Streets of Buenos Aires. |
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My efforts using Fuji Velvia film, and digital formats during a few days in Buenos Aires, on my way to Antarctica. February 2007.
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In February 2007, I set off on my 19,500 mile trip to King George island at the top of the Antarctic peninsula, in British Antarctic Territory. On the way down there, I stopped for a few days in Buenos Aires, to meet up with the rest of my marathon tour group, who were also to run with me when we got there. I knew very little about Buenos Aires bar what I have read online, and seen the photo's of one of my mother's friends trip. I wasn't too fussed about Buenos, for me it was part of a necessary stop over as part of getting south. I was a bit worried about the city on arrival, and it certainly felt more like a developing world country. I was concerned about sticking out as an English Tourist, and didn't want to get my camera's stolen before I'd been able to use them in the Antarctic. I met up with my marathon tour group in the marriott Plaza hotel, right next to what used to be called 'English Square', until the Falklands debacle. I also went to La Boca (click to see those images) on a tour bus and on a second longer visit. The city actually turned out to be a far nicer place than I thought, and most of the local people that I met were very friendly. I'd also started to meet my marathon group, who straight away seemed like really good people, many of whom turned out to be quite like me. There were a lot of signs of troubled economic status, that has blighted Argentina since the fall of the Junta. Certainly the largest default in history to the IMF in 2000 didn't help. |
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My first introduction to the city was by a guided tour bus for our marathon group, which drove us to the main area's of interest and stopped periodically; and told us a bit about the city's history. The city certainly felt less intimidating as we travelled around, and though there were people living on the street I had nobody asking me for money or panhandling me. I was aware that I did have both a film SLR camera and a digital SLR hanging around my neck, which did draw a lot of attention, though I walked quickly around the place and stuck my chest out a bit, and looked around at people. I suppose I could have been mistaken for a journalist at times, not many people carry around such kit. I did go to some very nice area's and don't have much bad to say about the place, yes, it was noisy, the air certainly wasn't 'good air' as the name suggests; but with a seemingly thriving nightlife, and great restaurants, I can't put it down too much, and I very much enjoyed my visit. I did find many signs around the place relating to our islands or the Malvinas as they prefer to call them. I've voiced my opinion on the war on another page of mine (see here), in a nutshell they can call it what they like, but 655 dead Argie's and her Majesty's flag flying over Stanley, says that the islands are called the Falklands. However every Argentine school child and every local map, marks the island otherwise (click here) for such a photo that I took at a street stall. |
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| Authors: | Photographs and page created by: James Bartosik. |
| Date of event: | February 2007. |
| Page History: | First created: September 27th 2007. Last Revision: n/a. Revision version: 1.0. |
| Camera and Lenses: | Canon 30v, Canon 350D, EF 24-70L USM f2.8 / EF 15mm Fisheye. Film: Fuji Velvia 100. |
| Locations: | Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
| Copyright: | © Copyright material, all rights reserved |