The Complete Walker's Manual to Buenos Aires

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  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Saturday, March 1, 2008

We have arrived!  We are safe and sound in San Telmo, the tango district of Buenos Aires, at an interesting place called OoHostel.  We're mostly staying with other travelers and students from South America.  It's tough to break through the language barrier and make friends, but we're making progress.  Kyle is having a ball trying to speak Spanish whenever possible and the conversation usually ends with a shrug, a sheepish smile and "esta bien." 

We have been walking, and walking, and walking... covering massive parts of the city while we break in our feet.  We've developed a new way to gauge walking distances that goes like this: "Patience, are your feet bleeding yet?"  To which she replies, "just a little.  Buck up and let's keep going." 

We went to the botanic garden yesterday, surprised by the herds of feral felines and the groups of geriatrics doing calisthenics.  The place should have been called "el parque de los gatos" or "park of limber elders."  We continued on to the cemetery, where 4,800 mausoleums for individuals important to Argentinian politics, military and arts rest in a maze of old and new architecture.  The biggest challenge of our day was to secure our tickets for our next stop, choosing the right bus among hundreds of companies.  That said, it was our most profound triumph.  We high-fived a lot. 

We went out last night to a local bar with live Latin Rock, had a couple pitchers of Isenbeck - the local beer, (a cross between PBR and Budweiser), had a blast, and stumbled home to hang out with the hostel gang.  We went to bed at 4am and were the first to call it a night.   

We accompanied our homemade dinner last night with an AWESOME MALBEC!!  There's this amazing indoor market up the street from us that has beautiful fruits and veggies and a massive array of cheese and cured meats.   Oh yes, and there's a pastry place way too close for comfort.  Patience keeps threatening to buy a cake and eat the entire thing herself.  She's capable. 

Today we walked to La Boca and explored the city's 'bohemian' district.  Old colorful buildings lined the street with all sorts of artists hawking their wears.  La Boca is a pretty rough barrio from what we hear, so we tried to stay close to the beaten path.  However, set two gringos out on a mission to find a destination 4 miles away on foot and you are bound to have two lost gringos having to pee...in the wrong 'hood.  We stumbled into a little corner cafe to get out of the rain and had one of our best meals yet - house made ravioli and some sort of chicken fried steak thing wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese - the latter was all Patience.  We found our bearings and easily made it to the right street.  We discovered fantastic art that should be adorning all our walls - but we've yet to figure out how to get a 4'x6' painting in our packs...

We're off to hodgepodge dinner together from the surrounding bakeries, produce stands and wine merchants. More to follow in the coming days. 

Patience + Kyle


 

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