Having tried to avoid mentioning the crazy inflation going on in Buenos Aires which is constantly denied by the dark-haired Donatella Versace they call a President (OH Hell, every woman over 40 looks like Donatella here), I am going to have to start to rant about the craziness. Even my wonderful laundress (Cristina at the lavaropa on the corner of Serrano and Cabrera - she has never lost a single sock and I can't even manage that at home) has increased the price of a load from 8 to 9 pesos. Taxis up 22%, the menu del dia at Freud and Fahler up from 34 to 50 pesos and my medical insurance plan up 16.8% when I only joined three weeks ago!
Athens? No... a university campus in Buenos Aires
On the other hand, I have signed up for twice a week sessions at Palermo Pilates (Malabia and Cabrera) for 150 pesos - a month. It's such a cute little studio and with only three machines, you get tons of attention from Julietta. And these would be reformer sessions rather than mat. It costs that much for one hour of machines in London. So enough complaining because the upside is that all the foreigners who only live here because it's (was) cheap are starting to talk about moving on. To anyone coming on down, visiting or living, I say again, it is pretty important to bring CASH - forget travellers cheques in every way and you can still only extract 300 pesos a day (£50/$100) from the ATM which doesn't go far when you have to pay for everything in cash. And don't get too clever - my bank (First Direct/HSBC) throws up security on my card if I make another extraction. They insist on doing this even though I have instructed them not to about a million times - they say it's automatic 'for my security' which doesn't make me feel so secure when I'm travelling and can't get out any money all alone in a strange town. I used to say bring $ - Now they have crashed the exchange rate in the shops and restaurants, EUROS are a much better trip, 4.80 pesos to cada uno.
Madrid? No... the water purification plant in Buenos Aires!
They hid Evita's dead body in here so the people wouldn't deify her.
While it's been chucking it down this week, the cable guy has not been able to come but they are definitely appearing in the morning and will tangle with the disinfectant guy who comes once a month to stop foot-long cockroaches attempting an incursion via the waste pipes. And I am still waiting in (hope) for a delivery from Mama in England and the Wedding Book printers in the U.S. My portero swears that the mail service here is fine while everyone else says its rubbish - wait and see.
Moscow? No...the Russian Orthodox Church in San Telmo.
It was however designed in St Petersburg
Part of the problem with being at the End of the World is that news from outside rarely filters through and the news channel does little to alleviate the solitude. I have taken to listening to Channel 2 in order to attune my ear to idiomatic Castellano (OK before you start writing, I know it's not Lunfardo but they do talk pretty darn fast). Whereas everywhere else in the world, the news moves briskly around to keep viewer's short attention spans engaged - Here they analyse one topic to death. Honestly it's like 9/11 coverage all over again. They have just finished with the Campo - the farmers beat down the government although it may have been a bit of a Brownian stab in the back by the Vice President - and now they are going on about Nationalisation of Aerolineas Argentinas ad nauseum and nothing else until tea time.
Cairo? No.... the Obelisco on Ave 9 de Julio - the widest avenue in the world.
Not all of it is actually in the photo - there are four collector lanes on each side as well.
and one more...
... I have always wanted a pink house in Palm Springs or Venice Beach or Venice, Italy but I am currently in love with this little lovely in Palermo.
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