On to South America: Buenos Aires

28 hours of travel: we went from Amsterdam > Newark > Houston > Buenos Aires. The flights were much more full than when we had left for Europe back in August, and since we went cheap we didn't get to sit next to eachother for a couple of the long ones. But we kind of use the overseas flights as "movie days" anyways, so they weren't too bad. One thing that was shocking (although it shouldn't have been with how much time we spend in airports) was the price of a meal in Newark! We split a pizza and did not include any drinks, and it was still one of our more expensive meals of the last several weeks. Also, we want to add a quick reminder that when transitioning through the US to get to another country, remember to give yourself enough time at your first connection point to get through customs and passport control! Even if everything goes quick and smooth, it's still a 2+ hour process....but back to the blog:

We arrived around 10 am and headed to the arrivals area to exchange a little cash (DO NOT DO THIS AT THE AIRPORT IN ARGENTINA - more on that later) and buy Argentina SIM cards ($7 a piece for 30 minutes calling anywhere, 3 GB data, unlimited WhatsApp & domestic calls). After these 2 errands, we quickly ran into our first obstacle - you cannot buy tickets on the bus or at a kiosk - you have to buy a travel card and load it at specific stores. Fortunately, there was one at the airport so we loaded our cards with $5 (we were hoping it was enough) and headed to the city center (a 10 minute walk from our hostel in San Telmo neighborhood). It cost 44 pesos for the 1.5 hour bus. $1 USD = 100 Argentinian pesos....so our long bus was essentially 44 cents. We were shocked at the price, but know of Argentina's volatile currency fluctuations and appreciated that we are here at a good time for exchange rates. We arrived at our hostel in the early afternoon and were able to check in. Once we dropped our bags, we went to the closest restaurant that Kyle had googled called “La Puerta Roja”, where we got a quesadilla and philly cheesesteak fries (not very cultured but delicious anyways). He had seen photos of the menu from within the last year that showed certain prices, but when we arrived everything had changed! Because of the volatile changes, most restaurants and stores have menus and prices on chalkboards, whiteboards, or disposable papers, so that they can keep up with the currency changes. Even with the more expensive prices, though, we were still pleased with our food. These were real deal plates - and I mean we didn’t cook dinner that night because we had so much left over (and a kitchen at the hostel!) After lunch, we took a nap and then hit the laundromat. We spent the evening hanging out at the hostel - which had 2 pools (one of them with a glass bottom over the hostel atrium), a kitchen, game area, and a couple of other social areas (all for $30/night). We grabbed groceries from a nearby store to cook for the next few days. Due to exhaustion, or travel time, or jet lag, we called it an early night and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning ready to explore. We began by walking to Plaza de Mayo and la Casa Rosada. Both are historically and politically significant. Casa Rosada is where the President of Argentina works, and where Juan and Eva Perón delivered famous speeches from its balconies, and Plaza de Mayo is known for its constant demonstrations for many causes (we saw protests and demonstrations of all kinds throughout our stay, it was pretty cool to see so many active people out supporting their causes in a peaceful manner). Behind Casa Rosada lies the river and Puerto Madero - a more modern cosmopolitan neighborhood. We strolled along the many restaurants and bars before continuing on to Avenido 9 de Julio. This street has many shops and restaurants, and best of luck trying to cross the entire thing in one traffic light cycle. We arrived at the obelisk and the BA city letters that stand in the center of this avenue, and then found an empanada (THE Argentinian snack food) restaurant for lunch.

After lunch we headed to the Recoleta neighborhood to view the famous cemetery. Due to COVID, it was closed to tourists so we were only able to peek in the doors before heading to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a bookstore in the city. Not just any bookstore, it’s actually a theater converted bookstore (named in 2019 National Geographic the most beautiful bookstore in the world) - which is hard to disagree with once you’ve walked inside. After a long day of walking, we finally headed back to the hostel to relax a bit before dinner.

A fun part of the culture here, is things do not start until LATE. I mean, restaurants don’t open until 8 pm, people don’t go to bars until 10 or 11, and clubs? Don’t show up before 2 am. This is a bit difficult for us old people who are used to a bedtime, but come 8:30 we headed down to an area in the San Telmo barrio for a steak dinner. (Another "old person" thing to note: at this point we are feeling like the parents at the hostels, as we spend a good amount of time picking up around the social areas and cleaning dishes that others have left dirty and laying about...some habits are hard to break) We found our spot street side - with $6 steaks and a $4 bottle of wine. This was our first experience of a fine steak dinner that also happened to be on mismatched plastic furniture in the street, where garbage was being collected and homeless were asking for the leftover bones!

We slept in the next morning before scoping out a park to workout in - complete with a mile loop and an outdoor exercise park. As we got started late, we were definitely feeling the heat during our laps and workout. After getting back and gulping down some water (plus more empanadas!), we headed to La Boca. While many people had told us to have caution as there are pickpockets and it’s not a safe area at night, we decided to walk there and explore for ourselves. La Boca is what many describe as the most colorful and picturesque barrio in Buenos Aires. Located at what used to be the city’s largest port, where many immigrants landed and took up residence opening shops, restaurants, and building homes from ship metal and other materials, which in later years were painted in the bright colors you see today. El Caminito runs through La Boca and is where artists began transforming the neighborhood. La Bombonera, the stadium of the Boca Juniors team, is also located in La Boca. We rounded out our visit with a beer and spectacular views from the balcony at a bar right at the end of El Caminito.

