Back to Buenos Aires Again
Christian March 7th, 2008
Well we ended up back in Buenos Aires again. We can thank Argentina´s LADE Airlines for the cheapest flight North, beating out all other destinations by at least $300. This price however did come at a cost. The flight from Ushuaia had 7 landings and one plane change. It is awkward, your plane lands at these tiny airports along the way to pick up and drop off people, all while you wait on the plane. It is comparable to a bus.
We decided to switch it up this time to keep life exciting by staying in a different neighborhood of the city. The part we chose was called ¨Palermo¨. It is filled with parks and is the nicer, richer part of the city. We stayed in a hostel named the BAIT Hostel. We decided to suck it up and stay in the 8 bed dorm. This was the first time that Casey and I had encountered bunk beds that were three beds high. I was brave enough to take the top bunk. That is….until when I was climbing up on it to put my sheets on it happened. SNAP!!!!!! the board below the bed splintered and my knee crashed below. That is when we decided that Casey should take the top since she was lighter. We decided to tell the guys at the front desk. We walked up to them with the broken board, and the only reaction that we got was “Oh Shit, I guess I will have to fix that in the morning”. So Casey ended up with the top bunk, missing board and all, 9 feet above the concrete floor. The dorm was so hot and so loud. The next morning we asked for a double and were happy that it was cooler and quieter. Now we could get on with our explorations of our new neighborhood.
Palermo is a very nice area. We spent the day being productive, buying our bus tickets to Mendoza and buying sneakers for running. It was in our quest for comfy sneakers that we found it. It seemed to glow, and we were just drawn to it. It was our first encounter of an actual mall since we have been down here. There were stores galore and a wonderful food court complete with a McDonalds Kosher. As we walked, we started smelling the familiar smell of a movie theater. We then realized they had a movie theater with movies in English. Our choice was limited to Rambo with showtimes, so we gladly paid our $4 each and bought the biggest tub of popcorn and largest coke that they had. This was only $5, what a bargin. It was nice to have a bit of normal after being on the road nonstop for a month. After the movie we made our way back to our double room and enjoyed spreading our stuff out of our packs and all over the room.
The following day we only had one mission. That was to eat at a fancy steakhouse, one that was recommended over and over to us, La Cabrera. In the meantime, we spent our day in the parks of this part of city and updating the website. Including videos, which I will post in a week or so. After waiting all day, it was finally time to have a real Argentinian steak house meal.
We got there pretty much right as they opened at 8:30 pm. The indoor tables were not open yet, so we took a table outside. We ordered a bottle of wine, El Cafayate, and a large water to split. When ordering our meals, I asked for a ribeye for myself and a caesar salad to start, then I started ordering Casey´s filet when our waiter stopped me. He kept insisting that it was too much food and just to get the steaks. I was hardpressed to not order the salad, since we were both starving, but I am glad we didn´t. Apparently all the meals come with appetizers already, they first served us sausage with a cheese dip, it was huge. Next, they came out with a baked garlic clove, served with olive oil. They both were great. Then came the main course…..my steak was the biggest steak that I have ever seen. It was a monster, at least 24 ounces of meat, with 6 side dishes. Casey´s filet looked amazing. It was at least 12 ounces with 6 side dishes as well. The sides included peas, potatoes, mashed potatoes, applesauce, corn, omlet, squash, and some things that we did not know what they were. It was soo good. It was the first time that I could not finish my meal. I still had half my steak left. It was amazing. We both felt so sick from eating too much. As our stomachs throbbed in agony, we decided it would be a good idea to order dessert (bad idea later, good at the time). We got oreos covered in ice cream and chocolate. The bill for all of this came to $45 for the both of us. So good, and so reasonable. We waddled home for our last night in Buenos Aires, both feeling so sick from eating way too much. We both fell asleep, waking up to a huge surprise.
The rain was pouring all night long and when we woke up. We didn´t really think anything of it until we looked out the window. The entire street was a river with water rushing by. The water was easily thigh deep. It was our day to leave for Mendoza and we were trapped. We decided to wait it out in the hostel, luckily they let us hang around. By 4 it had stopped raining and the flooding was gone.
Buenos Aires Flood from Christian Kraft on Vimeo.
We were so happy to be able to make it to the bus station and be on our way to Mendoza. We thought that we were going to be stuck in Buenos Aires forever by the view out of our window. We are now here in Mendoza, enjoying the heart of wine country and will post again soon about Mendoza and the adventure for getting our package which once again has put us back in Buenos Aires.
- Argentina
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