In the past 2 months, the subway of Buenos Aires has been shut down 7 times by striking workers looking for independent union representation. While waiting for what we hoped we the right bus we were passed over constantly by Bus 24 that was too full to stuff any more passengers in. On board, the main avenues operated mostly at a standstill as extra cars flooded the road and taxis operated under a constant stream of clientele. This was during the middle of the day when traffic should be light.
After visiting the copyus and mosquitos of the eastern reserve of the city, we got to find out exactly what happens during rush hour when the subway shuts down, and it wasn’t pretty. Porteños queued for buses in lines that went down city blocks and around corners, and these queues were passed over like we were earlier in the day. Packed elbow to elbow the buses then slowly lumbered towards their destinations in traffic that moved infrequently at best.
Despite the population seemingly taking this in stride, we opted to spend an extended period of time drinking espresso overlooking the hordes outside. In Buenos Aires, a cup of coffee acts as a deposit for renting a cafe all day, and there are a lot of tenants. After most of the lines died down, we finally made it back to our neighborhood to a nice bottle of Syrah at our vinoteca, another form of currency accepted by landlords.
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