Subway Travel

We had a rainy day yesterday. Generally, the weather has been fair and cool in the 50´s and 60´s. The first day of winter is tomorrow. We thought it was a good day to try the subway. There is a station just 2 blocks from the hotel. We took the subway down to a shopping mall. The Abesto Mall would be very familiar to anyone who has been to Springfield or Tysons Corners Mall. This mall is in the same area of town where we went to the tango show on Saturday. In the area around the mall are many shops that cater to the tango trade. Doris even got another pair of tango shoes.

The subway has 7 different lines, color coded like the Metro in DC. They radiate out from the government center. Tickets are purchased from a person not a machine as in DC. This is a definite improvement from the fare card machines we are subjected to. One other difference is that here you pay to get on the subway. On the Metro you pay to get off. The fare for both of us was under $3 pesos or under $1 US. We got a farecard that is fed into the turnstile like on the Metro. The car we were on looked more worn that the DC Metro. Lina told us that parts of the subway here date back from the early 1900´s. Some of those cars are still in use. We rode in one of those cars. It looked odd to have wooden paneling in a subway car. It´s like going back in time.

The cars were crowded, even midday on a Thursday. With the narrow one way streets and busy traffic in Buenos Aires, I can see that taking the subway is probably the best way to get around.