Monday, after returning from our day trip to Uruguay, it rained most of the day and was considerably cooler in the city. This was a nice change as the first week it had been warm, and we spent the day with an umbrella checking out some cafes, bookstores, and funky clothing stores around the area, including a cool punk place called Bond Street Mall, at Avenida Santa Fe and Callao.

In the afternoon we took the subway to the Teatro Colon Theatre, but were unable to tour the inside, as the technical workers and crew were on strike.

From Tuesday to Thursday we visited Iguazu Falls, which was set up by Barbara at Columbia Travel. Many people that do trips to Buenos Aires for a week or more often do a side trip to Iguazu Falls, Patagonia, or Cordoba. These quick flights are affordable and depart from the airport in the city, so you don’t have an entire day taken away by flying.

Our second to last day we took the subway south to San Telmo, a neighborhood on the south side of the central area. San Telmo is an older working class neighborhood, and becoming gentrified and rejuvenated with artists moving in and people buying old homes there and fixing them up. We walked through the market and looked at the antiques, and found everything from old Fiat license plates, to old turn of the century maps, to beautiful restored furniture. San Telmo has an open square on one block, with food vendors, craftsman, and restaurants around it.

I love walkable cities with good transportation, and Buenos Aires is perfect for walking tours. The subway lines extend out in a fork pattern from downtown, but the C line bisects it north from Retiro Station, and the H line is under construction, eliminating the need to go downtown for north/south trips. We road the bus once, but due to the many many bus lines and one way streets it takes some time to master. In addition to walking we found the taxis to be affordable and easy to hail. Always use the “radio” taxis – we took a regular taxi from Aeroparque (the local airport) and it was double the price back to our neighborhood as the radio taxis were. If you know the cross streets or address, taxis have no problem getting you there efficiently, but in heavy rush hour traffic walking may be quicker. Being a fan of rail and trains I loved riding the Subte (short for Subterranean), especially the A line which still uses old cars with incandescent lamps in them.

http://www.metrovias.com.ar/spa/home.asp Buenos Aires Metro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires_Metro

By the end of our stay we were walking to the grocery stores, markets, coffee shops, and doing regular local things the way residents do. Our second week I visited a barber for a haircut, and I picked up some laundry at the cleaners. Nothing makes you feel more assimilated into a culture, or like you actually belong somewhere, (rather than just visiting) than by doing banal daily chores. I think visiting one place and getting to know the people, culture, and daily ways of life is much more rewarding than rushing from place to place.

Our last dinner was at Te Matare Ramirez. (Spanish for “I will kill you, Ramirez”) We had seen this restaurant advertised in a local paper, and was advertised as an erotic themed restaurant. It seemed more classy and refined, and not cheesy or tacky. We got there and were seated. Although we were the second people there, the restaurant soon filled up, and I was surprised no one left. People take their time with meals, and don’t rush through their dinners. The tables were filled with mostly couples, but some small groups of friends congregated at tables too. Again we had an incredible meal of chicken, asparagus, and a chocolate dessert. We had been there about two and a half hours and were ready to head out, but we realized no one else was leaving! We weren’t sure if a show of some sort was going to start, so we got up to leave and our waitress rushed over to make sure everything was ok. We explained we had some plans for the night, but we probably should have stayed and seen what events would have transpired.

After a night of dancing at Amerika again, we went back to our hostel, packed up and caught a cab to Ezeiza Airport.

Our flight to Mexico City was 11 hours, and we arrived in the evening, spent a night in the Fiesta Hotel near the airport (where we had stayed en route to B.A), and our flight to Denver was Sunday the next morning.

After spending two weeks on airplanes, boats, cabs, subways, and in airports and two enormous cities, when I walked into our home it felt as quiet as a tomb, and I instantly missed the street noise, faces, food, and life that we had experienced, and I’m looking forward to returning someday.