GA Days 34 (January 8) - Last day for us to capitalize on the sights and sounds of Buenos Aires; so sad there was not more time to explore…will just have to come back again. It was another hot sunny day and the mercury would end up at about +35C - by noon. And what better way to start than to go find another piece of luggage given a few acquisitions and my need to downsize by sending stuff back to Montreal with Jean. I mean, my Taiga jacket, hoody, and a few other items are not likely required in Brazil. So it was off to Florida for shopping - not the state but the large pedestrian mall that runs from Santa Fe (not the city but a major boulevard) near to the Casa Rosada, our other requisite visit.
Along the Florida strip was a sizable mall where our first stop was meant to be - the Samsonite store. The mall was quite ornate with its Christmas tree still proudly displayed in the central area - I suppose the tree topper should have been a good indication of what to expect in terms of price point at this location. Pretty much every imaginable high-end chain store was here and lots of people loitering around with few bags in hand; likely the air conditioning was a big draw. We found the Samsonite store and quickly realized there was not to be a good value here - exact same (high) prices you see in Canada with not one sale on. So off to the end of the strip hugging the shaded side all the way down to the Santa Fe end.
In every other doorway there was a person on the street saying “Cambio! Cambio! Intercambio!” - literally change, change, exchange. Because of the hugely devalued currency in Argentina and the economic slide, people are either panning for spare change and/or willing to exchange pesos for Euros or American currency (forget Canadian money or any of the other pesos). The deal is, of course, if they exchange devaluing pesos for either Euros or USD that these currencies will increase in value. It was truly amazing to watch people pay with stacks of pesos to the extent that most places had a currency counter to count the paper bills. Another aspect to this haggling - who will give the most pesos to the dollar?
Next stop was a leather store that some lovely unknown lady told us about at breakfast; her friend bought some leather motorcycle chaps that needed repair and, several years later, was remembered at this shop when he brought the chaps in. When you are in a beef raising and exporting country, leather is a side business. I was in the market for a belt or two and Monsieur was looking for shoes. We went into Silvia y Mario and were warmly greeted and assisted by, what seemed, a family-run staff who were wonderful. No shoes but I found three belts I liked and, so, a little bit of Argentina is coming home with me 🤭
And don’t you know that this store staff knew exactly where Monsieur would find shoes - just down the street a block or so. Clearly someone else had needed shoes or something gauging from the damaged glass. Again, wonderful staff (although one older lady was pretty austere looking) and no disappointment here - high end quality shoes at a very decent price. A nice mix of modern and classic styles that can only mean one might need a pair of each…so Monsieur quickly transformed into the love child of Cinderella and Goldilocks trying on different footwear to find something that was juuuuuust right. And once a decision had been made the transition was back to regal Monsieur of the 1600-1700s. Not the best or highest Louis but, hey - strike a pose!
Now an extra piece of luggage was an absolute necessity, so back down Florida street we went in search of a luggage place - found a suitcase from another chain (like Bentley, but not) to get a reasonably priced large suitcase with swivel wheels and large enough to ride. Brandname “Wanderlust” interesting! Then back to the hotel…
By 1 pm the heat had hit its peak and I think with the humidex it was about 40C - very hot 🥵 But we still needed to get to Casa Rosada and decided a suitable reward would be a cold beer (and, of course, we had found a couple favourite local varieties by this time). So off we went trying to share the shade with the multitudes and, although the start of summer vacation, there were many more people out being the start of the work week. The first main site we came across was the Plaza de Mayo, one of the main historical landmarks bordered by a few of the major government buildings. On one end facing the plaza was the white city hall and along one side were the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Bank, and the Intelligence Agency. And at the far end was the Casa Rosada. The plaza was fairly plain but well-groomed with just a couple monuments.
The Casa Rosada is the official office of the president and features a very prominent pink hue. In many ways it resembles the facade of Versailles and sports similar dome shapes to its roof. The one balcony was made famous by addresses of Eva Peron to peoples gathered in the plaza area out front and, of course, ALW immortalized Eva’s final speech through the song “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”. After a short water break in the shade sitting on the steps of one of the civic buildings we passed by the open front doors of the cathedral for a quick viewing of the aisle and alter - quite a beautiful interior. It was this cathedral that Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, conducted masses for 15 years. And, just like that, our time for exploration had run out.
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