Buenos Aires

Jardin Japonicas in Palermo
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DAY 66 - 7 FEBRUARY 2008 (THURSDAY)

Scott headed out and finally tracked down a miniature screwdriver set, so he could take apart the camera and see if it is just sand or dust that is the problem.  He got a lot of the screws out etc, but the ones holding in the lens etc wouldn't come undone.  So we headed to SAE and researched some cameras and models and then went up Avenue Florida after talking to the local camera shop and the best places to go.  We found a camera shop where the assistant was really helpful, but Argentina does not stock the latest model we want and they don't know when it will come in.  So we need a camera, but don't want to buy an old model, so instead have decided to buy a crappy make that will just do us for the next few days and get a good camera when we get home - what a hassle.

Boca in the morning
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I then headed to Galeria Pacifico to try and shop my bad mood good.  I left Scott downstairs in the food hall at the coffee shop with the camera instruction booklet and some money and headed back upstairs, buying some jeans and tops.  When I got back to Scott he headed up to the cigar shop and treated himself to a hefty supply of cigars he had researched the other day.

We walked back to the apartment, got changed into nice new clothes and headed back to Puerto Madero to take some nighttime photos with the new camera.  Unfortunately the weather has turned really cold and windy, so instead we did the unheard of thing by going into TGI Fridays and had a margarita and a snack, now I remember why I never go into places like that, it is totally overpriced and crap.  Oh well.  We caught a taxi to Rey Castro, but has usual it was closed.  The signed said happy hour from 6-9, but it was only 8.30, so not a very happy hour for us.

What was meant to be a koi pond, but instead a mosquito breeding ground
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We walked back down Peru and picked out a nice looking restaurant and hit the absolute jackpot, an english speaking waiter, loads of vegetarian food and some people sitting next to us who spoke english as well.  So we settled in with a bottle of red wine for a great evening.  After our meal, the restaurant provided us with complementary glasses of Limoncello which I had never had before, and it is absolutely delicious.  By now the weather was raining hard, and I mean bucketing down, great, considering we left the roof of our patio open.  Obviously we are having a bad run of luck.

Boca in the morning and with no tourists but us
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The couple next to us, had also been travelling for 3 months and were leaving BA tomorrow to head to London, Dublin, Cape Town and then home to New Zealand.  We left wishing we had their budget instead of ours.

We walked home in the pouring rain as we couldn't find a taxi, getting home and then having to sweep the water out of the patio which was flooded.

DAY 67 - 8 FEBRUARY 2008 (FRIDAY)

After our very late night we got up late and did some chores, we had planned on getting up early to beat the crowds in Boca, but will have to leave that to another day.

Look no tourists
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We caught the Subte to Palermo to have a look at the shops and found a nice cafe for a meal.  After lunch we walked to another cigar shop that Scott had found on the internet, but they didn't have the cigars Scott wanted as apparently they dent get imported into Argentina, so we left empty handed, but with an address or another place to check out.

We headed to the Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays which has loads of cats, but they all ignored us, so it was like being at home with Thembu.  We walked past the Herbalife Extravaganza Latino 2008 and there were massive queues of people wearing Herbalife t-shirts waving flags etc.  I thought Herbalife was meant to be some weight loss product, but judging by some of these people, they are way beyond that and should be heading for gastric bypass or lapband systems.

We walked to Parque 3 de Febrero and the Japonica Jardins, which were very run down and in need to a clean up, there is rubbish everywhere.  The koi ponds are meant to be full, but instead they are just full of mosquitos, rubbish etc and surrounded by homeless people.

There is a planetarium nearby so we visited there, but the show wasn't for a while and everything appeared to be in Spanish, so we headed back to the Subte.

Palermo is nice, lots of parks, and very quiet, but it is lacking the life that is in the other barrios.

We headed to the terminal de omnibus at Retiro and booked tickets to Colon for next week which has lots of geothermal spas, which should relax us for the trip home.

We walked from Retiro down Reconquista stopping at a wine store and buying a bottle of limoncella and pricing up some other spirits which are much cheaper here than even duty free at home.  We found the cigar shop and Scott is now the proud owner of a lovely new humidor for his new cigars.

We continued down Reconquista, stopping at some shops and getting ideas of what to bring back home etc.

We are tired, so cooked dinner at home and had an early night.

DAY 68 - 9 FEBRUARY 2008 (SATURDAY)

We finally managed to get out of bed early and headed into Boca.  We were the only tourists we could see - yeah finally.  The streets were in the process of being cleaned, but even so, without the people everything had a dirty or run down look about it.  So the people actually added a bright and colourful addition to the buildings and streets.

We got the photos we wanted sin people and then the camera batteries ran flat - we are so not having much luck on this trip.  The spare batteries were of course nice and safe back in the apartment, so off we headed back through Boca for the last time.

We picked up the batteries and headed to Constitution station.