"b1bob goes to Argentina" a Buenos Aires Travel Page by b1bob

I was in Buenos Aires from 22-30 December 2001 to visit a friend of mine who lives within blocks of the Avenida del 9 de Julio. This was a trip that almost didn't happen. Some of you folks are probably thinking, "It was late 2001, I was scared off by Bin Laden and his merry band of idiots." No, that made me MORE determined to go. Buenos Aires was my original and only destination for South America until July, 2001. At that point, I was talking to my Brazilian friend Alexandre asked me where I would make my next holiday. I told him I planned to go to Buenos Aires in December and be there for Alex's 25th birthday. He told me that since I'm in the neighbourhood I should go to Brazil in addition to Buenos Aires, pointing out that he has gotten postcards from me in all points of the world. I told him if he could find me a good deal, I would do it. So, the plan was that I would work out how to get from here to Rio de Janeiro and Alexandre would find me a cheap flight from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires and I would reimburse him when I got to Brazil. Alexandre found me a $210 round trip flight on Swissair and that was the plan I operated under until two days before I left American soil. At that time, Swissair announced it was ceasing all South American operations. Alexandre got his money back, but Swissair didn't lift a finger to put me on another flight. Picture this: it was 16 December and I was due to be in Buenos Aires on 22 December and I was without a flight. Alexandre got with his friend who is a travel agent and he found me a flight on Aerolineas Argentinas, but given the short notice, the flight was nearly double the price of what the original Swissair flight cost. I made a promise to Alex to be in Buenos Aires at his 25th birthday and I fought like the devil to keep that promise, overlooking the terrorism of 11 September 2001 and scoffing at the rioting in the streets protesting the grave economic woes at the time

The week I was there was during a lull in the unrest due to the grave economic troubles at that time. Maybe they feared the wrath of b1bob. Although the economic troubles dampened the Argentine Christmas spirit (there were little, if any outdoor decorations), the people were still very friendly and it was one of the more memourable Christmases of my life.

I should like to thank my friend MeZuGa for retracing my steps and taking photos of places I have been in December, 2001, but didn't think important at the time. Thank you, Diego!

Yo quisiera agradecer a mi amigo MeZuGa por sacar algunas fotos que, en diciembre de 2001, no creía que fuera importante. ¡Muchísimas gracias, Diego!