Left the flat about 7pm with a vague plan as to which direction to wander in. Found myself at the Libertador end of Reconquista, rammed with pavements tables and not a single space free. Have wandered further down the street to somewhere presumably less fashionable :-) and sat outside waiting for the beer I've ordered. So much for my assumption (half based on the guide book) that the culture here is so 'late' that everywhere would be deserted at 7pm.
First impressions are generally favourable, apart from the heat. The architecture is a bit, well, I don't know the world, sort of UK-two-to-three-centuries-old-twiddly-bits-style :-) in places. (I've always wanted to learn a bit about architectural styles, but on looking things up I find myself unable to retain any knowledge.) But near the flats there are some fairly impressive tower blocks, not all of them of the glass-and-steel variety. Will take some photos tomorrow.
Have asked to see the menu. Everything is with convoluted sauces, but I think the steak sandwich (I asked and it was 75% comprehensible) manages to avoid anything I can't stand, so I've ordered that. ARS26. Oh, and it's ARS12 (or was it 14?) for a draught beer which looks to be about a half pint. That's about two quid. This is the first place I've been but it's not looking super cheap here. Mind you, I suspect that given the food seems relatively 'ornate' it's likely to be a little pricey. We shall see.
I only note it because of the stereotypes of BA, but although of course I'm just at some place in the street, it is heartening to note that people don't seem to be inordinately well dressed.
Food is OK but a couple have sat at a table just inside practically adjacent to me and I just saw the woman craning her neck to examine my food. If there was no glass intervening it would be as if they'd sat next to me on a 4-person table, they're that close. I feel like a zoo exhibit.
I just noticed some posters pasted over a wall on the other side of the street saying 'Malvinas Son Argentinas' ("The Falklands Are Argentinian", assuming I am not missing some subtlety). There is some small print I can't read from here, I will pop over and have a look if I remember when I leave here shortly.
8:45pm. Just got the bill, ARS46.50, call it 50 with a slightly stingy (but it's a round number) tip. The two beers were 20 for two due to some happy hour promotion I was unaware of.
9:10pm. Looked at the posters but couldn't take a picture as some guys were drinking on the step next to them. Loads more plastered down Reconquista and I took a picture of another batch. The smaller text names some organisation and says something like "On the bicentennial of the May revolution".
Didn't see anything great down the other end of Reconquista, doubled back down 25 de Mayo expecting for some reason it to be livelier, but it was a bit underlit and I didn't see a single bar/restaurant open. Am now at a table outside El Verde in Reconquista, some scaryish bloke in a suit spoke to me when I sat down and I couldn't understand what he said (I just said "is it OK?" and I got the "yes" part) but I have been served (by a waitress) so unless this is some Argentinian clip joint it's all good.
Slightly freaked out by the "Malvinas" posters. Honestly, the damn islands and the war had not even crossed my mind as I came into the country. I can't remember when it was but I think my age was in single digits at the time. And yet on my first day here (well, not counting the trip to Perito Moreno) I am reminded of it. I suspect the posters are the work of some minor semi-political party but it does make me wonder if I am a touch unwelcome here as a Brit. I'm sure it's cool. I will tell people I'm Irish if pushed. :-) (I have on occasion said I am "de Londres" and they mishear it as "Irlandes".)
10:25pm. FFS. ARS34, or nearly six quid, for two probably half-pint-ish beers. Am leaving ARS37 with tip. Man.
10:35pm. Come down to Kilkenny in Reconquista, partly as I noticed it earlier and partly as I remember seeing it in the guide book. Pseudo-Irish bar of course. Just got a pint of Heineken for ARS14, which is more like it. (Maybe they weren't half pints before, I know glass volumes can be hard to judge.) Don't really like it, it's very noisy and feels a touch unfriendly, it's a bit like a not quote so bad version of the O'Neills in central London which turns into a club at night. It's not *that* rammed, I haven't got a table but I have a spot to loiter in and there's plenty of floor space free. Vaguely thought I might get chatting to someone here but I don't think it's likely. Can't sit at the bar as it's too busy round there. Oh well.
11:20pm. Fuck-a-doodle-do.
