July 6th (is coming very soon)

[pizza4breakfast]

ha ha, thank you all! mariposa is correct, and for what it is worth, I'll probably do Ezeiza taxi. Even if it's cheaper and plenty safe to take a street cab, I'll be so freaked out from the fact that I'm moving here that I'll just do the easiest option.

I've also read that taking the city bus to/from the airport is waaay cheap, but again, I'll do that in the future and not for my first arrival.

How's the weather in July? I'll be coming from the Pacific Northwest, and our winters it is frequently below 0, very wet, all around grey and gross. I realize I'm doing it backwards in moving to BA during winter, but c'est la vie.

Ciao!

 

[Napoleon]

Winters aren't "bad" by weather standards. There's very little precipitation and the temperature at its coldest drops to right around 0C/32F, but usually the HIGHS are ~7C-12C/45F-54F and the lows are 3C-7C/38F-45F. So alright with a warm jacket. However...

It's a walking city and so you'll feel the climate more because you won't be getting into a warm car and then driving to wherever you're going. Waiting for buses will kind of suck and then you'll get on a crowded subte and think that you're going to melt with all of the layers you're wearing and all of the other sweating bodies all around you.

ALSO...

The northern hemisphere has stocked winter with plenty of holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah (spelling is up to you), Kwanzaa (if you like holidays from the 1960s), New Year's, and even Valentine's Day are all "winter" holidays more or less.

Here they have their Independence Day (9th of July) that goes almost completely ignored other than no one works on that day. And then FRIEND'S DAY (20th of July) which is HUGE, but you won't have made any life-long friends in your first 2 weeks in the country, so that will be a non-event for you.

In summary, the winter is just kind of depressing. You won't notice that you're feeling down, but it's there. The weather's not too bad, everything will be new to you, you'll be like Curious George snooping around in new shops, but there will be a slightly leaden cloud that you hopefully won't be fully aware of because you'll be so focused on getting settled and meeting people. And fortunately this year Argentina will be hosting the Copa America (South American Soccer Championship) and you will be able to experience watching that in some crowded bars...

...but then that will end. And you'll be a bit depressed. You won't know why, but it's there.

Then September will hit and with it comes spring.

The days will be getting longer, the weather will be getting warmer, bulky clothes will come off, fit bodies will be everywhere, you'll spend time in the park, and you'll feel excited about the Spring/Summer seasons ahead and possible trips to the beach to plan, the Rugby World Cup will start up (though the games will be in the middle of the night because it's in New Zealand), you tag along with a group going to a "fútbol" match and you'll pass Parque Las Heras on a bus and you'll see guys & girls in bathing suits "tomando-ing sol" and you'll think- "Jesus, winter sucks in Buenos Aires! But the spring is AWESOME!

That's winter in Buenos Aires.

Thankfully it only lasts 3 months (or less). In other places in the world it can be nearly half the year.

 

[mariposa]

i would not recommend taking the city bus from the airport, with luggage. not the first time, not any other time.

 

[steveinbsas]

i would not recommend taking the city bus from the airport, with luggage. not the first time, not any other time.

Don't ever take the bus to the airport, either (at least not from Retiro):

On my last day in Buenas Aires (Nov 27th morning) I rode the subway rails to Retiro station, where I intended to buy a 45-peso ticket on the Leon bus nearby. Well, I got the ticket but before I did, a group of Argie delinquents sprayed lotion on my shirt and offered to help me clean it off (thereby "cleaning" out my pockets in the bargain.) I didn't let them get that close, yet they distracted me by pointing to pesos on the ground (not mine) and other things and before I knew it, they melted away into the crowd...with my additional bag holding laptop, camera, and sunglasses. All my pics from beautiful 2 months in BsAs are gone.

From: Best way of getting to Ezeiza

 

[ReemsterCARP]

Pizza, just take TaxiEzeiza and be assured of a safe and comfortable trip.

 

[PhilipDT]

I've taken the city bus to the airport ONCE, NEVER AGAIN. Its not unsafe or anything but oh my god it takes for ever.

 

[pizza4breakfast]

"You won't notice that you're feeling down, but it's there. The weather's not too bad"

Sounds like summer in the Pacific Northwest! Today was beautiful - it only rained for a few hours, and it got almost up to 60F! I only had to wear one sweatshirt. ha ha

 

[Hache]

I am an artist and musician and I am moving to BA to start a band.

Please tell me more.

 

[pizza4breakfast]

Hi Hache! I play pretty heavy stuff, slow stoner doom styles most often. I'm also really into garage rock - ass kicking good times with four on the floor and snares like a gunshot. Lots of experimental music as well. Some of my biggest influences are Black Dice, The Seeds, The Sonics, Om, Can, Karp, Boris, Los Natas, and Portishead. I'm in a ton of bands right now, one is a metal band, one is a surf punk, one is krautrock, one is experimental noise. I can play most instruments, although my definition of "play" and others definition of "play" might be different.

I've also done a number of art installations involving environmentally sensitive electronics, digital video projectors, music and graffiti. I like street art, and while I've got a shit hand at drawing, I've always been a part of visual art scenes, contributing reactive components to group shows and guerilla installations.

 

[syngirl]

"You won't notice that you're feeling down, but it's there. The weather's not too bad"

Sounds like summer in the Pacific Northwest! Today was beautiful - it only rained for a few hours, and it got almost up to 60F! I only had to wear one sweatshirt. ha ha

I'm from Vancouver -- whenever someone from here says "oooh que frio que debe ser los inviernos en Canada" I explain that the winters in Vancouver are pretty much the same as BA -- except BA gets a lot less rainy days in a row, and Vancouver in the past few years has always ended up with snow in town at some point.

Here more than a few days in a row of rain are strange to have, though we have had a lot of grey days lately -- ie [gasp] 7 or 10 in a row (if you're from the same region as me this is nothing!) -- I remember being in Vancouver one year around December for 23 days and it rained every day except for the day I arrived and the day I left :S)

BA when it rains it pours, nothing compared to the misty drizzle of Pac NW. And it's an old city, so if it rains too much in the space of a few hours streets are unpassable -- ie last year or the year before they had to use an inflatable dinghy to get people across Sta Fe, one of the larger avenues here.

Winter isn't the ideal time to move here, but Spring is great, my favourite time of year, so hopefully you're around long enough to see that -- all the jacarandas come out, it's warm without being grossly humid etc.