Fruit and vegetable crates awaiting pickup. I wish I knew whether it is for recycling, reuse, or landfill.
This seems to be a type of convenience store which also has a pay telephone booth. As cell phones become ubiquitous, these stores have to adapt.
The national lottery, on the other hand, will (like the poor) always be with us. These shops abound, stay open until at least 9 p.m., and always have business.
Starbucks has made serious inroads into Buenos Aires, and not only in the tourist areas. If ever one needs a bagno (not so much a bath as a toilet), buy a coffee. The bathrooms are always clean.
The juxtaposition of langerie and graffiti is too obvious--artfully designed window display competing with tagging on marble.
Fortunately, I never saw any women wear shoes like these.
This convenience store was wide open to the sidewalk, having no store front glass. Presumably a sturdy metal gate descends when the store is closed.
Wine and Swiss cheese . . . beat that.
Cafés can stay open well into the night, providing great places for WiFi, reading, conversing.
Small groceries (often called "Chinese groceries" because of their owners, not workers) stay open until 9:00 or 9:30 so that workers can pick up things for dinner on their way home after work.
Some stores staying open prefer to lower their gates with nightfall. However, there is a small door in the gate which can be opened to admit customers. One assumes that this complicated safety precaution is there for a reason.
Even at night, graffiti can be artistic.
A young couple, lost in their own world at a pool hall.
This shows petrol prices. The Argentine peso was trading at about 4.6 to the US dollar during our visit. Sadly, it was falling once again. The country seems to have exhausted its supply of dollars and credit.
If women wish to have some beauty aids, etc., this is what they must pay at one of the shops.
This metal shutter is very sturdy indeed, yet has a small window cut out so that you can tell that the store is still open for business.
