We were late into Mendoza Casino and Intercontinental following a fractious border crossing and a magnificent drive down through massive rock formations of the eastern side of the Andes. The sun was setting, as we descended through wide valleys and narrow gorges, casting magical light and shadows across the landscape. A quick dinner in the casino, a few pesos in the pokies and we staggered into bed looking forward to an early start....wine tasting at 10.00am. By noon we were mostly inebriated however a well organised tasty lunch was beckoning followed by a continued city tour of the 1 million inhabitants then a 2 hour drive across a desert to San Juan airport.
29th Sept
We arrived in our lodgings in Buenos Airies around 11pm, tired teddies. We had a full day tour of the 12 million populated capital of Argentina. Diego, our guide, is top notch and shows us a great many things with lots of interesting stories to add. The River Plata runs through the town translated it means river of silver. It looks as though it should be river of rusted tin such is the colour and we were a bit surprised to discover we can drink from the tap in our hotel and the river of mud supplies all requirements.
We saw the contrasting housing areas.
It was interesting to visit the Recoleta cemetery, set out like a small town. It is a cemetery for wealthy people and is full of tombs where entire families lie, coffins visible through doorways and stained glass. Eva Peron lies here and although there is no space left it is sometimes possible to buy a tomb where a family, now fallen on hard times, sells the site. We saw a recent sale site of US$100,000 however had the site been on the main thoroughfare it could have been $50k more. There is no premium for those with a river view.....makes sense I suppose.
Our tour took us through three distinct districts, lower, middle and upper class. Our guide, who tells us he is middle class, can spot the lower class or the upper class citizen a good way off. It is very difficult to move through the classes but it does happen, as was the case for Diego Maradona. He is still treated like a god here. Very few middle class people can afford their own home, most rent. Inflation is running at 35-40% and the peso is almost worthless. They do not save in the bank as the savings depreciate so quickly. Instead, money earned is quickly changed to US dollars and kept under the mattress.
In the evening we were treated to a 3 course dinner with tango show to follow. The food, we all had steak, was excellent but the show was fantastic. Partly due to a magnificent theatre, highly trained dancers, a talented five piece band and a never ending supply of wine we totally enjoyed 90 minutes of sensual entertainment.
Today is rugby day and we don't start until 3.00pm. The morning is for catching up on sleep, washing, allowing the kidneys a short rest and writing blogs. We are looking forward to kick off and being involved in what will be a new type of crowd experience for us. Hopefully the All Blacks win but it seems Steve Hansen is giving the locals every chance by bringing in so many changes. Whatever happens, we are all excited to be here for sure.
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