Buenos Aires

We’ve just finished a week in Buenos Aires.  The city is huge and very populated.  We spent the first few days walking through the different neighborhoods and checking out the sites.  Buenos Aires is not really famous for specific landmarks or tourist spots, rather it has a distinct vibe and way of life that was evident during our walks.  As we walked through plazas we encountered couples dancing tango. We saw countless sidewalk cafes, and spent time there reading, and having a few drinks.  They had some great food too.  We especially enjoyed the empanadas and the local wine.  The wine was delicious, and you could purchase a bottle of the local good stuff for less than 3 dollars.

They also had some great meat too. We went to an all-you-can-eat grilled meat place, called Siga La Vaca.  They had a huge grill with pounds and pounds of freshly grilled meat roasting.  All we had to do was point and they’d slice off a huge portion for you.  The meat was fantastic.

We stayed in a number of different hostels in different areas around the city.  Most hostels were very busy so we needed to leave after a day or two to make way for those who were smart enough to make reservations. The hostels were quite interesting. Included was a small bedroom just slightly larger than the bed it contained.  They had common washrooms, kitchens, and lounge areas.  Pretty much all of the guests spoke Spanish so it was tough to meet and talk to too many other travellers, so we spent most of the week together with just the two of us.

After a few days of this, we eventually settled down and  took a few days to just relax.  The last few days were just spent reading and relaxing.  The busy city can be a bit much after a while.  We are getting anxious to move on, and we’d like to get out of the city and spend some time out in nature.  I think we’ve realized that big cities are great for a few days, but they can get overwhelming if you’re there too long.  We’ve experienced this before.  Big cities like Toronto or Buenos Aires are fun and interesting for a few days, but unless you’ve got a lot of money to spend they aren’t the nicest places to spend a significant amount of time.

So we’re moving on.  On Tuesday morning we went to the bus station and bought tickets to Bariloche.   Bariloche is around a 22-hour drive south of Buenos Aires.  We’re on our way now as I’m typing this blog entry.   According to what we’ve researched, it is a  smaller town close to a number of mountains, lakes, and national parks.  We’re hoping to do some hiking or camping or whatever other options they have.  We’re pretty excited.

We’re currently around 18 hours into our bus ride.  The buses here are very nice.  Plenty of leg room, seats that recline, food served to you every few hours, and movies.  Quite an improvement over some of the nightmare bus rides I’ve taken in other countries.  I can remember 18-hour bus rides in Vietnam that were absolutely horrific.   We scored the front seats on the upper level of the bus, and we’ve got these big massive windows that allow us to take in the scenery like a giant IMAX film.  The scenery has been unbelievable. After leaving the city, we drove through hours of farm land, with cattle everywhere.  I think there are more cows in this country than people.  Then as the sun fell, we drove through a dry and flat desert-like region, and after we woke in the morning, it was the same, although slightly less flat.  Now, almost noon, we’re starting to see the foot hills of the Andes.  We drove by some canyons and cliffs that were breath-taking.  We’re really looking forward to more of this.  Hopefully Bariloche will provide more awe-inspiring sights.