s/v Milly: Walking the streets of Buenos Aires

This is not a post about what to see in B.A. Rather it is about the adventure of walking in it's streets.

Beautiful wall of plants/flowers. The textures make it look like an oil painting.

Merry-go-rounds in almost all parks. This one was in use with one rider..

A take on Toronto's Sugar Beach? Many parques have been set up with sand, chairs and umbrellas this summer.

Although the public transport system puts the Toronto Transit System to shame, Peter and I get around by bike and on foot. We spend hours walking the streets and have come up with some observations.

The sidewalks seem to be the responsibility of the building which they are in front of right down to the choice and installation of the paving stones to the cleaning of poop and garbage. Some are immaculate, those responsible sweeping, spraying, stooping.

Trees are sometimes clothed in crocheted blankets.

Huge and ancient gomera tree. Limbs are so enormous that they are supported by metal poles.

On most sidewalks there are obstacles lying in wait for the unsuspecting walker who must learn to keep their eyes on what’s in front of them. Although sidewalk stones are varied, the seemingly standard stone is about 50 cm square. After a heavy rain which occurs every 5-7 days like clockwork, relieving the building humidity, the sidewalk tiles that are invisibly loose harbour a pool of water underneath, unbeknownst to the walker. As the walker unwittingly steps on the stone, a jet of high pressure water shoots out from under the tile and gives the walker and possibly his/her companion a soaker, sometimes to the knee.

And from above, head and shoulders are also at risk of getting wet. It is hot here, really hot! and most buildings in the city are air conditioned. Condensation is plentiful, making puddles on the sidewalk from the drips above. Navigating the sidewalks, then, involves giving a wide berth to any moisture on the sidewalk - if the drip from above doesn’t get you, the splat from the drip will. The resulting line of passage of the walker, therefore, weaves between puddles.

Cars are sometimes left by the curb for a really long time Note broken sidewalk.

Apart from the loose stones, many are broken, uneven and/or missing. While we have noticed that construction on buildings is not as prevalent as it had been in March 2013 during our first trip here, the work to infrastructure seems to be high. For whatever reason, sidewalks are being dug up. We have not seen one back hoe or jack hammer used for this work. Instead, we have seen workers using shovel and pick axe, often in sweltering heat, to break the pavement or cement. An impressive but formidable task! At one intersection local to our apartment, two corners are dug up. Close to noon one enterprising worker was cooking lunch of sausages on, what we would call a campfire, here called an asado, made in the rubble of his digging.

Sausage lunch to left of fire grilling over redhot coals. Coals from the fire are brought under the sausage grill as need be. Quite an ad hoc set up for a corner construction site.

Other factors that impact walking:

Poop. Dogs are many. Stooping and scooping not so much.

Restaurant tables go right to the edge of the curb. A walkway through the tables is left for pedestrians - great view of the food and helpful for deciding where to eat.

Avoiding the puddles

Saturnalia - intent is to warn city folk against debauchery - juxtaposed to modern tattooed Ms

Memorial to those Argentinians killed in Malvinas/Falkland War

Despite these impediments, we have kept our heads up to see fantastic sights: elegant bookshops, churches, statues, dog walkers with more than ten dogs on leash, graffiti, parks, wonderful produce shops, plentiful bakeries - Argentinians have a sweet tooth, cafes, guys who haul cardboard by rickshaw, varied architecture, beautiful parks and much more. The city is culturally rich, vibrant, exciting, incredibly busy and always entertaining. Our walks are never boring!

Beautiful old bookshop with cafe at the back and in an adjoining courtyard.

Man hauling cardboard to be taken to depot for payment by weight

Addendum: Although we have been warned many times and in many formats, we have never felt threatened on our walks - knock on wood. We take the same precautions we would in any large city, do not walk late at night and choose routes in known neighbourhoods.