Buenos Aires!

  Well, the Smiths survived Buenos Aires, Argentina! 

   We arrived Wednesday afternoon to our hotel (which was really close to el Obelisco aka fake Washington Monument) and walked all around the shops/etc in the microcenter our first day. 

  Thursday we had a very big day. We started out on the subte (metro) to the barrio called Palermo- mainly a really pretty area with a lot of upscale shopping and boutiques and expensive stores. 

     Then, being that it was Thursday, we went to the Plaza de Mayo and saw the Madres marching 

in front of the Casa Rosada!! It was so cool to see this historic event that I've learned about up close and personal! The Madres were a group of Moms in the 70s who marched in the Plaza de Mayo in front of the presidential palace each week to demonstrate on behalf of the tens of thousands of youths who had disappeared (aka the government kidnapped them because they were suspected of not being in agreement with the government) -- there are a lot less Madres nowadays, but they still march every Thursday at 3:30, but more out of tradition. Plus, we got to see the home of the late Eva Perón and the porch that she spoke to The People from/that Madonna sang from! Afterwards, we had once (afternoon/evening snack) at a historic café (read: expensive) called Tortoni -- fun! Then, we went home and waited until 9:30ish when we went to a Show de Tango! Tango is a verrrry traditional Argentine thing, and the show we went to was super impressive- plus there were "free" appetizers and stuff! Score!

   Friday,  we took the Buquebús (suuuuper luxe little cruisey ferry-- such a shame it was only an hour ride) to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay! Colonia is a little historic town a-bay-away from Argentina- super pintoresco and cute and faux-Argentine! We had really beautiful weather, and had a delicious/ huge lunch and then spent the afternoon checking out the town and shopping... and then took the ferry back to BA at 5:30. Little town in a little country, but tootally worth it.

   Saturday, was a rainy day, so we went to the huge Galerias Pacíficas shopping mall (I know, trashy and touristy, but it's a nice mall and we/I wanted to shop...) and then went to the MALBA (Museo del Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) in the afternoon- totally legit museum!  

   Saturday night we had a little adventure when my mom read about a "really great and popular" restaurant (so said Frommer) in La Boca-- which is a really colorful and great barrio during the day... but a dangerous place at night. Good! So of course, we made reservations for dinner... After 2 cabs said they didn't even know where this "hot spot" was (?!) the third taxi said we would "figure it out" and we were on our way. The ride took like 20 or 30 mins, and the whole time, the taxi driver was asking me, "How did you find out about this place?? What kind of food...?? Why are you going here??" and was just generally very confused about why we -3 gringos- were going there... So, after refusing multiple offers to turn around and just eat elsewhere, we got to the restaurant and it was NOT what we expected it to be/ did not meet our safety/cuteness criteria, so our chofer took us to a different restaurant that he knew of in a different/safer barrio, San Telmo, and we had some suuuper delicious Argentine steak (I know, I know but when in Rome...) 

   Sunday, we found more history when we went to Recoleta to see the beautiful (creepy?) cementerio where my beloved Evita is [allegedly] burried, and then kinda checked out Recoleta which had a huuuuge ferria going on. Later, we went to San Telmo, where all of the streets are closed off every Sunday for the massive antiques ferria! A lot of reallllly random goods, but fun to poke around. Then, since San Telmo was maybe not all we hoped it could be, we went back to La Boca (in the day time) and it was super colorful and fun! We sat and had coffee and watched the tango dancers in the street! 

(No, no Smiths partook of the fun.) Afterwards, we went back home for a big nap and then went out for dinner near our hotel later on.

   Monday, our last day, we attempted to go to the Museso de la Presidencia, but it apparently does not exist any more -- nice-- so instead, we found a café and had the best empanadas EVER and headed back to the hotel to finish packing up before my taxi came to take me to the airport. At 2, we parted ways (me to Chile, parents to wait until their flight to the US later that night) and I went to the airport to find that... oh, yep- my flight had been cancelled! Rude! Oh but wait-- To apologize, they put me on an earlier flight (yay, less sitting-in-airport-time!) and unfortunately, they had to put me in 1st class because it was all that was left. Sad life. Kind of a shame that my first (and, let's be real, probably my only) 1st class experience was only for a 2-hour flight, but it was just so much better than I had dreamed... Free champagne, which I don't even like, but you know I'm gonna accept it just because I can... and more leg room than you can even imagine, plus seats that reclined to almost laying-down position, and full control of your personal TV. Yeah, jealous? Needless to say, I did not get my homework done on that flight... but I felt it was my duty to fully appreciate my situation.  Anyway, after landing in Santiago, I got the bus back to Viña and was warmly welcomed by my familia chilena when I arrived. It was good to be home. :)

  So yeah. That pretty much sums up my trip to BA/ Baird and Marcia's South American adventure! A good time was had by all - it was tooootally worth it! BA such a huge and diverse and interesting city with many very different places, I def recommend you stop by the next time you're in the neighborhood.

Hasta luego, world! 

PS: If you're feeling too jealous of me, just keep in mind that it's now winter here... so it's in the 50s and I'm cold...