The experiences
Getting to Argentina was an experience. I ended my European loop in Barcelona, hopped a giant cruise like boat to a port north of Rome, got a train in to Rome, and settled in for a final night in Rome...or so I thought. I woke up ready to go to the airport and hang out in the lounge but what I found out was that they'd changed my flight to the next day without telling me. What do you do when this happens? You call Delta where the person on the line refuses to help you until the RTW desk opens at 7am...but I'm losing valuable travel time now!!!
I found another room for the night, picked up my laundry and hiked that way. When I got on the line with Delta again they had little to tell me except I was on the best possible flight. So I spent another hot sticky day in Rome, luckily I could piece together two summer like outfits yet. I would love so much to have a flight with full flat beds. The 60 degree angle just means you slide down the seat until your feet stop you so it's like this weird slant. Not a fan. In fact, I'm so tired and missing home that there is a lot of rage boiling inside. I am doing all I can not to blow up at the stupid people with six suitcases who seem to have never been to an airport before or the loud screaming baby or the girl who won't answer her phone but will just let it ring annoyingly for everyone else to deal with. This is not my norm and I'm doing all I can to combat it. Luckily I shared a cab to my hostel in Buenos Aires with a girl and her mom from Venezuela and she was just super nice and cool like every Venezuelan I've met :). However, everyone I've met is also fleeing the country.
I got to Buenos Aires around 5am. I diligently used the internet as any good millenial will and when 10am rolled around I walked to a starbucks and then back to pick up the free walking tour of the city. There isn't the depth of history you get in Europe obviously because the people writing history only showed up in 1492 but the stories are none the less just as interesting. We stopped by Evita's offices and even stopped at a cafe for a tango show and beer. I love watching professional dancers. This must have been obvious because another Venezuelan man on the tour said I should go up and try it out. Of course I set him straight...that it's all I can do to keep from falling over walking every day (the two germans sitting with us found this very funny). But really people, on several occasions I attempted to exit my seat on a plane without unbuckling my seat. Some day I may actually gain the grace that makes beautiful dancing possible, for now I'll just add it to the bucket list.
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| Like many cities (Seattle I saw them everywhere) the streets will teach you the tango. |
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| If you can't tell, Buenos Aires is basically a European city planted in Latin America. |
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| She is just fabulous. |
When I returned to the hostel I could finally check into my room. I was pretty excited for a shower and nap but when I got to the room there were no beds, just tons of linens and pillows and a couple chairs. I sat there for a few minutes thinking it over. Was I crazy to expect a bed? I consulted my confirmation emails and they all pictured actual beds but one can never be certain what to expect in a new country so I went back downstairs to ask. They laughed and said, "of course there should be beds, we're professionals" and as it turns out they were rotating out their beds, donating the old and putting up new. They mistakenly thought that the beds arrived on time. Along with the city maps and everything else apparently it was all to arrive "manana." I got reassigned and fell into a deep sleep till my new Brazilian dorm-mates arrived around 1am. This happens a lot and I haven't mentioned it much because I'm a pretty sound sleeper but it was funny that later that week one of the girls actually fell off the top bunk and cut her lip leaving blood on the floor...and I didn't notice.
I was pretty lazy the next day and just went to the Galleries Pacifico which was recommended by an Argentinean I met in Rome my last day. It was a huge fancy mall with only a few stores I knew. I did discover at this point that food in Argentina was very different. Everything is about meat and a lot of it. I think I counted 4 restaurants in the food court that served large steaks. And I will fully admit they know what they're doing with their meat. And I will also shamefully admit that I ate at McDonald's. The next day as well was a lazy day of doing pretty much nothing. This sounds terrible but I will say it was very cold and rainy from the time I arrived and overall I was still miffed about the flight change.
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| Steak for lunch... |
But the next day I did go out for an extended walk around the very beautiful Recoleta neighborhood. Oddly enough the most famous part of this neighborhood is the cemetery. Overall it's a very European area and that day happened to have a crafts market going on. I treated myself to a non fast food lunch and picked up a few metal-working art pieces at the market before heading back to the hostel.
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| An enormous cemetery. |
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| A friendly cat attracted everyone's attention at this memorial. |
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| The biggest craft market I've ever been to. Multiply this shot by 10 in the winding streets behind. |
And just like that it was time to leave. Back to the airport and takeoff for Peru. At least the weather was great for two days in Argentina.
The lessons
- Never laugh at people for bringing an umbrella. My fellow walking tour participants chuckled, but they weren't laughing when it was pouring as we left the cafe.
- If your adapter keeps falling out of a socket, just duct tape it to the wall.
- Do not buy a giant box of Havanna's at the airport. I did this because I kept seeing them in the city and I was curious. Turns out the Dulce de Leche cookies covered in meringue or chocolate aren't all that tasty and the small two pack is certainly enough to satisfy the curiosity.
- I should have gone to Brazil too. I've been chided enough for this blunder. The Olympics are still on my bucket list so who knows, Rio 2016 anyone?
Interesting
- McDonald's prices are twice what they are in the US. This rule applied to most food. They also don't have a Big Mac, just the Triple Mac (speaking to how much they like their meat)
- Evita's body was stolen and remained missing for 20 years, eventually uncovered to be in Italy. Eventually she was returned to be buried with her family in the Recoleta cemetary.
- I was the only one who would admit that we all know what we know of Evita because of Madonna. The guides gave us a lot more information during the tour.
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| This is a public bench...and yes it is very soft and comfortable. |
