Once we got situated at the hostel and put food in our bellies, we began a planning day of champions, and a planning day we had. We literally planned until bed time in order to make the most of our last month in South America. The best part, we booked 3 flights for the next 3 big phases of our journey in Argentina. We spent a couple hundred more than we would have on buses, yet saved more than a few days time!
That day we stayed at Sabatico Hostel for $15 a night in a 4 bed dorm. It was a very friendly, cozy, inviting place.
The next day we took a ferry over to Uruguay for the night. See Uruguay post for details of that excursion.
The next morning we took the ferry back and were in BA by lunch time. We picked up our bags at the hostel, and headed to an apartment a few blocks away that our English friends, Sam & Katy, had booked. We originally met them in Colombia, and met up again in Bolivia. Now, we worked out to be in BA around the same time they were there, and they generously let us stay on the sofa couch for a mere few bottles of wine. It was great having our own space to relax, cook dinners, and hang out. The first day we took it pretty easy and walked around parts of town, cooked dinner and enjoyed some Argentine wine.
The next day Matt had one item on his agenda: get more pages in his passport. He was down to 4 blank pages, and he knew he would need more than that for the Visas and stamps ahead of us. Luckily, after some online research he learned adding pages was pretty simple and all he had to do was get to the U.S. Embassy. He looked up where the Embassy was, figured out which subway lines would get him there, and then he was on his way. It wasn't that big of a hassle, the worst part of it was having to go back in the afternoon to pick it up. Now he's loaded with plenty of blank pages and is ready to fill them up :-).
While he took care of that errand, Kristin and Katy went to get haircuts. First one of the trip for Kristin and she was happy to finally get a trim! The girls decided that night would be a good night to get "dressed up" for our nice steak dinner since they were already feeling pretty. Dressed up is a very loose term for travelers :-). We had a nice steak dinner at Don Julio. Nothing that impressive, but still delicious. And as always, the Argentine Malbecs didn't disappoint. It was Friday night, so although we are old spirits, our group decided to go out for a few drinks. As we were yawning at the bar around midnight, we looked at each other and laughed, because Argentinians don't even start going out until 2 or 3 am. We can't hang with the locals that's for sure.
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| This is what happens on most first attempts at a picture. |
We had a very lazy Saturday and didn't leave the apartment except to eat and get groceries. We also were able to stream the A&M game which is always a plus!
Sunday, Sam went to a holy grail soccer match between the two biggest BA rivals, and one of the greatest rivalries in the world, Boca and River. There's quite a bit of history between the two teams, so as Sam witnessed, this game was one of the most exciting games to attend. Matt was stuck with the two girls walking the street for a few miles at the famous Sunday San Telmo market. He was rewarded for his good behavior and patience though with a great steak. We went to Des Vivel, a parrilla (an array of meats cooked on an open grill), and enjoyed one of the best steaks yet! The atmosphere at the restaurant was fun with all the bright colors.
We watched the soccer match from a bar and continued to taste test some more Argentine Malbecs. Once Sam met up with us after the game, we made our way to the nearby plaza hoping to see some free outdoor tango shows. BA is known for their Tango shows. We caught about 30 minutes of some street performers and locals dancing, but weren't able to catch any tango shows because it started to rain pretty hard and the dancing ceased soon after. It was still entertaining though.
We left the apartment early Monday morning and it was pouring down rain, so getting a taxi driver willing to take us out to the international airport in rush hour traffic took a while to find. Kristin got a little nervous while trying to track down a taxi. Of course we eventually found a driver that was nice enough to take us, just for a little extra money :-). Oh well. We made it to the airport in plenty of time. Now, off to the southernmost city in the world.
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