Buenos Aires part 2 and Uruguay: December 2015

Las cholas!!! Buenos Aires, Argentina.

We arrived just in time for lunch. First, we went to Las Cholas for what would be our last bife before walking back to Monica’s to pick up our big backpacks. We loaded onto a crowded bus and made the hour-plus journey to our new home in San Telmo. 

We knew our new place wasn’t going to be as nice as Monica’s and that the neighborhood wasn’t going to be nearly as cute and quaint, but we would be closer to the tourist attractions, and be staying in one of the older neighborhoods- it was a trade-off. The place was much nicer than we expected and our host was waiting for us at the door. The interior was decorated rather strangely. Amongst the strange paraphernalia was a (new) condom pinned to a pegboard, and erotic magnets. When we went to turn on the light later in the evening and noticed that one of the switches was for a red light, we decided our host was a perv. 

Swim suit search. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I was on a mission. For the past 8 years or so, I have purchased all of my swimsuits in South America. I like the styles better than those I find in America, although I think these days, it’s catching on. My last purchase was 5 years ago, and let’s just say, the material was getting dangerously thin. My second mission was to find a comfortable bra. I have been wearing the same three for the last year-and-a-half, and they weren’t exactly new when we started this journey. 

At Café Tortoni. Buenos Aires.

Changing bra brands is like changing your brand of running shoes- you don’t really know if it’s going to work out until it’s too late. If they were cheap, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but those suckers are expensive, even in Argentina. Well, you all will be very happy to know that two days and several shops later, I have new swimsuits, a great new bra (so far), and a very patient fiancee.

We didn’t JUST go shopping. We sprinkled in a trip to Cafe Tortoni, a walk through Puerto Madero (looking for a swimsuit shop), stumbled upon some great little cafes for lunch, visited our local fruit market many times (I was going through a honeydew-for-dinner phase) and a trip to Plaza Dorrego that turned out to be much nicer in our heads than the reality laid before us.

Puerto Madero commercial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina

During these outings, we also went to Buquebus, the ferry terminal to all places Uruguay, to see what we could find.   

We went to Uruguay! We decided to just spend the day in Colonia. We tossed around the idea of staying a night, but since we had already paid for our place, we decided to make it a day trip, and I have to say, a day trip was enough for us. Colonia is a cute city. With the boat ticket, they offer a tour. The walking tour is of the old city and only in Spanish, and the bus tour takes you out of the old city and into the rest. 

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

I couldn’t tell you about the walking tour, because I quit. I tried, but understanding this man was like an ESL person trying to understand someone from the bayou. It wasn’t happening. Javier tried to explain what he was saying, but there wasn’t enough time in between for explanations, so I told him to enjoy the rest of the tour and I went window shopping. I’m dangerous alone. It doesn’t happen to me so much at home, but when I’m traveling, I want EVERYTHING! It’s almost like I go into a trance while I’m in the store, and once I’m out, I snap out of it and think, whew! good thing I didn’t buy that, or what was I thinking?!? Thankfully, I didn’t purchase. But I was definitely walking that thin line.

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

I was trying on some handmade shoes when I hear Javier yelling at me through the window to hurry or we’ll miss the bus tour. I snapped out of my trance, looked at the shoes and thought, really???, set them down and ran out after him. This was the funniest and most ridiculous bus tour we’ve ever been on. They highlight grocery stores and malls…I kid you not. The only cool thing on this bus tour was the old bullfighting ring. It is now in ruins, but the structure itself looked pretty cool. Just like those we saw in Spain, it was built in the Moorish style just without the colors.

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

After the bus “tour” we walked around the old town. We headed for the water and followed it back to the center. It was very quaint and peaceful. There were many restaurants with people sitting outside in the sunshine. We thought about sitting for a coffee, but it was already getting late, and we wanted to have an early dinner before getting on the boat. We returned to the same place we had lunch and ordered the same chivito (sandwhich)….. We waltzed through immigration and waited in the terminal. In Argentina, we made the mistake of waiting in line. We stood there for over 30 minutes, and as soon as they opened up the ropes, no one respected the line, they just surged ahead to the front.

Ferry. Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

We weren’t going to make that mistake again. So we just sat there as the line grew longer and longer. When it was time to go, sure enough the people were a mess and we walked right up to the front and joined the chaos. 

 On our last day in Argentina we decided to check out the Kirchner Cultural Center. It is new, only opened in May 2015, and is free to everyone! We had been wanting to visit since we arrived but just couldn’t manage to find the time. When we first attempted, they were closed until 2pm, so we went in search of a Peruvian restaurant Javier had found. After a short train ride, and short walk, we found it. Javier was oh so happy, and I was just hungry. 

Free Opera performance at the Kirchner Cultural Centre

After lunch we went back to the cultural center and spent the next few hours there. It used to be the old post office, and is truly an amazing building. They gutted the middle of it and created a theater inside they call the, “Blue Whale.” The rooms on the perimeter are utilized for different exhibitions, meetings, music, and all-purpose uses. We checked out the South American art exhibit, went to a love exhibition, which was about real love, not the kinky kind, and finished watching and listening to an opera that was happening in the lobby. What a cool place!

Traveling

We spent the rest of the evening at home eating all of the leftovers I had accumulated over the past couple days, and called it a day. We had to catch a flight the following morning, and I wanted to run over to the next block in the morning to catch the beginning of the Sunday San Telmo market. There was a belt I had been looking for all week, and knew I would find it there. Javier was a bit nervous since we were already running a bit behind schedule, but I knew exactly what I wanted. The minute we stepped on the street, we saw a man selling the belts, the price was right, he resized it for me right then and there and were back at home within 15 minutes! Time to go!

To see more pictures of Colonia and Buenos Aires, click HERE.