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Articles Tagged ‘Palermo’

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Planning the Next Move

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Day 212

After the heat and excitement of yesterday we decided to sleep in and take it easy for a day. No sights, just walk around the ‘hood and also buy our flight for our next move. Yep our time is almost up here in South America and we are soon going to be off to Cape Town and Africa.

We made breakfast, lazed around watching a movie then went for a walk through Palermo. We found a great place for coffee and brownies and sat outside in the warm sun discussing our flight options to Cape Town. Pretty much we either leave when on the 29th, when have the apartment till or we leave on Nov 2nd and go see a bit of Uruguay for a few days.

Later we stopped at an internet cafe and decided that we’d leave on the 29th. I booked our flight with Malaysian Airways and we instantly started researching South Africa. I don’t know much about the place besides Cape Town is supposed to be beautiful and they have some great wildlife. As we walked back to the apartment it sank in with both of us that we would be in Africa soon, Africa! As much as we have loved all of Latin America we were very excited to move on.

So really that was the day, a lot of coffee, movies, walking and planning about Africa. Tomorrow we plan on seeing Eli and Bronwen one more time before we depart. A relaxing day at the zoo and parks of Buenos Aires. Its hard to believe after 7 months of travel in Latin America that in a few days we’ll be somewhere so different and foreign.

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Super Cama to B.A.

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Day 207

What can I say about a bus that has seats that fold into beds, its damn comfortable. It almost felt like we had our own compartment on a train. Actually it felt more like a train than a bus. To bad the movies were still as crap as the cheapest bus. Over the last 7 months of Latin American travel I couldn’t tell you how many Steven Seagal films we’ve seen.

Dawn was just breaking when I woke up and looked out the curtains. This looked like a real city, it was big and already bustling. We must be in Buenos Aires. I shook Jordana awake and before we knew it we pulled into the absolutely massive Retiro bus terminal. Outside it looked windy and cold. We stepped outside and were both surprised at the warmth in the air, something that we haven’t felt in a long time. We had travelled another 1200km further north overnight so that would have something to do with it. We claimed our bags, made our way through the busy terminal and found a taxi. I booked our first night in a hostel as we were moving to an apartment for a week after that. Driving through the busy streets it felt good to be in a huge city. After all the small Patagonian towns and mid-size cities Buenos Aires looked to be exactly what we needed right now.

We were buzzed in through the front door of the Bait Hostel and met the unwelcoming guy working the front desk. The hostel looked ramshackle and the share bathrooms could have used a decent cleaning. Our private room with a double bed was definitely more welcoming and we settled in and slept till 11am.

Neither of us had any desire to rise before 11am as the rain poured down outside with cracks of thunder. Eventually we left the hostel and found an amazing veggie restaurant next door. we strolled around Palermo Viejo, the trendy neighbourhood our apartment would be in for the next week. It was a beautiful, leafy area with many independent clothing shops and filled with bars and restaurants. Easily an area I could see myself living in.

Since the rain was off and on we headed to the Fine Arts museum. It was a good museum with some big european names, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Chagall, Pissarro and Renoir. In addition their was a good introduction to Argentine art which looked like it was heavily influenced by the Europeans. From the museum we walked back to Palermo and found a rare meal. Sushi and not just sushi but pretty decent sushi at a trendy restaurant in Palermo. A great end to our first day in Buenos Aires. We hoped that spending a week here would almost be a break from travel. A city so large you could find just about anything you were looking for. Something that is hardly the case in South America. Day 207

What can I say about a bus that has seats that fold into beds, its damn comfortable. It almost felt like we had our own compartment on a train. Actually it felt more like a train than a bus. To bad the movies were still as crap as the cheapest bus. Over the last 7 months of Latin American travel I couldn’t tell you how many Steven Seagal films we’ve seen.

Dawn was just breaking when I woke up and looked out the curtains. This looked like a real city, it was big and already bustling. We must be in Buenos Aires. I shook Jordana awake and before we knew it we pulled into the absolutely massive Retiro bus terminal. Outside it looked windy and cold. We stepped outside and were both surprised at the warmth in the air, something that we haven’t felt in a long time. We had travelled another 1200km further north overnight so that would have something to do with it. We claimed our bags, made our way through the busy terminal and found a taxi. I booked our first night in a hostel as we were moving to an apartment for a week after that. Driving through the busy streets it felt good to be in a huge city. After all the small Patagonian towns and mid-size cities Buenos Aires looked to be exactly what we needed right now.

We were buzzed in through the front door of the Bait Hostel and met the unwelcoming guy working the front desk. The hostel looked ramshackle and the share bathrooms could have used a decent cleaning. Our private room with a double bed was definitely more welcoming and we settled in and slept till 11am.

Neither of us had any desire to rise before 11am as the rain poured down outside with cracks of thunder. Eventually we left the hostel and found an amazing veggie restaurant next door. we strolled around Palermo Viejo, the trendy neighbourhood our apartment would be in for the next week. It was a beautiful, leafy area with many independent clothing shops and filled with bars and restaurants. Easily an area I could see myself living in.

Since the rain was off and on we headed to the Fine Arts museum. It was a good museum with some big european names, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Chagall, Pissarro and Renoir. In addition their was a good introduction to Argentine art which looked like it was heavily influenced by the Europeans. From the museum we walked back to Palermo and found a rare meal. Sushi and not just sushi but pretty decent sushi at a trendy restaurant in Palermo. A great end to our first day in Buenos Aires. We hoped that spending a week here would almost be a break from travel. A city so large you could find just about anything you were looking for. Something that is hardly the case in South America.

Posted in Argentina | No Comments »