The Buenos Aires subway system is organized and aggressive. We've used it almost every day to be tourists downtown, feel a bit more like locals in Belgrano, and go home to our yuppy bubble that is Palermo. It's large but simple—six lines, sprawling out from either the government headquarters around Plaza de Mayo or the railway station in Retiro.
The Subté has provided some of our best people watching. There are a lot of performers. Probably every other train has someone singing, instrumented or a cappella, and they're usually not half bad. At least as often, someone is trying to sell stickers, gum, or those cookies with the jam in the middle. Their style is forward, placing their wares on your lap as they make their way down the aisle, then returning to collect payment or unpurchased items.
One time, a pregnant woman boarded and went straight for an occupied seat. She didn't wait to be offered it, just immediately requested, "Asiento, por favor." The man wordlessly obliged. I don't know what that says about Buenos Aires, but I'm pretty sure I like it.
But what I've really fallen in love with—and this exposes the true depth of my nerdiness—is the Subté line map.
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| Look at this head-turner. |
Let me demonstrate how the above caption is not at all sarcastic.
- Every single street the train passes is listed, so there is no confusion about which stop to get off at.
- The street that the train itself is under is also shown, along with the street numbers where the stations are located.
- The dashes through the station symbols indicate stations with a single platform in the middle, rather than separate platforms for opposite directions. This is worth knowing because the dashed stations are the only ones where you board and exit through the right side of the train. During peak hours, not knowing that can mean a futile struggle across the aisle and missing your stop.
- Finally—I know you are enthralled by now—the maps in the trains are always aligned with the direction the train is moving, such that the destination station is the one closest to the front of the train. (That means the maps on opposite sides of the trains are mirror images of each other.)
Beautiful, right? Efficient presentation of information above every door.
Correction: There is no accent in Subte, but I can't change it now because it would ruin the title of the post. My bad!