After accidentally missing our bus to Argentina, the rest of the trip was a breeze. We took a nice nap on our first bus, hopped on a boat, and got to watch sunset in the water, and finally, back on a bus for a quick last leg into Buenos Aires. Thankfully, we had strategically located a hostel close to the bus drop off, because it was about midnight when we finally arrived. The hostel was nice enough, another Lime House Hostel; I think that is one f the most common names for a hostel. We located out beds, and almost immediately went to sleep.
The next morning, we had serious tourism to do. After a hearty hostel breakfast, we first went to the Plaza de Mayo, with the cathedral, built in an oddly Roman fashion, with Corinthian pillars and all and the President's pink palace (see Evita movie circa 1997). The inside if the cathedral was actually pretty neat, with the remains of San Martin draped in the Argentine flag and guarded by 2 uniformed men. The inside of the President's palace was pretty cool too...just kidding. Quick breeze by the Manzana de las Luces (the oldest building, formerly of the government, in Buenos Aires) and the obelisk, and we made our way for lunch. I know it sounds like we had just eaten breakfast, but with the walk to our lunch spot included, it was perfect timing for some famous empanadas at San Juanino. The weather was gorgeous, and the food was cheaper take-away, so we ate in a nearby park. After, we attempted to go to the National Museum of Fine Arts, but it was unfortunately closed, so we just walked around the area snapping some shots of an unconventional bridge and a huge silver flower. There is an absolutely stunning cemetery close by with the remains of Evita, along with the wildly rich and famous of Argentina. It was pretty incredible to walk through all of the house-sized graves and monuments made for the dead, and I've decided where I plan to be buried. After all that walking, we parked it for a minute at a Starbucks for free iced water and coffee. Exhausted, but aware of our serious time limitation in Buenos Aires, we wretched ourselves up, and hauled it over to Palermo, the hip neighborhood. Unfortunately, I think the area is not really a tourist attraction, in that there isn't anything besides the vibe that is attractive. Granted, it did seem like a very cool place, lots of shops, restaurants etc, but not really anything that we could take in, in 10 minutes. After we walked around a minute, realizing we really didn't have enough time to enjoy the neighborhood, we ran back to the subway and our area.
I quick did some sink laundry, as my only dress was in dire need of a good washing after wearing it for 5 nights straight of tango lessons. I quick washed some other things up, and we both showered for our night out! We were lucky enough to be in Buenos Aires at the same time as one of our friends, Yvette, we had met on the boat from Panama to Colombia, and then again, briefly, in Cusco as we were leaving. She was in town for a bit, and we arranged to catch a tango show with her. She organize it all, and we got picked up at a hostel to go to Complejo Tango, a lesson, dinner, and tango show! Jared and I were pretty pumped about building on the small amount of tango we had already learned; unfortunately, it really was the most basic and simple step to accommodated the amount of people, and the fact that people did not necessarily know one another, making the intimacy of tango awkward. Nevertheless, it was fun. After our lesson, we had a good dinner of steaks, Jared had a pumpkin ravioli, and unlimited, yes, unlimited bottles of wine! As dessert came, the lights dimmed, and we got to watch a fantastic tango show, with the dancers weaving throughout the crowd, and occasionally bringing people up to dance with them. All three of us got to go up, and we all had a great time. After the show, Yvette, her friend, Gavin, and I all went out to Palermo for one last drink.
The next day we woke up, and headed out to the airport for Patagonia!
Buenos Aires was wonderful, and we both wish we had more than one day to spend there. But, given the time we had, we made the best of it, and saw a lot in a small amount of time. It is definitely a place to which I'd like to go back.
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