Blogs from Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America - page 20

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires July 8th 2014

7/4 It took a while to get up since it was in the mid 40s in Buenos Aires (BA). I took a long hot shower, called the rents, and watch France v Germany at the hostel. I was cheering for the Germans. After the game I walked into town to exchange my Uruguayan pesos for Argentine pesos. Apparently on the streets you can get a much better exchange rate than the official rate you'd get at the cambio. There's a bunch of people standing around on Florida street yelling "Cambio cambio! Change change!" I used them to do my conversions. They take back to a makeshift office in the high rises around the area called "Blue Dollar Caves". The official exchange rate from USD to ARS is about 8, but on the street you can get ... read more

BA: That´s Wassup

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires June 30th 2014

Brandon Boys In South America

Another hazy bus ride sped us on to Buenos Aires and after a short taxi ride with an extremely racist taxi driver, we were unloaded on the doorsteps of Milhouse (Avenue) Hostel; the hostel every backpacker labelled as ´The Party Hostel´. Yet did some lucky hostel residents realise... the party had just arrived. One thing immediately apparent: this was more hotel than hostel! Marble floors and more than bread-toast for breakfast.. where were we!? The first day followed routine: Eat pre-check-in breakfast (#loveafreebie); sprawl across sofas attempting to look friendly and not absolutely shattered (#thefriendlyzombie); engage residents and attempt to make plans (#nottherighttime!); post check-in nap (#thisroomisfreezing); brief city exploration (#undecidedonBA); enter BA pm (#drinksensibly). Morning. Afternoon. Palermo was fun! And this next day was to mark the addition of a new temp... read more

First leg of the trip

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires May 22nd 2014

08Colombia

Here we are, just a few thousand miles north of Antartica, in the Tango capital of the world, Buenos Aires. The sky seems bigger here; perhaps it's a subconscious association with the name of the city, which literally translates to "Good Air", or perhaps it was just my disillusionment and deliriousness upon completing the 14 hour flight. Cecilia was an absolute gem the whole way. Lara prepared so well, as she always does, and the baby was entertained virtually the whole flight from Portland to Dallas Fort Worth. It also helped that she naps well, so while there was plenty to keep her busy, the lull of the monotone engines and peaked stimulation of the hustle and bustle of actually getting on the plane was enough to knock her out for at least the first leg ... read more

recoleta

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires May 2nd 2014

cafe tortoni

The Krenns

h2 style="border: 0px; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; padding: 16px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold;"un nuevo dia en argentina… nachts packt uns leider noch einmal kurz der jetlag und wir liegen etwas wach… das beeinflusst unseren heutigen tatendrang jedoch keineswegs und daher begeben wir uns früh, diesmal mittels subte (erste u-bahn südamerikas!) erneut ins stadtzentrum. die casa rosada, der präsidenten-palast, mit ihrem berühmten “evita”-balkon muss genauso gesehen werden wie die parada peru, eine originale u-bahn station, wie vor hundert jahren. nach den ersten kulturellen anstrengungen haben wir uns kaffee im cafe tortoni, dem cafe zentral von buenos aires, verdient! über den plaza nueve de julio und dem darauf eindrucksvoll thronenden obelisken, bewegen wir uns aus dem centro über retiro nach recoleta. hier ist ... read more

buenos aires

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires May 1st 2014

caminito

The Krenns

feliz dia del trabajador, buenos aires! wie passend, dass wir am 1. mai über den plaza del mayo pilgern und all die roten arbeiter-demonstrationen in vollem schall und rauch (wörtlich!) miterleben dürfen. wie schön auch, dass wir endlich wieder schilder lesen können und auch verstehen und speisekarten! und bestellen! und sogar nachfragen, ob etwas erdnüsse oder fleisch enthält! fantastisch einfach - reisen mit verständigung. unser spanisch mag zwar lückenhaft und womöglich mit grauenhaftem akzent sein, aber wir fahren bus (in die richtige richtung!), kaufen ein und fragen nach dem weg ;-). unser erster weg führt uns nach caminito, einem hafenviertel in la boca, in dem die häuser jeweils in mehreren farben bemalt sind. in sämtlichen reiseführern steht, man solle die zwei (sehr) touristischen blocks nicht verlassen und keinesfalls zu fuß hin oder zurück gehen. wir halten ... read more

