Blogs from Argentina, South America - page 2

The day started as any other day, sans work stress. A quick Breakfast, then off for the day. Our first stop was to exchange money. The first time we did this the rate was 1,000 pesos to the dollar. Today, it was going to be the same, until they looked at the $100 bills, because they were older the rate dropped to 970 pesos to the $1. Tip here is make sure all of your $100 bills, are the new one’s with the security stripe, otherwise you get a bad exchange rate. Later in the day, we discussed this with the concierge, he said it is just how Argentina is, there is no consistency in how the currency is treated. It is so bad that banks will not take anything less than $100 to exchange. He ... read more

The cooking class comes a bit earlier in our trip than normal, but finding one here was very difficult. I am always looking for hands on, not stand and watch and they are becoming more difficult to find. Perhaps part of the problem is that people just don’t cook anymore, especially those under 40. By cooking I mean, doing more than opening up a delivered box and heating up, I mean actually cook, from scratch, with spices and herbs and real food. Ok, I will stop the rant of the destruction of society before I go down the rabbit hole to far. Before the cooking class was of course breakfast. The selection was not much different, except we did learn that they will not only make omelets for you but cook your eggs anyway you would ... read more

After a very restful night, slept like a baby, I did, Jerry did not but he never really does, we were up at 7:15 and down to breakfast by 9:10. Somehow, we ended up being an hour behind schedule, so the first cut on the itinerary was the Cementario de la Recoletta. In hindsight this was probably an omen of the day to come. The day was planned to be “Evita Day” from her plot in the cemetery to the museum founded in her name. But before I get there, back to breakfast. The breakfast room is actually the same as the restaurant we ate in the night before. The spread is what you would expect from a hotel of this quality, lots of pastries, juices, fruit, cheeses, etc. The standard hot dishes were also available. ... read more

Hello! This one is for all the naysayers out there who said we'd never make it...we're OK here in hot and humid Buenos Aires. The BA journey was pretty long, not helped by the slobbering character sleeping next to me on the plane (no, not Laura) and the 25 Argentinian youngsters returning from their degree course at the Finsbury Park School of Applied English (cash only, terms and conditions apply). I arrived without incident and successfully booked into the wonderful Garden House Hostel in the San Telmo neighborhood of the city. Great hotel - not too many people staying, so no late-night raucous mobs to disrupt my beauty sleep...sort ly tailored toward the traveling population in a good way.My only complaint is a lack of air conditioning (that we've noticed) and the lack of a private ... read more

Between Antarctica and Uruguay, we stayed in the nice Paz Hotel, getting a taxi from the EZE airport. This hotel was near where we had previously stayed at the Sheraton with Atlas Ocean Voyages. This time, we just had one short night before our ferry to Uruguay early the next morning. I chose the location because we would be able to walk to the ferry terminal. I looked up nearby restaurants for dinner and found a speakeasy with good reviews. So, I booked at the Floreria Atlantico a few weeks ahead of time and now it was time to check it out. It was about 3 blocks walking distance and we passed by a flower shop and stopped outside a little restaurant bar area. I thought I had read that you go through the flower shop ... read more

Our third day in Buenos Aires started off with a nice breakfast before walking once again to the hop-on-hop-off bus stop near the zoo. We waited for about thirty minutes, enjoying the dog walkers who were in charge of anywhere between 5 to 15 dogs; this is such a dog friendly city - we saw them everywhere! We just had two stops until we reached our planned destination: La Recoleta neighborhood. Here is where the famous La Recoleta cemetery is located but there are additional things to see, including some more colorful buildings. This is a very upscale neighborhood as well. As we walked to the cemetery, we passed by the Basilica Nuestra Senora del Pilar, which is painted a stark white, in contrast to the adjacent multi-colored cultural building. It was surprisingly peaceful and the ... read more