First Impressons of Buenos Aires

 1.  My hotel is in the city center, which is more upscale than the off-of-center I was staying in in Bogotá.  Think taller (but not too tall) buildings and wide avenues, etc.  BA is often described as having more of a European feel than most Latin American cities, and based on just a day I'd concur. 

The obelisk, the "center" of BA:

2. The Hotel Avenida is very old-fashioned, so old-fashioned that it has the kind of elevator that requires you to close not only the interior but exterior doors before anything happens, and comes to a jolt when it gets to the requested floor.  And lets you curse the clueless who didn't shut the doors when the elevator doesn't come.

It's the first time I've stayed in a hotel with one of these.  My feet have never been cleaner!

3. It was easy getting around in Bogotá, numbered Calles ran west to east and numbered Carreras ran north to south.  A typical address "Calle 18 #5 56" so that was on Calle 18 and nearest crossing Carrera 5, street number 56.  Here, like most cities, each street has a different name, so you just have to learn them.

4.  People (IME shopkeepers, servers, etc.) are less formal here, instead of "Buenos dias" or "Buenos tardes," it's always just "hola."

5.  No coins!  Everything seems to be bills here, down to 100 pesos (seven cents):

6.  It's expensive, food-wise!  This may be partially due to location, but a complete lunch was about USD10, twice that of Bogotá.  And my beloved little snack shops with deep-fried delights? Hard to find (location), and empanadas are twice the price.  I bought cheese/ham/bread in a grocery store, about 1-1/2 the price.

7.  Cwazy outlets and 220V, but both my computer and Amazon Echo are happy with the voltage, so I just needed an adapter.

I'm within walking distance of lots of touristy things, so tomorrow will be busy!

PS It's a lot easier to buy cigarettes here than in Bogotá, where you had to find a "cigaretería," often not labelled as such.  Here they're sold in MaxiKioscos (think 7-11), but of course they're more expensive!

PPS ATMs are a total rip-off here.  The most I can withdraw is 60,000 pesos ($46) for which they charge 16,000 pesos ($12).  It's one country where you get a better deal at the change places, so I dipped into my "emergency fund" (five crisp $100 bills).