After a rather comfortable overnight bus, I was back in BA. I checked back into the Hostel Inn Tango City in San Telmo to find that Michael had arrived the day before and was there as well. After a quick nap and shower, we set off to find some breakfast.
We were then off to do some shopping on Florida avenue (rather unsuccessful) and then to the cemetery. After wandering around picking out people we would come and read to if we lived in Buenos Aires, we said a quick hello to Evita and then moved on with our day. It was a long walk back to the hostel, and I needed a nap before heading out to meet up with my Irish friends who were back in BA as well.
After an amazing steak dinner, Michael, my Irish friends, and I headed out to the bar for drinks and some good music. I was shocked to find it was 7 am when we were finally going to bed, but I guess that´s how it´s done in BA.
Friday I was on a mission to buy a winter coat. I had been surprised about how cold it got in South America (even though it was the middle of winter) and I knew that BA could be my last chance at getting a real winter coat. It was back to Florida avenue and after a while BINGO! I had found a winter coat. I wore it out of the store and spent the rest of the day ecstatic about my purchase.
The next day we went down to La Boca, an area I hadn´t seen on my first trip to BA. The guide books tell you not to stray off the tourists path as it can get rather dodgy, however the tourist area is lovely and I would highly recommend a trip.
As we were walking there we walked by a futbol field that had a game going and went round to have a peak in. It turned out just to be a middle school game and we were rather disappointed that nobody yelled ¨GGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL¨when we saw a kid score.
From there it was the tourist street with more souvenirs. Michael was uninterested in the shopping and more taken with the architecture of the area. I insisted on schmoozing through just to have a look, as you just never know what you need while Michael took pictures of the brightly painted tin houses. We found a lovely restaurant/patio and sat down for some Torrontes and Chorizo. We were the first ones there, but after a couple more people showed up, a man in his late 60s brought his guitar down, plugged it into an amp and played to us for the rest of the afternoon. I was too in love with this man to leave, so we ended up closing the place down around sunset.
I had been looking forward to Sunday ever since I had decided to head back to BA. Sunday was the Feria de Matadores which is pretty much the best thing EVER and a total must if you find yourself in BA. Michael and I took the bus out for the 50 minute ride outside the city and once we arrived, I was stoked! Jess had bought some picture frames that I had been envious of and regretted not buying the first time around, so my first stop was to check them out. After wandering around the stalls for a while, we decided to get some lunch and got a delicious carne tamale, some locro, and an empanada as well as dos cops de vino tinto. There were a bunch of tables set up that you could stand and eat at and we shared space with a dad and his 4 kids. I tried to talk to the little girl, but she was too shy (or maybe it was just my very terrible spanish). I´m sure she went off and asked her dad what was wrong with the crazy lady trying to talk to her.
Once my picture frames were purchased and some more vino tinto was had along with a lomo sandwich, we were starting to walk home. We made a quick banos stop only to discover a meringue place which was awesome and so we stayed. It took a few glasses of vino tinto to get our feet warmed up, but we did our best to meringue with the locals. We danced for a bit and sat back down, but when the twist came on, I insisted we get back out there. Most of the other couples sat down, and the few that remained tried their best to meringue to it - but Michael and I were there to show them how it was done! We mashed potatoes and did the twist, much to the glee of everyone watching. Afterwards one guy was so enthralled he came over and hugged Michael. We ended up spending the evening there doing our best to hang with the locals.
Monday we walked through Puerto Madero (the swanky part of BA) and then had a lovely nature walk through the ecological park. Michael made fun of me as I insisted to check out what goods the vendors had on display - as if between all of our other shopping I had not seen everything already. The ecological park itself has a nice 1 hour walking loop that you can do. It´s an interesting mix of protected park with huge skyscrappers in the background, but still a nice change of scenery and it was nice to see some water.
Monday evening we met up with my Irish friends and at Guido´s, which is an amazing Italian restaurant. The boys decided to go off in search of a pool table while Finn and I tried to find a bar. It was a national holiday which for some reason caused all of the bars to be closed, so we ended up back at their house. Finn and I were hanging out for a while before the boys finally returned and we started our own dance party. Before I knew it, we were getting in a cab and it was 7 am again.
I had made plans with my Irish friends to go see a flea market with them, but by the time we got up and going and over to Palermo, the market had ended. We ended up wandering around Palermo some, stopped and had a nosh, and then it was time for a nap.
