We finally made it down in time for breakfast, after what we thought was a really bad dream. Apparently, our Irish hostel roommate tool a ‘sleeping’ pill she bought off of a Brazilian in order to get a good nights sleep. Unfortunately, her good nights sleep turned into a nightmare for us when we were startled at 5am by some violently shaking our bunk bed. The girl was ripping the base boards from underneath my mattress on the top bunk, and the stood over me, board in her hand, not saying a word! Once I realized what was happening and asked her what the hell she was doing, she laid the board down on the ground, and crawled back into bed. What an interesting story to tell her the next morning, none of which she remembered. Needless to say we check out of “dorm style” hostel a couple of hours later and were off to our second barrio… Palermo!
Day 3 was a lot of walking. We set out around 12pm to explore the lush green parks and gardens for which Palermo is so well know. It was a beautiful and relaxing walk that led us to the barrio Recoleta, where we saw the Flor de Metal, an amazing gift to the city of Argentina. Also know as ‘the claw’ (though the pistons sticking out of the middle suggest otherwise), this 2 story metal flower is an amazing piece of art. It opens during the day and at night the pistons glow as the pedals close around them. Journeying further into the heart of Recoleta, we decided to stop for a bite to eat. Our guide book had described this part of town, Barrio Norte, as being associated with “chetos” (social climbers) and “paquetes” (posers with older money) and as a place you will likely encounter “ladies who lunch.” The scene was just as our book described, so you can imagine our surprise when the mystery items we ordered off the Spanish only menu were a whole chicken and chicken friend steak (sandwich de milanesa). An hour and 80 pesos later (which we didn’t have on us so Christy had to run to the nearest ATM), we made our way over to Avenida Alivar, known for its luxurious shopping and grand architecture. The two story mansion that was home to Polo Ralph Lauren was quite impressive!
Getting back to the hostel was just another aspect of day’s our adventure. A cab would have been pricey, so we thought we would venture out and take a local bus. As previously mentioned, we had been advised of the shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires. However this was the only means by which we could pay for a bus ride, and so we had been hoarding our monedas like 2 kids protecting their Halloween candy. After hopping aboard the bus, knowing we didn’t have enough change, we decided the time had come to play the ‘tourist’ card. Our multitasking bus driver, flying down the street with doors still open, explained to us that we had to have exact change (which we already knew). He was kind enough to spot us the $.05 we were short. Que hombre simpatico! As had become standard practice by this point in the trip, we took a 20 minute power nap once we returned to our musty hostel, and were recharged for our wildest night yet!
Tummy’s growling and begrudgingly accepting by this point that our dinner time of 7pm was when most portenos were still recovering from the night before, we settled for pre-dinner drinks in Plazo Serrano. Our chat about life and our growing love for the city of Buenos Aires led us to our best meal yet… a taste of Mexican from home with blue margaritas to match! Upon finishing dinner around midnight, we took a taxi back to barrio San Telmo, where we had made plans the night before to meet up with new friends. We had the option to either go on a pub crawl with Dustin (a native Georgian) or have a night out on the town with los portenos. In order to truly experience Argentina, we opted to experience the local scene until 5am. Juan, Ezekiel, Carly, and Christy danced the night away at a local ‘discoteca’ to a jockjams mix with everything from Spice Girls and Sir-mix-a-lot. We then took a stroll down the BIGGEST STREET IN THE WORLD and found a late night snack to satisfy Christy’s craving. Having had our first true “taste” of the local flavor, we returned to our hostel for another 4-hour night’s sleep, which was becoming standard practice. (Running sleep total = 21 hours)
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