Am I in Paris?

Day 1: Buenos Aires

It´s true what they say that Buenos Aires feels like Europe, because it really does seem like a cousin of Paris, with an Obelisk instead of an Eiffel tower. Wandering around as I like to do, it feels really safe and normal, even at times just feels like being in the city at home. But there are a few things that do remind me of Paris. Por ejemplo:

*Lovely long, wide, tree lined Avenues.
*Dogs. Lots of dogs, and all that goes with them. You see these professional dog-walkers trotting a tangle of about 12 dogs down the streets. What a job!
*Smell. Yep GT, that good old Paris smell, though not everywhere thankfully (maybe the men are more picky here) but it has definitely caught my nose a few times. Though on a more pleasant olfactory note, I have also had to turn my nose to notice more than one good-looking bakery, with windows full of gorgeous looking pastries which might require tasting!
*Architecture, those lovely buildings are SO Marais, and I did see what looked like a Madeleine house, from which I half expected Miss Clavel to come running.


And a few things that don´t quite sit consistently with the glamorous Parisienne image BsAs has going on:
*The cars and buses look like they´ve been caught in a time-warp. I´m no car expert but I´m guessing I´d place them around-about 50´s style. Very cute though!
*Road rules ain´t so strict...Exhibit A was a guy riding in the back of a ute with a kid. Exhibit C was the 10 lanes of traffic on the 8 lanes that were actually marked.
*Street-sleepers. A lot of them. All set up with mattresses etc on the main streets and in parks. Particularly sad was the guy I saw playing with his kid in their cardboard box house (literally, it was a cardboard box) outside the National Congress. Ironic.
*Manual labour/transportation of stuff in bulk sometimes reminds me of asia: eg Man on bike with a basket on the front piled with about 50 loaves of bread. And, this man riding in the back of a truck atop a pile of meat (bones and the like, I´m assuming these weren´t the famous Argentinian steaks).
*The way people dress is quite casj, not to be snobby given that my backpack wardrobe selection ain´t all that great, but BsAs women I haven´t noticed being quite as coiffed and polished as their Parisienne rivals.

But this is a really cool city, I like it a lot. It has a great laid back feel and I love that the people are all so nice and friendly, and apparently quite tolerant of tourists like me that massacre their language! It is really beautiful to look at, and I like the added twist of the unexpected that seems such a contrast to the general image of the place.

Chau for now!

x Felicity