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You never have twice the opportunity to make a first good impression. The very few minutes after the plane has landed, while riding into an unknown city, make you feel if you are going to like it here or not. Here was Buenos Aires and the year was 2007.

An election was coming the next month, and maybe thats what gave me the unmistakable feeling that the capital of Argentina was an angry one. Nothing more common to spot graffiti and tags all around the major cities nowadays, but never with this unanimity on being all political and very - very - aggressive. The walls were open wounds and Buenos Aires did nothing to refrain crying its pain as loudly as possible.

Later on, walking around, the city reminded me curiously of the beauty of the destroyed Calcuta. Raising your head in any neighborhood, youd get dizzy with the diversity and quality of the ancient architecture of the buildings. But like the Indian city, pretty much everything here is abandoned, rotten, falling apart probably more from lack of money than absence of care. And you cant help imagining how it use to be as much as regreting to be born one hundred years too late.

The cars are helplessly trying to move forward using as much horn as possible. You could ask any person living in Calcuta, it wont help anything to move a inch away, but I guess, at least you feel that you are doing something. Buses are absolutely packed as well and after just a couple of hours I was so sure that, for all my stay here, I was going to walk no matter what the distance was.

Maybe you will think it was just a pick in the high season. On the contrary August means plain winter over here, a perfect season to get a warm plate in a bar around the corner, and no doubt about it, the crappiest place around will still serve amazingly delicious food.

If you didnt manage to stuff your face with the local delicacies, then have a look at the locals around. Suddenly youll find yourself back to Spain or Italy were the men-only discussions are loud, full of laughters and eloquent gestures. Most of them seem to have spent their entire life in here as the waitress calls them all by their first name and brings drinks before they even ask, and yeah, they are gonna have their enjoyable argument until the place close which will happen in the early morning.

The Argentinian version of the politeness of desperation, I suppose.

Learn more about this author, Nando Space.
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