D and E run from the city center outwards,
whilst line C, which runs between Retiro and Constitución,
connects them all. You need to buy tokens (fichas) to
use the subte; these cost less than U$S 0.30 and are bought
from the boleterías or ticket booths at each station
– you don't need to have the right change to buy them.
Even
if you use the subte only once during your stay in Buenos Aires,
you really shouldn't miss the chance to travel on Line A,
which runs between Plaza de Mayo and Caballito. It's the
only line to preserve the network's original carriages and
traveling in one of the rickety and elegantly lit wood-framed
interiors is like being propelled along in an antique wardrobe.
The
Buses: Buenos Aires' buses
are one of the most useful ways of getting round the city –
and the perfect way of reaching many of the outlying barrios.
It is an inexpensive way to travel: from U$S 0.25 to U$S 0.35
by ticket. Tickets are acquired from a machine, which gives
change for coins, though not for notes: as you get on you need
to state your fare to the driver before inserting your money
in the ticket machine. Once in Gran Buenos Aires, if you're
traveling beyond the city boundaries (to San Isidro, for example,
or Ezeiza) it is easier just to state your destination.
The
buses are called colectivos, the bus system is a generally
safe way of getting around the city. Many services run all night.
Argentinians are generally very courteous bus passengers and
never hesitate in giving up their seat to someone who looks
like they need it more.
The
Taxis and Remises: There are
two main types of taxi in Argentina: regular urban taxis that
you can flag down in the street; and remises, or minicab
radio taxis, that you must book by phone or at their central
booking booth. Urban taxis are fixed with meters and each municipality
has its own rates. Buenos Aires, like New York, is a city that
seems to be suffering from a taxi plague: you'll rarely
have problems finding one. Remises operate with rates fixed
according to the destination.
The
sheer volume of black and yellow taxis in Buenos Aires'
streets is one of the city's most notable sights and it's
rare that it takes more than a few minutes to flag down a cab.
The meter starts at just over U$S 0.35 and you should calculate
on a ride costing around U$S 1 per 30 blocks. Taxis are safe
form of transport.
Remises
are radio cabs, plain cars booked through an office (and therefore
preferred by locals). Generally they're cheaper than taxis
for getting to the airport.
Airports
in Buenos Aires
All
international flights arrive 35km west of the city center at
Ministro Pistarini Airport or – as it is actually referred
to by everyone – Ezeiza, in reference to the outlying
neighborhood in which it is situated.
Buenos
Aires' other airport is the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery
– normally referred to simply as "Aeroparque"
– situated on the Costanera Norte, around six kilometers
north of the city centre. Most domestic flights arrive here.
You can travel to Bariloche (Patagonia), Ushuaia or Córdoba
from there.
