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I came to Argentina last month hoping to find a viable alternative
to Europe, where the almighty euro is still giving the U.S. dollar a
firm beating, recent gains notwithstanding. I happily anticipated that I
would find things cheaper here -- after all, the Argentine peso went
into free fall back in 2002. But how exceptional would the bargains be,
and would it really be a true substitute -- close enough to the original
to satisfy the traveler yearning for a European-style experience?
Matter of fact, during my days and nights in Buenos Aires, I had
to keep reminding myself that I was in South America. Walking wide
boulevards lined with fine, European-style architecture, past chic
restaurants and bistros where people linger over meals, you sometimes
feel as if you are in Paris. Late at night, though, the bright lights
and indefinable sense of energy in the streets reminded me more of New
York -- although New York is much more ethnically diverse. Porteņos, as
residents of
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Buenos Aires are called, are predominantly of European
extraction.
Basically, visiting Buenos Aires is like going to Europe and
finding that everything is half-off American prices. Plus you've got
coupons that knock another 20 percent off select goods and services.
Granted, you still have to get there. But our package price of
$900 each -- about the cost of airfare to Europe this summer, or to
Argentina, for that matter -- included airfare direct from Dulles, six
nights in a very nice, centrally located hotel with breakfasts, airport
transfers in a private car with a tour guide to greet us, and a half-day
bus tour of the city.
If we'd been extremely frugal -- eating in the cheapest
restaurants and taking public buses for 30 cents -- we could have gotten
by on less than $200 for all other expenses that week. We chose instead
to enjoy a few affordable luxuries. This included taking cabs (after all,
the meters start at 55 cents), great meals in beautiful settings, a day
trip out of the city and an overnight trip to an estancia, one of
the many former estates where the wealthiest aristocrats of Argentine
society once lived and trained their polo ponies during the months they
were not vacationing in Europe.
Unfortunately, we couldn't ignore the bargains in shop windows.
After all, our salon "savings" alone could buy us three or four pairs of
fashionable leather shoes, or four or five stylish woolen sweaters, or
maybe a pair of those boots of buttery soft pigskin, with a purse to
match.
Of course, this tourist windfall comes at the expense of the
Argentine people who, despite a stable government at the moment, still
struggle with the fallout of many years of inept and corrupt leadership.
Just a few years ago, the Argentine peso was pegged to the American
dollar, one for one. During our trip, banks were giving about 2.8 pesos
for one dollar. Even that apparently did not reflect the true state of
the peso: Most shops and restaurants were happy to take American dollars
and give a flat three-to-one exchange.
Yet the city -- or
at least the central areas that tourists frequent -- shows few, if any,
signs of the financial collapse that the country has endured.
Restaurants, bars and tango venues are filled with locals. Parks and
buildings both public and private seem wellkept. You see fewer obviously
destitute people than you would in similar neighborhoods in American
cities. Although the U.S. State Department warns of petty crime, I feel
safe walking in busy downtown neighborhoods both day and night.
