As evolution has shown, man is an extremely adaptable species.

Otherwise he would hardly have become the somewhat controversial crown of creation. However, it is questionable whether evolution had also intended him to be crammed inside a rather thin metal shell, 12 hours in a tight space. And above all hardly any possibilities to stretch out the legs. In between some kind of food intake using all kinds of plastic dishes and the organisational question of how to prevent the full cup of water from spilling over the rest of the food, the legs or the neighbour.

Sleep? The one or the other succeeds, most do not, or - like me - at most as a short descent into unconsciousness.

 

All blue

The eye follows the flight on the display, the slow approach to the Atlantic, always near the African continent at the beginning, then only at the last moment does the turning out into the vastness of the ocean.

For quite a while it stays like that, all blue, no land, no saving islands, just like Columbus was looking for India 500 years ago. Finally a timid tip (Brazil?), then a wide dark area shows that we have made it. However, the distance indication claims that we have covered only about half of the distance, so still more than 5000 kilometres to go.

From Madrid to Buenos Aires
From Madrid to Buenos Aires

It is dark, even on the plane, and quiet, just the faint snoring of the lady next to me, somewhere the cry of a baby, the soothing voice of the mother, surrounded by the omnipresent roar of the huge Rolls Royce engines. The Dreamliner is one of the largest airplanes ever built, but like the A380, the other monster, rather the last of this oversized species, as the trend is towards smaller and more economical planes.

Below us the continent moves slowly north, for a long time never ending Brazil, then finally Uruguay, and then the descent begins, over the Rio de la Plata and then Buenos Aires. We have arrived.

 

So this is Argentina ... and Uber

Although the queue in front of the passport control seems endless, it happens surprisingly fast. Now, what is the fastest way to get into town? There are many possibilities, but my hotel advised me to use either the white taxis for 30 Dollars or Uber.

Uber?

Well, I guess I could give it a shot. So I type in the destination and after a few seconds I actually have found a driver named Gabriel who is supposed to be with me in exactly 16 minutes. Perfect!

What I do not know at this point is that a chain of mistakes and inconsistencies will lead to endless waiting and frustration.

In any case, Gabriel does not show up; the map indicates that he is moving in the opposite direction, but this does not prevent Uber from booking this trip on my account (which I only notice later).

about driver

A new driver reports in and actually shows up. He takes me to my hotel in his ancient Fiat in no time at all and demands 380 Pesos in cash. I'm a bit confused, I thought Uber would charge me via credit card.

Anyway, the hotel chill house is ok, and Antoine, the host, welcomes me with great warmth. And one last little Uber detail: the booking of the trip, which I paid in cash, has meanwhile also been booked on the credit card.

Uber? Over my dead body...

 

Somehow like Paris or other places

The first steps in a new place are always the most interesting ones. Everything seems new and yet, in the case of Buenos Aires, familiar. The capital of Argentina is hardly different from European capitals, one almost feels a little bit like home. Broad streets, avenues, magnificent palaces, monuments and millions of vehicles and people.

On the other hand, the differences will become apparent within the next few days. The poverty, the melancholy that's in the air everywhere. A hundred years ago Argentina was a rich country, a very rich country. In the meantime, it has gone through numerous financial and economic crises, state bankruptcies, inflation, political confusion and chaos. A strange country, somehow between wealth and poverty. A plausible example of everything that goes wrong on this continent.

But we'll see – I just arrived, tired from the long journey. Antoine supplies me with information, and so in the evening I land with exhausted little eyes in a pizzeria in one of the hip neighbourhoods not far from my hotel and immediately feel at ease. So it seems that Buenos Aires might yet be worthwile.

 

Mileage: zero

Matching Song: Thalia - Desde esa Noche

And here the journey continues ... finally in Buenos Aires

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