Michael and I went back up to Palermo that evening for every tourist´s must do - La Cabrera. After enjoying a couple of glasses while waiting for a table, we finally got seated. La Cabrera is one of the most famous steak houses in Buenos Aires and definitely amazing. We split the Bife de Chorizo and the lomo, as well as some proveleta to start. I insisted we end it with the chocolate volcano - which was - AMAZING!
Wednesday Michael went off to book bus tickets to leave, and I went to hang out with my Irish friends and to finally see the flea market. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed walking around in the sunshine looking at everything on offer. I went back to the hostel to say good bye to Michael, who was off to meet up with some friends in Rosario. I had a final dinner with my Irish friends and then we found an excellent jazz club with live music.
The next day was my final on Florida avenue to pick up a few extra things I needed (somehow my pajama pants went missing in Santiago and I was also looking for some new flip flops). After a quick lunch it was off to the airport and to Ecuador. I was sad to be leaving Argentina, but happy to have so many fond memories.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Ecuador
After much hemming and hawing in Buenos Aires, I finally left to go up to Quito to begin my slow desent down through Ecuador Peru and hopefully over to Bolivia.
I didn´t get to my hostel until 1:30 in the morning which felt more like 3:30 am to my still Buenos Aires oriented body. I collapsed into bed and enjoyed being able to lie in until 10 am the next day without a worry. I am staying in the New City side of Quito, otherwise known as gringo city - and for good reasons. I´m staying right in the center at Crossroads hostel, located at Foch and Juan Leon Mera. There are restaurants as far as the eye can see as well as travel agency after travel agency.
After a quick breakfast, I began my quest for a reasonably priced trip to the Galapagos as well as some ideas on trips out to the Amazon. Well after about the 8th travel brochure prominently featuring anacondas, I begin to realize that perhaps the Amazon was not for me. ¨Do you have any trips to the Amazon that don´t include snakes?¨I innocently asked one of the travel agents. The look on his face was priceless and spoke volumes more than his ¨Well, it is the Amazon . . . but don´t worry, the snakes won´t hurt you.¨
With dreams of the Amazon dashed, I was able to focus on trips to the Galapagos. Unfortunately, this is high season so most trips were booked, but I was able to find a somewhat reasonably priced land trip that left in a few days. With my trip booked, I went and had a relaxing lunch and spent more time exploring around the new city.
The next day it was shopping, shopping, shopping! After calling my parents to wish my father a Happy Father´s Day, I was on the bus to Otavalo. A rather long 2.5 hours later and I was finally there. I headed first to the vegetable market to be consumed by produce. Amazing looking eggplant, tomatoes, and corn were everywhere for sale. From there I headed over to the artisians market which contained more alpaca products than any one city should ever have. There were also the typical silver crafts as well as some great paintings and pottery. I lunched nearby and then hit the market again. Silly me, I had forgotten to bring a sweater and I knew as the sun start to set it would get cold. I looked around at sweaters, ponchos and scarfs and finally decided on a soft green poncho. It was unlike any other sweater I had bought, and I thought it would be nice to have an extra layer for when I head into Peru.
Before it got dark, I went over to the bus stop and somehow scored the seat next to the driver. I was a little concerned that it would be a horrifying ride, but actually it wasn´t scarry at all. It was also very interesting to watch the interaction between the driver and the guy who hangs out the bus getting people on and off of it. it was quite a symbiosis they had going with each of them communicating with each other through very little talking. 2.5 hours later I was back in Quito and not too long after that, back at the hostel.
My last full day in Quito was spent in the old city. One of my friend´s had given me the name of a family friend who was living in Quito, so I met up with Linda for lunch and then she gave me a lovely walking tour of the old city. We walked around for a while until it started to pour. There is a huge cathedral that we only got to see from a distance, but she explained that it had all the different animals from the galapagos sculted around it.
The next morning I was off early for a trip to the galapagos!
My last full day in Quito was spent in the old city. One of my friend´s had given me the name of a family friend who was living in Quito, so I met up with Linda for lunch and then she gave me a lovely walking tour of the old city. We walked around for a while until it started to pour. There is a huge cathedral that we only got to see from a distance, but she explained that it had all the different animals from the galapagos sculted around it.
The next morning I was off early for a trip to the galapagos!
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