I left the Meridiano Hostel in a hurry at 10:00 AM, partly because checkout was at 10:30; partly because I wanted to get the hell out of that place. It wasn’t bad; I just didn’t want to walk up those stairs from hell ever again in my life.
After breakfast at the Treehouse, my favorite place, I Ubered over to my new hostel in San Telmo, which is across town. I was super impressed with the Viajero Hostel the moment I walked into the air-conditioned lobby. Yes! I wanted to scream as I felt the cool air on my skin.
The hostel has a pool. I have a king size bed, a Jacuzzi bath, and a bidet. There’s even an elevator!! No schlepping of suitcases! I was on cloud nine.
I went to the pool and jumped in. It was deliciously freezing. Unfortunately, the gaggle of 20-year-olds had taken up all of the chairs so I had to go to a 12 inch wide bench in the back to get shade.
It felt absolutely amazing to be in a pool, then laying down on the little bench looking up at the sky. Something I never do enough even on vacation.
I gave the bidet another shot and could not get the lever to turn on. I tried splashing up the water that was filling the bow, but my hand ran into slime on the inside edge of the bidet. This freaked me out.
The next time when I cranked the lever really hard, it sprayed all the way up to the ceiling.
Back in my room, I booked a tango tour for that evening.
There were many many shows to choose from and after agonizing over all my choices for an hour and a half, I finally just picked one:. Michelangelo.
The host took me to a small table in the back of the room to sit by myself. “Can you please sit me with other people?” I begged.
She was confused, not understanding what I wanted. She saw some English people at a table and asked if I can join them. They didn’t understand what she was saying, and it was very awkward. I said, “Nevermind.”
On my way back to my table in the corner the English lady said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. Please join us.”
“We insist!” Said the husband. They finally understood what was going on. But the seats opposite them would’ve put me with my back to the stage so I asked if I could sit at the table next to them so we could talk across the aisle.
It was nice to have some conversation before the show. The couple had just taken the Transatlantic cruise from England to Buenos Aires. They said it was fantastic.
The show was excellent. It included a three course dinner which included the best New York steak I’ve ever had. It was medium well like I like it and so tender. The flan for dessert was also spectacular. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
When I got back to my room at 11:30, there was a “band” playing music outside in the pool area. The “band” consisted of a DJ who thought he could sing and a bunch of drunk 20-year-olds who thought they could sing at the top of their lungs. It was right outside my window and so loud even my earplugs didn’t block out the noise. I went down at 12:30 to complain and they just shrugged their shoulders and said, “They should stop at 1:00 am. I was not thrilled with being in the most expensive lodging of my trip and having to deal with this.
Now that I’ve moved to the hostel with the pool, the temperature outside has dropped 15 to 20°, and it’s a cool 75. It’s not quite hot enough to get into the cold pool. Erg. Well, I can be thankful that I had one pool day anyway. And now the elevators are broken. I was so excited not to have to go up and down stairs. I mean, my quads are seriously on fire every time I go upstairs, and I pulled my hip flexor a couple of days ago. My poor leggies need a rest. Erg, the joys of travel.
The next day, I went on a historical tour of the San Telmo neighborhood. We learned a little bit about the history, saw a few sites, then ended up at the San Telmo market.
The San Telmo Market is as famous and popular as La Boqueria in Barcelona. It was nice to walk through, although it’s mostly restaurants that cater to tourists.
The outdoor fair, which is only on Sundays, consists almost exclusively on antiques.
Outside the regular market, I popped my head into a wine shop. The guy behind the counter and the American customer convinced me to come in for a glass of wine. The guy behind the counter, John, is the owner. John is from Scotland. The American man, Richard, has been living in Buenos Aires for the last 20 years. He’s a private tour guide. So we all talked and talked and talked and had a great time.
On the way back I discovered this cool old building with all these little shops in it.
Later that night I went to this bar in an old garage, but I got really sad like I do sometimes when I travel.
I haven’t talked to as many people as usual on this trip, and that’s making me feel very alone in the whole wide world.
I was particularly sad because I had expected to see people in Buenos Aires, but nothing panned out. Kate, the girl I met in Valparaiso had wanted to meet me in Buenos Aires because we were going to be there on the same date. But it turned out she got very sick and had to fly home.
Then my friend from San Jose has a daughter and ex-husband that are living in Buenos Aires. She gave me their information and urged me to contact them. I did so and talked to the ex-husband, but the daughter didn’t respond. So I didn’t see them either.
Plus, I seriously smashed my finger when moving my chair closer to the table in the garage bar. My poor finger was pinched between a broken board and the metal edge of the chair. I literally started crying.
After sobbing all the way home, back in my room, I took a Jacuzzi bath. I was very excited because I’ve actually never taken a Jacuzzi bath in my life. I got in, got the jets going, and everything was good. I had a little plastic pillow to lay back on, and at one point, the plastic pillow fell off. I hadn’t noticed until it was too late. It had been floating upside down near me, and the back side of it was covered in black mold and slime. The water now had a coating of brown, greasy oil and dirt. It absolutely disgusted me and I got out immediately.
Leave a Reply