Program 383: Live Like a Spaniard; Buenos Aires; Feedback Open Phones

On the next Travel with Rick Steves, an American who's made Argentina his home, shares why Buenos Aires is one of the world's most popular cities to visit.  We'll also learn how to fit in with the locals in Spain, where the daily rhythm of life is a lot different from what most Americans are used to.  And listeners follow-up with Rick about things they've heard in recent segments on the show.

Get to know the world up close and personal each week, on Travel with Rick Steves.

• Amanda Buttinger and Federico Garcia Barroso, tour guides based in Madrid
• Robert Wright, tour guide based in Argentina

• Federico Garcia Barroso's website.
• Amanda Buttinger wrote a guide book for twenty-somethings in 2001 called “Hanging Out in Spain.”
• The Spanish fast food chain Cien Montaditos has started to open franchises in the United States. 
• Chocolateria San Ginés is open 24-hours for "churros y chocolate" near Plaza Mayor in Madrid. 
• Participants on Trip Advisor discuss the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca.
• Robert Wright's website includes city guides to Buenos Aires and Lisbon.  
• Tips for  visiting the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, and information about reciprocity fees levied in advance on visitors from the United States, Canada, and Australia. 
• The Economist discusses discrepancies in calculating the annual inflation rate in Argentina.
• Information about the Hop-On Hop-Off tour bus that caller Jeri used to sightsee, and get to the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.
• Listener Marilyn recommends seeing the Art Nouveau architecture in Alesund, Norway.

• "For budget travelers, what Buenos Aires neighborhoods are safe and still have a decent location?  What would be the best time to visit, while avoiding high season, to cut expense and still have decent weather?   (Suzanne in Cranford, New Jersey)
• "What recommendations do you have for families traveling in Buenos Aires with kids?  I have a 6 year old and a 13 year old."    (Barbara in Chicago)
• "I have heard of numerous instances of people getting counterfeit money in Buenos Aires, including from ATM machines.  What is the best way to protect oneself?  Should I carry US dollars?"   (Jake in Rancho Palos Verdes, California)
• Caller questions how issues of traveling as a woman in eastern Turkey were downplayed on a recent program about Eastern Turkey.  Reports on her own experiences with a group of American women in rural Turkey.   (Kathryn in Nashville, Tennessee)
• "We are Serbian-Americans (we've been in the US for 15 years).  We are writing in response to your WWI in the Balkans radio show.  We were displeased with your comparison of Franz Ferdinand and his wife to Prince Charles and Princess Diana.  Charles and Diana were symbolic heads of state, unlike Ferdinand and the Hapsburgs, who were heads of government.  Charles and Diana were celebrities without much influence in foreign politics.  Your comparison is inappropriate.  You also called Gavrilo Princip a terrorist, which we do not approve of.  He was a patriot and a national who fought for self-sovereignty for his country and against imperialism. In both World Wars, Serbs and Americans were fighting on the same side.  It is unfortunate that recent history has overshadowed Serbia's contribution to the fight against the Nazis and Axis powers."   (e-mail from Ana, Aleksandra and Dusica in Philadelphia)
• Caller reports doing solo road trips, similar to what Christina Nealson had talked about, only she uses a tent instead of an RV.  Would like next trip to be in an RV.   (Mary in Live Oaks, Florida)
• Caller took a Mediterranean cruise that stopped at Monaco "and loved the Jacques Cousteau museum (not mentioned in our interview on Monaco) and the birds saved by Princess Grace."  (Jeri in Reelsville, Indiana)
• "I was horrified to hear you say on the radio that Alesund, Norway is a 'forgettable city.' Absolutely not!  It is one of 13 great Art Nouveau architecture cities in Europe and one of the gems of the Art Nouveau movement of 100 years ago.  I made a special trip there just to see the architecture and it was breathtaking!"  (e-mail from Marilyn in Columbus, Ohio)
• Caller offers a tip for driving in the British Isles on the correct side of the road.  (Sandra on Long Island, New York)

• Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi, cond., Norbert Kraft, guitar, "Concierto de Aranjuez I:  Allegro con spirito (Rodrigo) / The Disc Drive Disc (vol. 1) (collection) / CBC Records
• Paul Oakenfold, “Beautiful Goal,” Music from EA Games / Cherry Lane Publishing
• Diego Carrasco, "Peña el bollo," Duende - Passion, vol. 1 (collection) / Ellipses Arts
• * Gotan Project, "Diferente," Lunático / XL Recordings
• Quartetto Gelato, “Tango Del Cuore (Nunzio Petruzelli)," Rustic Chivalry / Sleeping Giant Music
• Sexteto Mayor Orchestra, "Meloncólico," A Passion for Tango / EMI
• International String Trio, “Por Una Cabeza (theme from ‘The Scent of a Woman’),”  Appalachia / ST Productions
• Sexteto Mayor Orchestra, "Milonga de mis amores," A Passion for Tango / EMI
• Gustavo Montesano, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, "Tango Serenato de Schubert," Buddha Bar, vol. 3, disc 1 (collection) / George V Music (France)
• Andres Linetzky and Ernesto Romeo, "Sentimientos," Latin Lounge (collection) / Putumayo
• * The Newstead Trio, "Primavera porteña - tango (from 'The Seasons') (Piazzolla)," Romanza / Prince
• Christopher Hogwood and Christophe Rousset, “Concerto in C major for two harpsichords, BWV 1061a (J. S. Bach),” J. S. Bach Concertos & Duets / L’Oiseau-Lyre
• Turk Sanat Muziki, "Ud Taksimi," Nevzat Atlig:  Klasik Türk Müziği / EMI-Kent  (Turkey)
• Divanhana, "Grana od bora," Bilješke iz Šestice / RSG Radio  (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• The Marimba Belles, “Teddy Bear’s Picnic,” Mamma Mia!  It’s ‘The Marimba Belles’ / (self-released)
• Norwegian Radio Orchestra, "Rustle of Spring (by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding, arr. by Hans Sitt)," The Nordic Experience, disc 1 (collection) / Warner Classics
• Christopher Parkening, "Spanish Dance No. 1 from 'La Vida Breve' (Falla)," The Great Recordings / EMI

• In the Program #383 promo, Rick notes that "it's springtime now in Buenos Aires."
• Rick notes in the segment A open, and in segment C, that we'll be talking with listeners who are responding to things they have heard on the show "in recent months."
• In the open to segment B, and at 31:57, Rick notes that Pope Francis was bishop in Buenos Aires. 
• Robert notes at 30:50 that Argentina was the first Latin American country to approve gay marriage.
• At 31:10, Robert notes that Buenos Aires has one of the world's largest Jewish communities, known for their role in the textile industry. 
• Caller Jake says at 35:00, and in the web extra, that he's making plans to visit Buenos Aires "in late May," and raises the topic of how tourists interact with the inflationary Argentina economy.  Robert reassures Jake that getting counterfeit currency from taxi drivers and ATMs is not common. 
• At 36:31 Robert says annual inflation in Argentina is 25-28%.  (Official figures report inflation is closer to 11% in Argentina for 2013-2014, although private sources often are suggest it is actually double those figures.)