travel further

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires April 30th 2014

doha sleep over

The Krenns

nach ausgezeichnetem vip-lounge-kaffee geht es weiter nach buenos aires, über sao paulo. das ist für uns beide die längste flugzeit in einem stück… 13 stunden müssen, bei immerhin gutem board entertainment, überbrückt werden. ich versuche ja seit kurzem das hier und jetzt noch intensiver wahr zunehmen und meine vielen “sorgen” als unwichtig anzuerkennen. auf reisen funktioniert das normaler weise ganz gut. der moment ist dank der zumeist unendlichen sinneseindrücke sehr gut lebbar. schlechte gedanken lassen sich in diesem sinne weitgehend ignorieren und als lächerlich titulieren. in einem flugzeugsitz mit schreiendem kind vor mir, ist die herausforderung sogleich eine neue… trotzdem. das essen ist gut, die filme sehenswert und wir leben unseren traum - und lange anreisen gehören da nun mal dazu! wir sind ja schon froh, überhaupt fliegen zu “dürfen”! eeendlich sind wir gegen 21 uhr ... read more

Ciao Buenos Aires!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires April 15th 2014

Subway travel in BA...

Slozzagrowsup

This morning I left Buenos Aires. I was, and still am, really glum because I’ve had such a wonderful time here. Even without knowing a local (like I did with Andreia in Brazil) Buenos Aires has been great place to stay and I can honestly say without hesitation that this is a city I could live in. If I had to compare BA with somewhere in Australia, I’d say its most like Melbourne - its cool (except in Summer when its ridiculously hot), is covered in funky street art and has a huge café culture and gastronomic scene (with awesome food, but generally terrible service). While I was here, I spent a lot of my spare time going to school, which meant getting up early in the morning (well, early for me on holidays), battling the ... read more

Discovering mate, street tango, Argentinian empanadas: first days in Argentina, Buenos Aires

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires March 30th 2014

Nice people met in the street in La Boca

Frenchgirlroundtheworld

After spending one week in Paraguay, which helped me to find myself again, I took a 22-hour bus to go to Buenos Aires and begin my trip in Argentina. It was a really long drive, especially when we spent 2 hours crossing the border. Why did it take 2 hours: well mainly because when they stamped the entrance papers at the Argentinian checkpoint, they put the year 2013 instead of 2014. They noticed it after doing all the papers, so everyone had to give back his paper again to get a new one with the right year on it… The other reason, why it took so long to arrive in Buenos Aires is that we were stopping in any small villages in Paraguay to take other passengers. Anyway, after one day on a bus, I finally ... read more

How to get some money in Buenos Aires in 4 lessons (or in 2 days in my case ;) ?

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires March 30th 2014

Frenchgirlroundtheworld

The start of my journey in Argentina was quite difficult because of money issues. At the bus station, there were indeed only 2 ATMs at the bus station from the same bank and none of them were working. So, the girl at the tourist information advised me to go near the Sheraton Hotel, where there were other ATMs. Well, I went there, but the ATMs were telling me “sorry, we cannot proceed with this operation”… The problem was: I had no money and needed at least money to pay the metro to get to my host. So, I went back to the bus station to exchange the few euros I had at an exchange counter. Well, when I arrived there, the girl told me that as it was holiday- thing that I didn’t know until that ... read more

Buenos Aires

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires March 23rd 2014

Alex and Mike

Arriving fresh from our first experience of cama and our longest bus to date from Puerto Iguacu (20hours) we ran into our first taste of tipping culture in Argentina. A guy actually wanted a tip for lifting our bags out of the luggage compartment. We feigned ignorance and got out of it this time. We set off to find the local bus we needed to take to reach our hostel, Tercero del Sur, in San Telmo (a traditional bohemian area, very pretty and safe). This proved more challenging than we first thought. We wandered just outside the bus station looking at bus signs for the number 152 but only finding every other number between 150 and 160. We spotted a gendarmeria and thought we would try our luck with Spanish (it couldn´t be worse than our ... read more