We walked home as the sun was setting, and decided we weren’t ready to call it a night. We cooked some dinner and headed out. During our search for a parilla (place that serves steak or meats) the previous night, we had seen a corner with 4 bars, tables lining the streets, and tons of locals. We headed there to grab a table and a beer. As all the tables were full, we opted to stand with a beer on the corner and wait for one to open up. As we were waiting, we saw some people in government safety vests show up and stand at the intersection. We didn’t think much of it at first. Finally a table opened up, and to our dismay the staff ran out and pulled it inside. They did this with the next 2-3 tables that opened which was when we realized something was off. Then police showed up. A few employees/patrons from the bar/ restaurant across the street were talking to both the police and governmental safety people, and getting a bit heated. The staff at our bar/ restaurant brought everyone at their tables outside their tabs and asked them to pay.

Next thing we knew, a dump truck was rolling up (barely able to fit through the narrow streets, let alone turn). The police began stacking the empty tables and chairs outside from the bar we were at, and patiently waited until everyone’s table was clear before conducting a count, and then proceeding to throw them all in the dump truck. At this point, we obviously ordered another (no one was kicked out, asked to leave, or forced inside to drink - you just couldn’t sit at a table anymore). When we asked our waiter what happened, he said “oh a neighbor doesn’t like the noise”. Eventually, we had to ask another couple because that’s didn’t explain it. Their response was “oh, the government just likes to make a show of it sometimes - that’s Argentina for you! “. Another person said "it's because of the government" with no additional explanation. We still have no idea why their tables were throw away, if they were fined, or what the actual problem was - but it was all very entertaining to watch. We finally decided to call it a night and walked home.

The following morning we took the train to Tigre to explore the delta for the afternoon. It cost about $40 pesos ($0.40 USD), and took around an hour. We visited Puerto de Frutos, a large (like, VERY large) market with crafts, foods, and handcrafted furniture. There’s also an artist’s market on the main dock, a park, a casino, and a few museums. We found super panchos for lunch (Argentinian hot dogs - quickly becoming a favorite of Nicole's) and sat at the waters edge to eat them (it’s a delta….I’m not sure if I say we sat by the river, or ocean, or water area?). Anyhow, after exploring the area for the afternoon we headed back for maybe our favorite event - TANGO!

While most tango experiences we saw included lessons, dinner, and a show - they cost around $75. Since this wasn’t in our budget - we found an alternate option on Airbnb that included lessons and our instructor taking us to a traditional milonga afterwards for $20. Our instructor also happened to be a professional tango dancer. A “milonga” is a place where locals go to dance tango, and there are tons of authentic ones around the city, depending on the day of the week. Our instructor told us he had a special one in mind for the evening. We took lessons on the rooftop in San Telmo with fantastic views overlooking the city - and also happened to be the only 2 who had reserved for this night. After our lessons, we headed to the milonga. We arrived via a pre-booked car at a completely non-descript building and proceeded to walk through a maze of corridors and stairwells until we popped out into an open ballroom. This was nothing at all what we expected, and as we progressed through the night we learned many of the unspoken rules of a milonga (Aka men sit on one side, women on the other; you don’t ask someone to dance, you make eyes across the dance floor and nod; there are generally 4 songs to each sequence - you dance with the same partner for them all and talk between; and you NEVER walk across the dance floor). After some snacks, wine, dancing, and winning a bottle of champagne by random luck, the “performers” started. Now I mentioned earlier that everything starts late - the main event began at 2 am. Our instructor told us that these may be in the top 3 tango dancers internationally, and after watching them dance - we believe it. Not long after the performance, we headed home (stopping for a super pancho on the way).

The next morning brought packing and checkout - however our bus wasn’t until 6 pm so we hit a few markets including the Feria de los matadores, and Feria de San Telmo, a colorful, crowded Sunday street fair that draws over 12,000 people each week. There’s tons of antiques, artwork, knick knacks, and other treasures laid out along the pedestrian street of Defensa. After the markets we picked up some empanadas (duh!) for dinner on the road and headed to the bus station for our 14 hour overnight bus to San Rafael, where we would spend the next few days. On the way to the bus station, there are some questionable street vendors (you can get a used toaster or and old hat for CHEAP) and alongside them, street food. We had been eyeballing the burgers and decided to give them a try, loaded with a fried egg, hang, beef, tomato and lettuce (all for $1, and from a grill that hasn't been cleaned for a generation). Fortunately for everyone in our bus, they settled well.

One thing to note about money in Argentina: There is an underground exchange rate called the "blue dollar." Because of the lack of stability of physical Argentinian pesos, many Argentinians use more stable currencies (think of the dollar or Euro) or buying assets such as a car as a way to hold onto their savings (i.e. if they simply saved pesos in a bank, it could be worthless in a couple of years because of inflation). This leads to a whole secondary market for US cash, one that is a legitimate, although not-government-sanctioned business. In our case, we were able to exchange at ~190 pesos per US dollar (almost double what we got at the airport!).

Levi's shirt count: Huge boost, and glad to see the trend continuing in South America. We're at 259.