MichelleAlison

As suggested by other posters, I thought I would start a new thread to see how many British people we can find in Argentina.

Starting with my family, we are originally from London, but now live in Mar del Plata, 250 miles south of Buenos Aires on the Atlantic Ocean.

Regards

Michelle

el rubio

We are a British/Argentine family living most of the time in the UK though we get to our place in Tigre (30 km north-west of downtown BA) for Christmas and usually one or two other times during the year. We have friends with a cottage near Pinamar (on the coast north of Mar del Plata) which we visit.

When the children are through their education and become independent we hope to follow the sun and spend more time in Argentina.

We too integrate with the locals and have not come across anyone 'like us' yet - just a few families posted to BA that invariably up sticks after a couple of years and move on when they complete their tour of duty. We have found many more 'like us' living and working in Britain than in Argentina!

MichelleAlison

Hi El Rubio, nice to meet you. You will be surprised at how many Brits are now making Argentina their permanent home. I am married to an Argentine, hence we chose Argentina. We lived in the UK for 23 years before making the move and pulled the kids out of school and college, because we realised that there was never going to be a good time to make the change, and I wanted the children to come with us. I would not have come if I had to leave them behind.

What a wonderful place to have a home on the river in Tigre. It's like being in another world and not just on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Pinamar is also a very beautiful place, but a bit too quite in the winter. We were there in April and even the cinema was shut!

What part of the UK are you in?

Saludos de Mar del Plata

Michelle

el rubio

Hi Michelle. I sent you a PM on Friday.

marlin

hi Michelle marlin here i seemed to have lost our original thread havent got used to usesing this site yet . Having a lot of agro with getting our new visas at the moment some horror of a woman in conception Uraguay. speak soon

MichelleAlison

Hi Marlin,

I did send you a private message. Have a look at the top of the page and click "private messages".

Why are you having problems with your visas?

Saludos

Michelle

marlin

Hi Michelle haven't received any private messages from you so far. I know you said you left some contact details but I didn't get those either.

I think we have solved our visa problems now.
speak soon Marlin

MichelleAlison

Hi Marlin,

I think I sent the message by email, so this time I have sent it to your private messages, which you can access in the top right hand corner of the forum.

Saludos

Michelle

Porteno

Hi, I'm British and married to an Argentine. We originally lived in Brazil but moved here in 1981, so we've been around for quite a while. We were recently enjoying a well-earned vacation on your patch Michelle. My wife has always loved Mar del Plata having vacationed there as a child. I had only been there once before in 1973 when I was not particularly impressed. However, our trip there last month opened my eyes a lot and I fell in love with the place, especially the people who were so much more affable than those here in BA.

MichelleAlison

Hi Porteño,

Glad to know that you enjoyed Mar del Plata the second time around. Next time you come down, please let me know and we can meet up. I have met some lovely expats through the forums, when they come to visit.

I am surpsied that you didn't like the city in 1973 - according to every Argentine, the 70's was the best era

Saludos
Michelle

Porteno

At the time of my visit, the country was ruled by Isabelita and the unions. The Hermitage was a third rate, barely one-star establishment with no service whatsoever, so we moved across the street to the Provincial, which was only marginally better. The rooms were certainly nicer, but the water was sea water and they didn't supply the appropriate soap, thus bathing and shaving were a distinctly unpleasant exercise. The prices in the restaurant were over the top and the food second rate. Most of the guests were union goons packing side arms and the entire atmosphere was very uncomfortable. We went at Easter, but unlike this year when there was a huge surge of visitors, the influx was barely noticeable then. Fortunately, my wife had some family and friends living there and they showed us around what was decidedly not a particularly attractive city - I compared it to BA by the sea and much worse than Brighton. Sure, Playa Grande and Los Troncos were a delight, but the rest was decidedly unappealing.

On this occasion I found a very well organised infrastructure, a comforting police presence (extremely helpful and charming officers, not at all like the what we are led to believe about the provincial police force), lots of attractive shops and eateries, an apparently efficient life guard service, etc., etc. I really cannot imagine why anybody thought the 70s was a good time there, or anywhere else in Argentina at that time, except that for us from Brazil it was extraordinarily cheap!

MichelleAlison

The Argentines complain all the time, especially the porteños "40 years ago Mar del Plata was the city for the rich" "it has changed for the worse" etc. I just say this is modern progress - of course it's horrible when old houses are destroyed to make way for new apartment blocks, but without progress, the city would have died a long time ago.

Have a look at my website for the city www.mardelplatanews.com.

Saludos
Michelle

Porteno

What a great website, beautifully arranged and very informative, not to mention the excellent photography. Congratulations! The Government could use your talent!

MichelleAlison

Thanks

The first thing I would do if I had power in Argentina, is to make motorists give way to pedestrians, especially on a zebra crossing. Not sure why they have zebra crossings, must be decorative.

What part of the UK are you from? I am originally from London.

Regards
Michelle

Porteno

Well, I thought the drivers in Mar del Plata were a little more respectful than those in BA and even here it's a lot better now than a few years ago. If one could trust the pedestrians to be more respectful too, it would help, but they walk in the same manner as they drive! Or is it the other way round? Rather like the chicken and the egg!

I was born and raised in Banstead, Surrey about 17 miles south of London and was educated at Whitgift, Croydon. Whereabouts in London are you from?

Best wishes,

Porteño