Arrival in Buenos Aires...Musings...

It's been a little while since I've traveled internationally, not counting any recent trips to Turkey of course. I sometimes wonder if you looked at life expectancies, if those individuals with an enduring sense wanting to travel, discover, be curious, be active beat out the homebodies?

Any sense of superiority withstanding, I am stoked about what I've seen in Argentina and also how quickly I've been taken advantage of!

Some quick observations before we get the party in high gear...

• My snookering: after reading in guide after guide that I should only ride in radio-taxis/remises, what I do after extracing money from seemingly the only ATM within a half-mile? I hop on to a taxi (in my defense I did wait for a little while and no radio taxis came by....). The final bill - 120 pesos - roughly 10 more dollars than what I've seen quoted in most guides. I was going to Palermo though, which is further North - so...who knows...
• On the positive side, my cabby was jovial enough, even though he looked like a denizen of the 9th Ward. Also he did a Hail Mary every time we passed a church - 8 times within the 45 minute ride to the hotel. This was interesting to watch.
• Buenos Aires reminds me of...Istanbul of all places. If you compare the cities - they have similar populations, account for a large population of their country (although Buenos Aires accounts for over a third of Argentina), feature a significant underclass and have a lot of cheap, really good food.
• Even more so than just the numbers though, there's this odd sense of urban renewal amid a decaying, rotting old city in terms of architecture that makes me place the two together. Granted, Istanbul is the far older city - BA, simply cannot compete in the history department, but there's an intensity and energy about both which cannot be denied and especially the French influenced, older neighborhoods (like Beyoglu and Palermo) evoke one another for me. That and the mish mash style of it all....
• And finally - yes - the women are gorgeous. This is after all the country that gave us Gabi Sabatini - my high school fantasy :-).