Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, a baroque Colonial church built in 1732, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Argentina is the fifth country we are visiting in South America. As already mentioned in previous reports, even though these countries are on the same continent, they are worlds apart! But after 7 weeks in Bolivia, arriving in Argentina was a shock to us in many respects.
First, this country does not seem to fit our concept of Latin America or what we had seen so far, but is far more like Europe. The first thing that stroke us is how economically developed the country is: looking around, it could be any country in Europe.
The same is true for the people. It could be Spain, but at times it could also be England or Germany! We are very far from the Andean feeling we immediately got in Peru or especially in Bolivia! Also the way people dress is nothing different from what we are used to see back home.
Eating out is also really close to what we are used to in Europe. The restaurants we frequented could have been anywhere in Europe. The real difference is wine: it is far cheaper than anywhere else in the world, and it is good, especially if you are into strong, full-bodied red wines to accompany a big, juicy steak!
And unfortunately, if we feel here a far more European touch in everything, prices are also far closer to European prices than what we have experienced so far on this continent. In 11 days in Argentina, we spent on average twice as much as what we had spent in Venezuela, Peru or Bolivia and significantly more than in Brazil.
Another strange feeling is that since everything is so well organized, we have had the impression to travel from one highlight to another without experiencing anything in between. Yes, what we saw was incredible, but we have missed a little the experience in between that makes travel an adventure, not just a succession of pictures.
A very pleasant aspect in Argentina is that the sun does not set until 09:30 pm so you can really make use of a day here and do a lot of sightseeing and traveling. What a difference from Bolivia or Peru, where it is pitch- dark at 07:00 pm!
We are now heading to Chile for a little more than two weeks, before coming back to Argentina for another 5 to 6 weeks, with one week in the north of Chile. We are curious of what we are going to experience when coming back … Vamos a ver!
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