What should I bring?

[PhilipDT]

Wine! And if you don't drink it you can sell it to me!

 

[katti]

Wine! And if you don't drink it you can sell it to me!

Good idea but you cant bring more then the one or 2 bottles per person. Our wine is one of the few things we had to leave behind. With deep regrets...

 

[Marche exile]

Paracetamol is slightly more expensive in BA than the UK but not worth using valuable suitcase space for. Some things that you might want to consider include makeup (not a great range in BA and much more expensive), any toiletries that you like that don't fall into the basic Dove, Pantene, Nivea type range, perfume, applicator tampons, a stockpile of basic clothes - tops, jeans, etc (generally clothing is very expensive and not great quality), a decent garlic press (!), any food stuffs you like (spices, nice chocolate, etc - I bring PG tips and mustard!).

God it sounds just the same as Italy. Although many of the designers and big store chains have their lines manufactured in this area so we are a bit spoilt on that front. The markets are full of names at cheap prices. Talking of tampons (sorry boys!) have you noticed a brand called OB there. I have learnt to live with them here so just wondered if I will have to tackle that situation again.
Thanks very much for taking the time to answer so extensively.

 

[Marche exile]

I don't know how other Europeans feel about the price of electronic goods in Argentina but, speaking as a Brit used to high prices in the UK, I honestly don't find Argentine prices particularly high. I suspect that it's mainly those from the USA who feel hard done by but I'd be interested in the opinions of other Europeans.

Thats a really interesting point. Here it in Italy its definitely higher prices for electrical goods than the UK. And what is available seem to be older models of inferior quality for double the price. I bought a light bulb here that cost me 7 euros (around £6) and the same in the UK was 37 pence!!!!

 

[switcheroo]

Illy? Lavazza??!?! Surely you can do SOO SOO much better than those.
But agreed, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, if you like coffee, then bring it with you!!!

What to bring from Italy to BA? COFFEE. Dear god, stock up on as much Illy and Lavazza as you can fit into your suitcase. And good chocolate (Argentine chocolate is a fraction of European quality for about 4 times the price... and dark just doesn't exist.)

 

[Fabe]

In response to electrical products:
i have found ALL electrical products here to be inferior in the most dangerous way .
I have found that there sems to be a custom of designing ( and i say that very loosly) a product that RESEMBLES a true product , but with zero regard to functionality and safety.
Often the cost of production is given , but in a large production , the diference between a safe product and a dangerous one is negligible.
I have been engaged in rewiring my entire property , and i can assure you several things:
There are no 2 products that are interchangeable or are manufactured to any standard. One brand outlet will not fit in another brands' receptacle.
I have sen electrical contactsthat are no thicker than aluminum foil.
I have seen "heavy duty" switches melt completely under the most minimal of loads.
Small hot water heaters that have zero grounding protection nor any overheating protection.
Although there are standardising institutions , i have yet to see any manufacturer that adheres to them . Nothing in the way of a U/L listed or tested product.
I cannot understand how an entire industry is allowed to manufacture products that DIRECTLY endager the public.

 

[Ashley]

God it sounds just the same as Italy. Although many of the designers and big store chains have their lines manufactured in this area so we are a bit spoilt on that front. The markets are full of names at cheap prices. Talking of tampons (sorry boys!) have you noticed a brand called OB there. I have learnt to live with them here so just wondered if I will have to tackle that situation again.
Thanks very much for taking the time to answer so extensively.

Yeah, you can get OB and another brand called Days (which is pretty much the same), just no cardboard applicator, Tampax-type ones, which I know a lot of women are more used to. I agree that if you print a list of your "essentials", it'll be easier to tell you what you can get and what you can't.

(to the poster from Belgian, what brand of chocolate do you buy here? I don't really miss not being able to treat myself to really nice stuff, but I do miss being able to pig out on inexpensive, yet half decent, Cadbury/Galaxy/Aero choc. At the moment, Milka is the only type I buy here)

 

[PhilipDT]

Good idea but you cant bring more then the one or 2 bottles per person. Our wine is one of the few things we had to leave behind. With deep regrets...

technically that is true, but really not at all. Notice how there is a duty free before customs at EZE where everybody is busy stocking up on bottles upon bottles of booze? They don't care how much you bring in, they assume all the bottles are from their own duty free. I've brought in up to 12 bottles of wine once.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

(to the poster from Belgian, what brand of chocolate do you buy here? I don't really miss not being able to treat myself to really nice stuff, but I do miss being able to pig out on inexpensive, yet half decent, Cadbury/Galaxy/Aero choc. At the moment, Milka is the only type I buy here)

I am not the poster from Belgium (and I'm just as interested in her answer as you are) but I like the chocolate from Bonafide- all their outlets. Then there's Córcega down Florida (if you can squeeze your way past the hunger-strikers) which is very, very nice but pricey. There are chocolatieres artesanales all over. I know La Centro Americana down Mosconi a few blocks from San Martin. I know that there's another, smaller and more specialist one in Villa del Parque and I'd guess that gpop could advise more about that.

 

[katti]

Chocolates : there's Elite on Callao, and El Viejo Oso on montevideo. This is all Suisse style of chocolates. I have never seen the Belgian style "pralines".

Bonafide is a lot better then the junk they sell in supermarkets, but too much sugar for my liking.