Ah! Employment can be wonderful!
A few days ago, I received a call informing me to be at the airport ready to work within an hour and a half. The destination? Buenos Aires.
Vague memories of tango and beef flitted through my head, but I was too excited and short on time to do any research apart from checking the temperature. It’s a good thing, since Buenos Aires is currently in winter, if a balmy winter averaging in the 50’s. That being said, my companion and I wandered quite aimlessly with very little idea of what we were seeing and my information for you is limited for the nonce.
My first impression of Argentina was taken through bleary eyes during the long bus ride to the hotel. At a tollbooth, I glanced up at a sign which I mistook to say “Sriracha Mama.” It was time to sleep, but the bumpy bus wasn’t cooperating.
We rolled past dilapidated apartments, broken and half collapsed at times; tired and graffitied, with an occasional pop of color from the greenery filling a balcony. The color scheme of the city we entered was clay red, dirty cream and gray, and an odd, slightly yellowed kelly green.
The view from my hotel room:
Surprisingly the trees that peppered the road were diverse: bushy trees, stiff evergreens, prickly trees, trees with pale, smooth bark, droopy trees, one sporting autumnal foliage (only one), a tree straight out of a Dr. Suess book, and some palm trees for good measure.
This made me laugh. It looked like some saint trying to fly away with his propeller cap. Smooth St. Somebody. Real smooth:
Apart from sleeping, the rest of our layover consisted of getting lost in the close vicinity of our hotel, eating, and staying in after dark. Buenos Aires is much safer if you stay in the right neighborhoods, employ the buddy system, and avoid dark nights.
One of the first things we noticed for sale were little decorated gourds with fancy straws. Evidently, yerba mate is a thing in Argentina, and they drink it out of the gourds. Wikipedia link for your educational pleasure:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_tea_culture
Yerba mate isn't really my thing, but it's an interesting cultural thing nonetheless.
The center of the city was older and better kept than the city of my first impressions, but it still had some sketch to it.
Check out this dude, though... Doesn't he look dreadfully uncomfortable? What is even going on with that sword?
We found the palace while we were lost, but couldn't get close to it.
We also found this guy with a hole in his back who we thought might not have pants on. Of course we walked over for a closer look.
I'm sure it's a very touching monument if you know what it is.
For dinner we had options, but chose a place called Happenings. The steak was supherb. The wine was good too, and you know I rarely like wine. Don't know what it was, but Argentina is famous for Malbec and it was red... It did have good legs, so the alcohol content must have been good (according to that wine class I've forgotten most of).
The next day we visited La Boco. The Caminito is a colorful area in the middle of La Boco which is a bad neighborhood. The Caminito is fairly safe, though. We had lunch in a tent and watched tango dancers. This was not quite the fine dining of Happenings, but it was a fun experience.
I'm not allowed to post anymore pictures in this post. Catch the next!
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