I arrived in Buenos Aires on the 13th of March after a long and bum-numbing bus journey from Iguazu.
On arriving at Hostel Rayuela, I had to wait for about an hour for my bed - this wasn't a problem, it gave me some time to catch up on the internet. I had been waiting to find out whether the guy I met last time I was in Buenos Aires wanted to meet up with me again - it seemed he did, we arranged to meet for lunch the next day. Have to admit that I was rather excited about this prospect and after being shown my bed and where to put my stuff, I decided to reacquaint myself with some of the shopping areas near to the hostel! I knew what I was after, a sexy top that would look good with jeans, but not too dressy for daytime. I wanted to look good for my lunch date!
I found what I was looking for in a small boutique on La Defensa. Afterwards I headed to the plaza in San Telmo and watched the same guy dance tango as just over two years ago (although I'm fairly sure the girl was different!). I felt very happy to have returned to Buenos Aires.
Tuesday dawned with slight nerves about lunch. I spent the morning relaxing and making myself feel gorgeous, but without it looking like I'd made lots of effort!! I went to meet M at his hostel and had to wait whilst he was on the phone. I deliberately sat somewhere where he wouldn't be able to see me. Eventually he appeared, but didn't spot me at first. In fact he went up to someone else first, which I found hilarious - he looked suitably relieved when he saw me laughing (and admitted later to this relief!). We wandered to a French restaurant, chatting easily and settled down for a fabulous lunch. Luckily very early in the conversation he told me about his girlfriend - I didn't mind, he's still great company and a good friend. It would have been nice for it to be more, but two years is a long time and many things change. I certainly have. We parted on good terms with him telling me to keep in touch. I emailed him to thank him for lunch and he stated that it was always a pleasure to see me and again asked me to keep in touch.
Back at the hostel I filled the lovely English girlies I met in Iguazu about my lunch and also met some of the friends they'd made in Brazil, 3 other lovely girlies. I enjoyed another chilled evening and was looking forward to a shiatsu massage the next day.
On Wednesday I continued my lazy vibe. I felt no need to rush round visiting places as I saw lots on my last visit, I was also looking forward to Jaime's arrival on the 17th and seeing places with him. Shiatsu was amazing, just what was needed. I also found out Jaime had missed his flight and wouldn't be arriving till the following evening, rather than lunchtime as initially thought. I spent the evening having a tango lesson with the girls. Unfortunately there were no men for the lesson, so there was considerable dancing 'bust to bust', as they say up north! All good fun and I think I did quite well. Although have to admit to getting confused when eventually trying to dance with a guy as I was too used to being the 'guy'!
On Thursday I went on a free walking tour with the girls and then spent the afternoon waiting for info about Jaime's arrival. I waited and waited. I worked out the flight he was probably on and once it had landed (good ol' internet), I waited a little longer and then made my way to Palermo. I hoped that by luck we would both arrive at about the same time as I had no idea how to get into the apartment. Luck was on my side and this was exactly what happened. Phew!
We chilled for a while, changed, and consumed our first bottle of Argentinian wine. The suite I was in was lovely and I was very excited about my own room and a bed which wasn't a bunk bed! After the wine we headed out to find food and ended up in an Italian where another bottle of wine was consumed. After that we asked a taxi driver to take us to an Irish or English bar where we could celebrate St Paddy's. (The next day it took us a while to remember how we got there and we had to piece it together bit by bit). We were taken to Sullivan's. I hit the Cuba libres and Jaime the Guinness. We chatted with lots of people and somehow found ourselves in a club till about 5am.
Friday did not dawn early for us and was definitely hungover. We started wandering around lunchtime. We were both utterly useless at directions and I'd forgotten my map, so after some food we got a taxi driver to take us to some shops in Palermo - I'd told Jaime his penance for missing his flight was to go shopping with me! Being useless and hungover was not really the best state for shopping. We also couldn't find a working ATM and at some point decided to return home for more rest (after walking round in ever decreasing circles). Late in the afternoon we made our second attempt at Palermo, this time armed with a map, and found it was all much easier than it had at first seemed. The bank mission was achieved. Again we returned home, to prepare for going out. We had dinner locally and decided on an early night. On our return, Jaime suggested a night cap on the roof terrace. The night cap turned into two bottles of wine, dancing and getting to bed at about 3am!
Saturday was another late start and Jaime wasn't feeling to well. After lunch and a bit of a wander we headed home again for him to rest. I had been fearing that he was a bit of a hypochondriac, but this time he really did seem to be sick It was a shame as it was his birthday and I'd organised for both of us to go on a graffiti tour. Something I'd been really looking forward to. He was happy for me to go on my own whilst he rested.
The graffiti tour was brilliant, everything I'd hoped for and I got to chat to some cool people too. We even met a couple of the artists and saw their studio.
When I got home, Jaime was feeling much better and we went to see if we could get a table at La Cabrera - a very popular place for steak. The wait for a table was endless, so we popped over to the cocktail bar across the road and enjoyed a couple of mojitos. By 10pm we'd had enough of waiting and wandered round the corner to an alternative restaurant. Again we decided on a fairly early night as we were catching our flight to Mendoza on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday morning was spent reorganising my rucksack.
The flight to Mendoza was fine, but unfortunately the hotel we'd booked the night before was not so great. It was okay, but we'd been used to our luxurious suites in Palermo. We left our stuff and took a taxi into the town. We scouted out another hotel after a glass of wine at The Hyatt. I'd suggested to Jaime that we didn't stay at the first choice and after checking out the alternatives we decided to move. We came up with a plan to say that we'd made a mistake about the hotel we'd booked so we could leave.
The Aconcagua, where we are now, is lovely. It's right near the centre of Mendoza and within walking distance of everything.
Today we went on a wine tour. It started with a visit to an olive oil factory and continued on to two wineries. We tasted some delicious olive oils and some good wine. However, the first winery wasn't good. Luckily the second made up for it. Returning to our mini bus we discovered that our tour guide wanted to take us to a church. Both of us were quite baffled and really wanted to head back to the hotel. The guide was obviously fairly religious and Jaime felt he was trying to force his beliefs on us. I knew less about this as I hadn't really been listening to his Spanish explanations.
Finally back to the hotel to change and continue the perfect steak hunt. Eventually I got the steak I've been wanting - although I had to send the first one back as it was far to cooked! I couldn't eat it all, but we decided to take it with us to feed some of the stray dogs we'd seen last night. We found a suitably skinny mutt and both wished we had more to feed it. After a bit of a wander to aid digestion it was back to the hotel so Jaime could rest and fight of the cold he seems to be developing.
I am having the most wonderful time with Jaime. We get on so well and he is spoiling me rotten. I fear it may be difficult for me to return to the backpacker lifestyle when he returns to Ecuador on the 30th.
I know I've said it before, but I really am lucky to have the friends that I have.
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