Buenos Aires - Part 1: Going as planned...

When you are already in Uruguay, you have to at least make a trip to Buenos Aires over in the neighboring Argentina. It is about a 3 hour bus ride and a 2 hour boat ride away. I booked an early boat to BA because I wanted to have a good afternoon to explore the city. Coincidentally, my roommates and residence mates decided that we should all go out the night before I left, which I was hesitant to participate in because I had to wake up at 5am tomorrow. The simple solution was to simply not sleep... which made the first day in Buenos Aires extremely unpleasant. Good thing the first thing on the itinerary that I planned was to have a comprehensive, non-active city tour on a tour bus. I was hesitant to purchase this tour, and my reservations were definitely founded. The stops were touristy beyond belief and everywhere we were taken was essentially an overpriced tourist trap designed for older tourists only interested in being tourists. I was there for a different experience - I wasn't there to buy 5 dollar keychains that said Argentina. But the nice thing was that this would be the only time I would get to see Buenos Aires on wheels, and the ride and brief historical overview of the city was enlightening. Buenos Aires is truly like the Paris of South America - with many buildings based on French architecture. And of course the famous obelisk...and the Congress building below:

The essence of it was that there were a bunch of Italian immigrants that had to assimilate to their new country. Beside is a picture of what one of the barrios (La Boca) supposedly looked like back in the day - it is now a major tourist attraction. That night I decided to stay in and sleep early in order to prepare for the next day of sightseeing... and of course I couldn't pass up on a delicious meat-filled meal, especially in Uruguay's ugly sister Argentina:

One friend from the lab suggested that I make a paseo through the Tigre Delta, which is about 1 hour away from the city proper, so I purchased a tour to go there. Strangely enough, I had a dream about missing my tour due to a faulty or lack of morning call. And indeed. When I woke up, the tour group had already left me. I called the front desk to voice my complaint about the lack of morning call that I had placed the night before (at first in English, and then eventually in Spanish) only to be ignored and hung up on. With this minor setback, I was still determined to see the Tigre - so I decided to try out the public transportation system. I decided to ask an old man in a park where the train station was, and in normal Argentinian fashion (with a booming voice and a youthful energy) he started talking to me about his fascinating city. I have read online that many Buenos Airesians love their city and are not afraid to brag about it in front of you boisterously - and this appeared to be very true. With his help, I eventually made it to the train station.

The trains are surprisingly cheap - about 50 cents for a ticket to one of the more distant destinations at the Delta (much much cheaper than transportation in Uruguay). On the train, I felt like I was sitting on the omnibuses in Montevideo where many different kinds of people would come and perform for money (or simply ask for money). In my many future experiences with subways and trains in Buenos Aires, I saw harpists, saxophonists, small children passing out prayer cards, all the way to a little girl asking for money to improve her education (I gave her 5 pesos).

I eventually made it to the Delta. The gist of the attraction are the many houses that are built on the many small islands, which are only accessible by boat. It was a very chilly and windy afternoon, but the skies were mostly clear and the view was very calming - a refreshing contrast to the buzz in Buenos Aires city. Of course, I took the liberty order a sandwich de lomo. And like Buenos Aires cuisine is known for, the meat was extremely well-prepared - and relatively cheap for a steak sandwich.

There are many more pictures from the many many places that I had a chance to visit - Buenos Aires is truly a fascinating city with many things to do, eat and see. By the end of my stay, I had visited the San Telmo Sunday Fair (Tourist trap. I was talking to guy that helped me get a free map of the area about how much of a  lástima it was that things turned out so touristy - and my Spanish was once again complimented and they identified my accent as Uruguayan, but with an American twist of course), Palermo, Recoleta, Microcentro (including the famed pedestrian walkways), Puerto Madero, etc. But after walking with my huge backpack for about 8 hours straight per day without resting I was ready to go back to the comforts of Montevideo.

Too bad the port was located in one of the less reputable areas of Buenos Aires in La Boca, and with the sun going down fast, I wanted to hurry to get to the port. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb as I passed through the projects... with my huge backpack and tourist map in hand (I did pass by the Casa Amarilla though). Good thing many of the people were helpful... unfortunately their help could not prevent the fact that, due to some language confusion, I had mistaken the times on the ticket, and I had missed my boat back to Montevideo... So I was now homeless in a sketchy zone in a  foreign country without any way to contact people back in Uruguay... needless to say, I knew it was gonna be a fun night...