rufmita: Buenos Aires

One thing I learned from my month long trip was that I'm really, really not a city person. Don't get me wrong - I love architecture and I certainly love coffee shops and a good public transport system, but after a few weeks in southwestern Bolivia, the trip to the famous city of Buenos Aires was a bit more than I could handle.

First off you read over and over how amazing the city is. How it is the Paris of South America. Well, I've never been to Paris, so I'm not sure exactly what I had conjured up in my head, but the city was destined not to meet my expectations...

As the title of my blog implies, shit happens, however Laura and I got a big RUMITA when we arrived in Argentina to find out that we were traveling on the FIRST day of their reciprocity fee, which means that US, Canadian and Australian citizens have to pay a fee to enter Argentina, which is equivalent to the fee an Argentine citizen would have to pay to enter the said country. It's not that I'm adamantly opposed to such an idea, it's just that I didn't budget for an extra $131 in my trip...

So - Welcome to Argentina - now bend over and take it like a man...

We paid our fee and headed into the city...

We had decided to stay in Palmero - a "hip little shopping district". We made a reservation at a small hostel where free tango lessons were offered.

What we didn't know at the time was that really the only reason people stay at this hostel is because they are absolutely obsessed with tango. Lessons going on all day. Tango signs everywhere. The owner made sure to give us a "tango map" which pointed out all the places in the city where you could by tango garb. We met an elderly (maybe 60 year old) woman with her "partner" who looked - I don't know, 30 years younger than her... In actuality the place was a bit creepy. A bit over the top if you know what I mean. It's not like I was opposed to any type of lesson at all - well maybe I would have needed a few drinks first - but being in that place made me kind of a bit repulsed by the whole idea...

So needless to say - we didn't take a tango lesson. We did, however, use their map to find one of my favorite big city sites...

Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking - but let me tell you... people love chains for a HUGE reason... you KNOW what you are getting. Don't get me wrong, people that know me know that I love trying new things. I love going to the little cafe and just picking something out. I especially love trying new beer (more on that later), but sometimes you NEED the familiar! Now, this was a REAL Starbucks. But you know how in different countries the chain restaurants add a little localness to the menu, well the Argentines are famous for their delicious dulce de leche - which is a thick, dark, heavenly caramel. So I head into the Starbucks and what do I see? Yup, dulce de leche latte! Oh, lord, my two loves have combined. Caramel and coffee! It is a bit different than regular caramel. A bit thicker and maybe a tad sweeter.

As I said, I do love trying new beers. You got something new on tap? I'm gonna try it. I am partial to browns. Malty beer. So finding a cerveza negra was like a sign from god that I really, really don't belong in Santa Cruz where the only thing on the menu is a local lager...

So after catching up on a few missed items we headed out to do a little exploring. In the guide book I saw that the city has a Prison Museum in a little neighborhood south of the city where two of our school friends were staying. So we headed down...

Thankfully the museum entrance was free because it was truly ghetto. This is a pretty view of the courtyard of the old woman's correctional facility, but other than a nice sunny day... here is what we saw...

Luckily, right next door was a fantastic church, so the view was great. Also, don't let Laura kid you, she got some good laughs from this place...

After our fantastic museum visit we headed into San Telmo. The part of the city famous for people tangoing in the parks and cool little outdoor cafes and bars...

Now it's time to tell you about the HUGEST disappointment of our entire trip... We had made plans to specifically be in Buenos Aires for the big New Year celebration. The problem is... no one told us the time table for Argentines. Let me fill you in a bit... first of all, when it comes to dining - Argentines have a VERY different idea about dinner time than I do. I like to have my dinner around 6 and then maybe a little snack and be done eating for the night. I've made a habit out of not eating after a certain time. Now when I'm traveling or visiting other people I know that I have to adjust my schedule a bit, but seriously people... the Argentines START eating around 10 pm. I'm not exaggerating. Laura and I headed out for a nice meal around 8 and we show up at a place to open the door and find the entire staff around a table having their nightly staff meeting. They looked up at us and gave us the "are ya'll crazy" look. We wandered around for a bit before settling on a little Italian place where only a couple other people were eating. Sure enough - around 11 pm the place started to fill up!

So needless to say our timing is off! BUT, this couldn't possibly affect the New Year celebration, right? Midnight is midnight. So when December 31st arrived we get gussied up and hit the town - to find - NOTHING. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing! I honestly thought a nuclear bomb had gone off and we were the last surviving people in the world. I didn't see "I am Legend" but I was sure that I was Will Smith and now I'm stuck with the huge task of repopulating the world. There were 5 of us. Ready to let loose and dance the night away and there wasn't a single soul in sight.

We did manage to find a chinese restaurant and have a few beers and hence a few laughs, but by 1 am we were so disappointed that we headed back to our hostel. That was a story in of itself. I'm telling you that it was deserted. No cabs, nothing. I was sure I was going to have to sleep on a park bench. Maybe that would have been a good idea, because what we found out later is that Argentines have house parties til about 3 or 4 am and then head out on the town. There were other souls alive, but we wouldn't know that because we gave up and went back before they arose from their parties.