A Couple Days in Buenos Aires

The first morning in Buenos Aires, we went on a free tour, which was probably the best tour I've been in. We walked around the National Congress Plaza down to the big obelisk, passing by historical monument, buildings, and protests. According to Macarena, our tour guide, there are about 15 protests a week on that one street. After the amazing informative and entertaining (and FREE) tour, we ate pizza at this old but delicious place and walked around the city. We were in the area that's like the Washington, D.C. of Argentina so there was definitely a lot to see. Our 80 cents watch from Mexico City had been broken for a while, so we bought a new one for 10 Argentine pesos, which is about $2.50. The watch strap broke after 2 hours. PIECE OF CRAP! And we couldn't even find the store we bought it in to get a new one. Now we just keep it in our pocket.

The city is really interesting, so we wandered into churches and went to some malls and the port. The malls were CRAZY. There were indoor fountains and ceiling murals and the interior looked more like a cathedral than a mall. All the stores were American or European brands too, and things were really expensive. We had a pretty relaxed day without much planning, and we just wandered all over the city. When it was time to go back to the hostel, we took the oldest subway in the southern hemisphere, which is still active with all the original chairs and subways! We stopped to eat pasta on the way back and that was pretty much the end of that day.

The next day, we dropped off our laundry at a lavanderia across the street from the hostel and went towards an art museum. We walked all the way there, but couldn't actually find it, but we did find some amazing artsy toy stores that sold really cool stuff like rocking giraffes, lamps shaped like people and faces, cool dolls, and cartoony umbrellas. We also walked around and looked at the clothes stores, which had really nice clothes for cheaper than what you would pay in the states. Walking around, we also met a Patagonian jeweler. He demonstrated his techniques and showed us how he made little designs, and we were so amazed that we bought stuff. It's a secret though. Then we walked really far to go to a museum, but after walking about 8 km, we decided we didn't really want to go so we turned around. We exercised for nothing. Then we went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of junk food and soda, went back to the hostel, sat down on the couches and watched Iron Man while eating our junk food. Once the movie ended, we went out to eat ravioli and other ravioli-like pasta (I forgot what it's called). We also got submarinos, which is basically a cup of hot milk and a chocolate bar. You stick the chocolate bar in the hot milk and it melts, turning into wonderful hot chocolate. Then we went back to the hostel and slept.

The next day, we went next door and got me a haircut. Our Spanish sucked, and the barber's English sucked, so I basically told him I wanted a haircut, and I also threw in a "muy guapo". He seemed to understand, and I was pretty pleased with the result. I showered and we left the hostel, buying meat empanadas and tangerines on the way, and ate in front of the Pink House, the Argentine version of America's White House in D.C. We then took the Metro to a Japanese Garden and fooled around, pretending to reenact The Karate Kid and taking random pictures. At 5 PM, we walked to San Martin Plaza and got another free tour (we like free things) of the aristocratic, rich area. We saw lots of expensive things and even got to walk by the $25000 per night hotel that Madonna and the Jonas Brothers stayed at. It was really cold and windy, but the tour was awesome and we got to see lots of cool stuff, like old women with plastic surgery (it's very affordable in Argentina) and a multibillion dollar steel sculpture of a flower that opens and closes depending on the lighting. We ate after the tour at a restaurant called Cumana with our new friends from Manchester, Jemma and Stacy. The food was regional Argentine food, and it was AMAZING. I got a mashed potato and steak and onion pot pie, and Yoontae ordered a Carbonada, which is a meat, potato, and vegatable stew, mixed with a ton of spices in a stone pot. Basically, we died of happiness. We also ordered an empanada and slice of mushroom pizza because we are fatties and one entree was not enough. Oh yeah, and we were feeling super fat, so we stopped by McDonalds on the way back and got sundaes.

In Argentina, we've been taking it easy. Not forcing ourselves to wake up early and really just wandering aimlessly around the city, we've both fallen in love with Buenos Aires. It's such a great city, and it has bakeries everywhere. Bakeries are good. Looking around as we walk, it's really not that different from home. It makes me really want to go back home and rediscover San Diego, because I know I'm missing out on so much. Honestly, though, Brazil had way prettier people and better street food, but Buenos Aires seems more like a place we could see ourselves living in. I LOVE TRAVELING.

Oh yeah, and also. I forget which day, but while we were riding the metro, three kids jacked our water bottle and started drinking it right in front of us, backwashing like crazy. I was confused and kinda speechless because I felt bad for them and I was really surprised by what just happened. It was also the bottle that Yoontae, the sick boy, was drinking out of so the kids might become sick. That's what they get for stealing our water without asking. Just wanted to share that.