Argentina

The Land of the Tango and Mate...the first thing I noticed, was that every person had their little bowl or pot with a kind of straw in it...even the busdriver driving to Buenos Aires had one.Later I found out, it was the famous mate tea (yerba mate) a commonly consumed herb tea. It's quite sweet but still tasty.

Mate - 'Paraguayan tea'

Another thing that characterizes Argentina is of course the Tango but also the cultural dominance of immigrants from Europe.

Dogwalker, taken in the barrio where i lived

Wondering around in Buenos Aires was a bit strange, because it could have been in any other city in Europe, most of the poeple looked European...

The barrio where I lived was Belgrano "R", one of the most Residential areas within the Capital.

Unfortunately I only spent 3 weeks in Argentina, where I spent one week in Buenos Aires and then I made my way back to Chile (Santiage de Chile)

...on the way I stopped in the wine-producing Cuyo region. There I stayed in Mendoza for some days and visited a few wineries. Salud!

Winery outside Mendoza,Nov. 1998

EL BUEN VINO ES LA MAS SANA E HIGIENICA DE LAS BEBIDAS

MEANS THAT... WINE IS THE HEALTHIEST AND PUREST DRINKS OF ALL.

That message I liked, so I used every opportunity to taste all sorts of wine...Salud, salud!

Grapeclusters at the winery

Factos de Argentina:

Argentina's land area of about 2.8 million sq km, excluding South Atlantic islands and Antarctic claims, makes it the world's eighth-largest country, slightly smaller than India. Over a third of Argentinas's 34.3 million people reside in Gran Buenos Aires (the Capital Federal and its suburbs in Buenos Aires province). Nearly 90% live in Cities. Source: Lonely Planet SouthAmerica

The Cuyo region - some hours outside Mendoiza- The Andes

Not to forget the cultural and enternainment side of Argentina...and the first thing that comes to mind thinking of Argentina and Buenos Aires is of course the Tango. Getting away from the "microcentro" ( its called that because Buenos Aires actually consist of many suburbs)...you find Artists and musicians in the workingclass areas San Telmo and La Boca. Easily you can meet a couple dancing tango in the street (especially Sundays) in these barrios...

The cosy working-class barrio San Telmo

Enjoying a relaxed life in la Boca - part of Buenos Aires

A comment from a friend from Buenos AiresI met on the way to the Capital:

"You know for me Bs As is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has big gardens, for example Palermo; in the middle of the rush. It has a very good weather and people in general are very educated and polite. What I most like is the diversity of cultures that converge here what makes this city very cosmopolitan."

Silvia Schmuckler,Arica Teacher and Painter

With a population of 12.2 million people, Buenos Aires has become the world’s tenth largest metropolitan complex, with approximately 35 percent of the country’s population residing in the greater Buenos Aires conurbation. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is also the country’s chief seaport and its industrial, commercial, and social center. Situated on the southwestern end of the Rio de la Plata at the mouth of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers and the northeastern edge of the pampas (Argentina’s most productive agricultural region), Buenos Aires has access to south-central South America and the rest of the world. The city has become the distribution hub and trading center for a large portion of southern South America. Several features of the urban infrastructure are visible in this near-vertical photograph—runways of airports, and highways and railroads radiating from the central part of the city, which is located near the waterfront. South of downtown, the Matanza River flows northeastward, emptying into the Rio de la Plata.