Satellite
  • Day 14

    History of Argentina

    March 1, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We began our day with a walk in the neighborhood, and some pastry and cortado (coffee with a shot of milk). We went to a hipster bakery called Salvaje, where we sat outside and watched the world go by. We ate our umpteenth alfajores (two cookies with dulce de leche between) and wondered, once again, why is this cookies such a big deal? I assure you, it would never have made it onto Hermine’s cookie list! Oh well, we’ll keep trying, on the theory that we just haven’t had a good one yet!

    After strolling the streets of Palermo, we returned to the apartment to wait for Kelly, who was arriving any minute. As Arie and I planned out our activities during our time in BA, we were both buzzing with anticipation. Honestly, when she rang the bell, I was so excited that I bumped my knee on the table as I jumped for the door! So delighted to have her to share this adventure with us.

    After we fed Kelly a snack, and gave her time to wash up from her long flight, we headed to the center of town for a walking tour with Free Tours BA. The group that had assembled for the free tour was huge (nearly 75 people), but our guide had a headset and a small speaker. Since the guide works for tips at the conclusion, we decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad that we did. For the next 2-1/2 hours our guide gave us a sweeping explanation of Argentinian history, sprinkled with charming stories about life in Argentina. He was just fantastic. Over the course of the tour we learned about Spanish conquest and the move for independence, as well as more modern history.

    I was fascinated to learn that most of BA was built over the last 120 years, with much of the building following an exposition in France in which Argentina won honors and invited people to visit, in 20 years. So, Argentinians returned home, tore down old buildings, and rebuilt the city in a French classical style. (Sadly, Argentina only recently enacted laws to protect old buildings, so in the 1960s many of the gracious old dames were torn down to make way for modern monstrosities that housed far more people.)

    We also learned that Argentina really came into its own economically during World War II, when it exported food to countries on both sides of the conflict. Exporting food brought fabulous wealth to the country, but the gap between rich and poor grew and grew, opening the gates for the rise of General Peron and his wife, Evita. Of course, both the General and Evita are still iconic in this country, with people either loving or hating them. The image of Evita graces buildings, art, and advertisements. Quite the cult of personality.

    Another interesting tidbit, is that a large percentage of the Argentinian population is of Italian extraction (some say as high as 50%). This explains the omnipresence of pizza and pasta, and the charming habit of Argentinians saying “chow” instead of adios or goodbye.

    We ended the tour with a discussion of the Argentinian economic situation, which is a complicated and ever evolving story about hyper inflation. At one point, inflation was at 3000%. From a practical perspective, this means that the prices changed so quickly that the cost could change from the moment to when you took the item off the shelf, to when you checked out at the front of the store. (According to our guide, prices were announced on the loudspeaker.). This hyper inflation has a whole series of unexpected consequences. Not only have people lost vast amounts of wealth, but there is no such thing as a mortgage. (Why? Well, the bank is not interested in lending money as the value plummets, as someone paying back the money will do it with sharply devalued currency.). As a result, all houses and apartments have to be purchased for cash!

    We finished our tour with a visit to the Pink House, which is the Presidential residence. It is actually pink, although no one knows exactly why.

    After taking an late afternoon nap, we headed out to dinner at a restaurant called ”Proper,” which is located in an old mechanics shop. While we arrived around 9, we still had to wait an hour for a table. The meal was well worth the wait. We had a series of small plates, which were all delicious. Then, we had an “off menu” item (which the “Remote Year” fellow that we met in Santiago had told us about) — a rib eye steak. The waiter asked if we wanted 500 kg, 700 kg, or 1 kilo. We opted for the smallest cut, which is a darn good thing, as it was huge (more than a pound). But it was oh so yummy. We ate every bite. Of course, we still had room for dessert, and stopped at Rapa Nui, a helado store on the way home. I had the most intense chocolate ice cream and a fantastic dulce de leche, although it was hard to believe that I had room for another bite.
    Read more