As I was stood there on my own in Kilkenny some woman came up and started talking to me. I was deeply suspicious and hence deliberately more incompetent at speaking Spanish than I am naturally. She spoke a bit of English, although if I went fast she couldn't understand me (and it was quite noisy in there). She asked if I was on my own, I said I was and (lying hastily) said that I had to do a tour early tomorrow morning and was only there for one drink. She asked if I wanted to join her group but I probably somewhat rudely said I was fine.
A few minutes later some bloke, who I saw after with her small group, came over and introduced himself and we had a bit of a chat (mostly in English). Turned out he was from Madrid but has lived here (presumably 'on this continent', not in BA or Argentina) for 12 years, in Santiago. He was there for the earthquake. When he left me he said something like 'we are over there if you want anything'.
I finished my beer and left. In hindsight it would have been cool to talk to them, but that woman coming over had roused my suspicions (if nothing else, just "ooh, lone tourist, we can scrounge drinks off him", plus although she wasn't that attractive I couldn't help but suspect for that critical first few seconds she was a prostitute, which I am sure in hindsight she actually wasn't - she was either just being friendly or was on the scrounge) and afterwards I had to stick to my story.
I finished my pint, not overly hurriedly, and left.
I had seen an OK-ish looking bar opposite El Verde where I thought I would go after and could maybe sit at the bar and get chatting to someone in a slightly better way. As I approached this woman tout outside started chatting to me to entice me into the bar I was going to anyway. I got a bit suspicious at this point but I had seen scary bloke do a tiny bit of trying to attract custom outside El Verde earlier, so I sort of put it down to local customs. We spoke mostly in Spanish, she blabbed a bit about two levels, free to get in, I didn't catch everything. I was dubious but I confirmed it was free to go in and (lacking the vocabulary) that it was a 'regular bar' not a 'weird bar'. The instant I got in I got the strong impression it was a, well, I don't know the word even in English, let's say pseudo-strip-bar. I may have been wrong, but this woman in a tiny pair of shorts sort of seemed to be coming over to me, maybe she was just some random other customer (I mean, if it had been lin
gerie at least I'd have been sure) and the atmosphere wasn't up to much anyway so I immediately, before the tout woman could shut the door, said, 'sorry, thanks, no' and bolted. It was probably quite comic in its way. FFS. I hate those places as blogged about incidentally re the club on Easter Island, plus in some random city where I'm not fluent I could well imagine it being one of those clip joints. (The reason I say I don't know the word in English is I really don't know exactly what sort of place it was. It's not as if there was a naked woman dancing round a pole at the other of the bar. But my snap judgement - which I would say I'm 90% confident of - was that it was, making up my own vocabularly, a 'sex bar', even if it was on the level.)
I wandered up and down the street trying to find somewhere I could follow through on the 'drink at the bar' plan, but because everyone is at tables in the street at most places it seems not an option. (They have bars, but they were deserted.) I am sat outside at a table at some random bar now where I have been sat without any waitstaff attention for long enough to write all this, I wonder if they are not open any more.
FFS. All I want is a cheap beer at the bar, chat optional. I am going to leave here in a minute after having had free use of their table if no one comes over soon. I fully expect to be charged some insane amount for a beer if I do get one.
Obviously another night I can stray further afield and check the guide books etc, but this is a little bit disappointing. I wasn't having a great night but all this crap is not what I was after. It's a bit galling to have passed up probably genuinely friendly overtures in Kilkenny but I don't think I can blame myself for my initial suspicion.
OK, I am rounding the times in these blog entries to the nearest 5 minutes but it's 11:32 now so I reckon I have been sat here at least five minutes. I just managed to eye-contact a waiter over and have ordered a litre bottle of some probably local beer (they don't do draught, perhaps a good thing, just maybe that's why I've been paying through the nose). Fingers crossed but what the hell.
OK. It's "Quilmes Cristal". Fuck knows how much it costs as the tab system seems to rule here, but it tastes OK and I don't have some overpriced tart sitting on my knee and a thug blocking my exit, so things could be worse. Bit disappointing on the whole 'meeting people' front but what the hell.
11:55pm. The staff keep nicking off with some but not all surplus chairs, there are plenty of other people sat out here but I hate being in bars when they're closing, if they are. I didn't plan on having a particularly late night but it's a shame I am almost not having to force myself not to stay out.
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