We made it. Our final destination in South America. The city that everyone has raved on and told us to go to our entire trip...Buenos Aires! Well its huge to say the least. The metro system is very efficient though so it doesn´t cost much or take a lot of time to get from one place to the other. When we first arrived we took a taxi to a hostel we found on the internet that looked great but when we got there we didn´t want to stay. We made use of the metro to get from that nasty hostel to the one we are staying at now. This one is really nice with a big open kitchen and a rooftop terrace. Our rooms get ridiculously hot at night which makes it hard to sleep and it smells a little but it could be worse.
Our first day, after getting a couple of empanadas and taking a nap, we went to the grocery store and bought some groceries for the next couple of days, the norm. Everyone else in the hostel seemed to have the same idea. The kitchen was busy with so many people. There were about 7 people working on their own three course dinners. Luckily we just decided to make a salad and were able to avoid the caos in the kitchen. That night we went to bed early. We needed a break from all the wine in Mendoza.
The next day we made plans to explore the city and to go to the Recoleta. The Recoleta is a very famous cemetery. Its very old and lots and lots of important and/or famous Argentinians are buried here. Its actually the most expensive pieces of real estate you can buy in Buenos Aires if you buy a pot there. At first when we heard about it from other travelers and they had recommended it we didn´t really understand why so many people would want to visit a cemetery. Once we got there though, you could see why. The place could be its own little neighborhood. Buried in the traditional catholic manner, it was full of mausoleums. Many were so huge and so elaborate it was difficult to believe what its real purpose was for. I personally had never seen anything like it. Others were simpler, some were really old and some were really really old. There were so many tombs it was incredible, like I said, its own little neighborhood. One person we did know and who we went to their grave specifically was Evi ta- an important Argentinian female political figure. You could find her easily by the crowd surrounding her tomb. After walking around for a little bit, and toying with the idea of vampires being inside some of the surrounding buildings, we left and went for a walk. We walked around town for several hours and got to see a good portion of Buenos Aires. Its really like any city. It has its ritzy area, it has bums, it has hot dog vendors, it has its young lovers, it has buisness people, it has pollution, it has parks, and it had us-for the day. It was another quite evening in for us again tonight. The hostel offered yoga classes for free that night so we went and enjoyed that. The kitchen wasn´t nearly as busy tonight and we were able to make a nice pulled chicken dish.
The next day we had wanted to take a day trip from Buenos Aires to Uruguay. They are very close if you look on a map and you can take a ferry from port to port. The cost of the ferry was going to be rediculous and way out of our budget range considering its the tail end of our trip so we settled on shopping and going out for a nice dinner. We shopped all day long. I got a new outfit for another night out and dana bought some killer new leather sandals and some pretty earrings. That night we went out for steak at this well recommended resturant. It was in our books as well as two of our friends we´d met along the way had raved on it. Apparently we ordered the wrong dish because we were definitely not impressed. We were kind of bummed but we were going out that night and not going to let it get us down. After coming back to the hostel and having dessert, some amazing cupcakes from the cafe next door that Dana surprised me with, we went out to this club called Rey Castro. We waited forever to get in because there was a list but since we´d waited a long time at that point we were going in. The place was packed inside and there was a transvestite hosting the tail end of a show. The shim was hilarious. She was huge both up and down and sideways. She had long, black curly hair and make up that would make Mimi jealous. Her last number she walked around and lip sang an Aretha Franklin song and flirted with the audience members. After the show they cleared the floor and it became a dance club. Everyone, girls and boys, was very excited to talk to us. We danced and laughed and had a good time. We tried our hardest to stay up (people don´t even go to the clubs until 2:30 in the morning here) but we were home by 3:30.
The next day there came a storm like you wouldn´t believe. The rain was blowing sideways and the wind was howling. It was good day to stay indoors. We even watched a little Law and Order from the 90´s. That night we wanted to give the steak another try at a different resturant. We chose well this time because we completely enjoyed our meal and wine. P.S. something we learned at our wine tasting course is that you should pair a red wine with a steak or red meat, red with red. It cleans your palate very well in between each bite so that you can taste the steak anew every time. Afterwards we went to an Irish pub and had some hot chocolate and a coffee licour drink. Most clubs don´t take credit cards and we didn´t want to get out any cash. We came back shortly after, happy with our less eventful, tranny-less night and spent another sweaty night in the last hostel we´ll be staying in for a while.
Today we woke up and had breakfast, took a shower and packed our bags. There was a fun antique market going on today and we walked through it. Right now, during the afternoon we are killing time before we go to a dinner and show tonight. (This is what the new outfit, shoes, and earrings are for!) We booked a Tango lesson, dinner, and show for tonight our last night out in Buenos Aires and the final night of our trip. It looks like a really nice place and we are really looking forward to it. After the show we have to come back to the hostel, change clothes, and get a taxi to the airport because we are flying back early tomorrow morning. We´ve heard of the delays that the airports are having but we should be coming home soon!
We want to take this time to thank everyone who has followed along on our blog. We have really enjoyed our trip and really learned a lot about other people, cultures, and ourselves these last couple of months. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive and for all your comments and suggestions and we hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures.
Lots of love,
Allison and Dana
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