No Hay Monedas - La Playa

There is currently a shortage of coinage in Buenos Aires, which has led to some bizarre consequences, as excellently detailed by Joe Keohane. Almost everyone needs it in some form: you can't take a bus without it, while life is made especially difficult for small, cash-based businesses. This means that people are willing to queue for hours to get it. After an abortive attempt to reach Tigre on Friday (failure due to torrential rain), I came across this extraordinary line in front of a 'monedas' (coins) exchange office at the Retiro train station:



Next to Retiro is Plaza San Martin. The park contains the monument to the nearly 650 Argentines killed in the Falklands/Malvinas War. Opposite, across the road, is the Torres de Los Ingleses, donated by the British population of Buenos Aires to commemorate the revolution of 1810. It has been officially renamed.





La Playa.

Buenos Aires doesn't actually have a beach. Those who can afford it go to the East coast (e.g. to Mar del Plata), or quite commonly to Uruguay. Those who don't have the means to leave the city go to the next best thing, which is the park land on the edge of the Rio de la Plata.

It seems pretty cool. Bands play, people hang out on the grass, and there is a string of bars to buy drinks etc.



There is also a really smelly sewage outlet:



And several signs warning about the health risks of swimming in the water:




Nevertheless, it looks pleasant enough.




But peek a little closer...



The rubbish isn't that great either. Frinton it ain't. But then Frinton doesn't have the same weather.