A Week in Good Air

Avenida de Florida
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On October 19th, Ian and I flew to Buenos Aires from Santiago.  It was an hour and a half flight and we arrived early in the morning.  Ian`s girlfriend flew in from Arizona and we met her at the airport.  From there we went downtown where I let them find a hotel for themselves while I found a hostel near the center of everything.

For nine nights and eight days we ate some of the best food I have ever eaten.  The steak was flawless and cheaper than it would be anywhere else in the world.  A meal for three people at a ¨fancy¨ restaurant topped off at around 60 dollars including a bottle of wine.  The number of quality restaurants are so abundant that it was hard to find one that we did not like.  On top of that, I spent around 10 dollars a night for a clean bed in my own room back at the hostel.  This left plenty for buying gifts for family and friends.  Buenos Aires also has some great shopping, including a very famous antique fair on Sunday mornings in San Telmo where one can find working pocket watches from the 1800s for around a hundred dollars.  Here is also where the Discovery Channel interviewed Ian and his girlfriend.  They asked them questions about the San Telmo fair and what they liked about it.  When the woman asked Ian ¨What is it that you are hoping to find here?,¨  Ian replied,¨Uh...A beer.¨  I just about lost it, laughing hysterically, but then the woman suggested that the crew and us go to a outdoor cafe and have a beer while taping more conversation about San Telmo.  In the end we had to run off while they were not looking because it was a little uncomfortable being interviewed by a television crew in the middle of hundreds of people.

Plaza San Martin, Buenos Aires
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Argentina is famous for the Tango, the national dance.  Many who go to Buenos Aires go to dinner shows where professional dancers put on shows.  We got our filling of it on the street where performers put on shows for spare change.  They are plentiful in the parks and the long pedestrian mall that is Avenida de Florida where people walk up and down shopping all day long.

Half way through the week we decided to hop on a boat that went to Uruguay.  It was a two hour trip that stopped in Colonia de Sacramento, a historic little town across the river from Buenos Aires.  This town was beautiful and it was a perfect day so we rented mopeds and drove them all over town up and down the beaches and into the country along the dirt roads.  From there we went to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay for the night with the intentions of going to Punta del Este in the morning.  Punta del Este is supposedly one of the most beautiful coasts in South America.  Unfortunately is was pouring rain and we had to head back to Buenos Aires by boat.  The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed.  We had to stay docked in Uruguay on the boat for four hours because of the rough seas.  But I beat Ian repeatedly in Rummy 500, so all was ok.

Plaza San Martin
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When we returned to Buenos Aires we hung out with a group of students from Arizona State who were studying architecture and others who where studying Spanish.  We went to several very interesting clubs including one that was called Opera Bay.  It was in the neighborhood of Puerto Madero and is a smaller sized replicate of the Sidney Opera House.  It was by far the coolest establishment for dancing and drinks that I have ever been to.  The night life in Buenos Aires starts very late and people don`t really start to show up until 3 or 4 in the morning and dance until the sun comes up.  Slightly different than the 1:30 last calls in Iowa City.

Plaza San Martin
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Saturday evening we flew back to Santiago with thoughts of returning to such a great city.  I highly recommend visiting Buenos Aires to anyone going to South America in the future.