19.10.11

Ride in a police car in Buenos Aires

It happened in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is a great city. I have visited a few times and it’s always a pleasure to go back. Insecurity is sometimes an issue, but the times I have been there I have felt safe. It’s a question of taking the same precautionary measures that you would take almost anywhere in the world. On our first trip to Buenos Aires, one morning we decided to visit Boca. This part of town is where the, mostly Italian, immigrants established themselves from 1880 to the 1930's. Today, it is a tourist attraction because of its characteristic houses, for being home to the Boca Junior football club and because of the tango "Caminito" or "little path". This path inspired the composer of the music of this very famous tango, Juan de Dios Filiberto. I was also aware that it was not a good idea to walk the area at night, since it was still a bit...rough. That morning, we took a taxi from the hotel to Caminito, and at around midday we decided to go back to the hotel. It was sunny and given the hour, we decided to walk back. We walked about 300 metres and met a police from the port, whom we asked for directions. He looked surprised when we told him we were walking back to the hotel and said that it was not very advisable to do so around that area. He pointed as in the direction of a street, five minutes away, where we could take a taxi. We had only walked a couple of minutes when a police car drove up to us, flagged us down and asked, very politely, if we needed help and where we were going. When we explained one of the police officers said: "You are obviously not from here. Jump in and we'll give you a lift". We did and they drove us to the nearest taxi. Thank you Buenos Aires police!!!

 
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