So today I finished the Hop On/Off bus because I wanted to get back to the Recoleta Cemetery. Everyone says it’s a must see so I must see it. It’s world famous.
Juan and Eva “Evita” Peron’s MausoleumClose-up of their nameplates. President Mitre’s Mausoleum
Indeed, it was very beautiful and nicely set up. Those people spent a lot of money on these tombs and mausoleums.
After the cemetery, I walked to catch the Hop On/Off bus going in the other direction so I could get to the MALBA art museum. Unfortunately, the walk in the blazing sun took a full 30 minutes, and I was so dripping in sweat by the time I got there, I was a little worried about heatstroke.
All I had was hot water to drink until I found a sidewalk coffee stand where I got ice in a cup along with a fresh bottle of water. I downed it.
The MALBA had some pretty cool art.
This one is so weird.I love this guy’s eyes. It was 3-D. Enlarge this and look inside the eyes and the nose and the teeth and on the chin. Very cool.
Now that I was in Buenos Aires, I had to have a steak. Steak without any sides is at least $50 in a nicer restaurant; I saw chalkboards outside smaller restaurants for about US$30 but wanted a splurge.
To spend $75 on dinner by myself, staring straight ahead just doesn’t sound fun. So I went to a place with a “happy hour” which meant you got 40% off of your entire bill if you come between 6:30 to 8 PM That sounded more like my cup of tea so I went for it.
After making sure I wasn’t ordering an eyeball, I ordered the Ojo de Bife which is ribeye.
My steak was good but a little fatty. I don’t think it was the best quality compared to what is available in better restaurants here. I still spent $50, and I still stared straight ahead eating. sometimes it’s just not worth all the effort to save money. 
For breakfast, I found an awesome coffee shop in Palermo called Moshu Treehouse. It’s the coolest. The food and service are also awesome.
I’m bored. There’s not enough to do in Buenos Aires to warrant staying a week. Four days would be good. I should’ve followed the research. Three to four days is what was recommended.
I decided not to take any tours. I considered the Tigre River Cruise, thinking it might be cooler on the water. But I doubt it. The pictures show on an open air boat which will be hot… It just didn’t appeal.
Then I thought about going to Uruguay. It’s only an hour and a half by high speed ferry. I really really wanted to go to a beach and touch the Atlantic. But after further research, I learned that the area is on a river beach and the water is brown. It’s not even mixed with the Atlantic. I didn’t want to hassle with getting to the port early in the morning, skipping the included tour, then trying to figure out how to get to the beach, then who watches my stuff while I go in the water.
I looked up images on the web and by the pix, it looks like there’s no shade out there and it might not be that safe. And it’s going to be 86°! Plus it’s $189. That’s a lot of effort to swim in a river for an hour. so I decided against it.
I’m tired. I’ve been schlepping my stuff up multiple flights of stairs in hotels and boarding airplanes and buses for a month now. It’s all been great, but it is tiring.
I’m moving to the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires tomorrow. It’s where all the tango shows are. It will be the last three days of my adventure.
Why are we giving Argentina 22 billion again? They live a better life than we do. I’ve seen about 2-3 homeless people per day.
I am I’m Palermo, one of the nicer neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
Nearby parkThe streets are lined with trees.
Typical for my weather (bad) luck on this trip, the weather is unusually hot for this time of year. It was unusually cold in Puerto Natales, unusually hot for Mendoza, and unusually cold for Mar del Plata. It’s 92 today, will be 93 tomorrow. Yay.
I’m finding that as a postmenopausal woman, I simply cannot handle heat anymore. It used to be no problem for me. I look around and see the 25-year-olds wearing jeans and not a drop of sweat on their foreheads, while I’m wearing as little as my crepey body will allow. My forehead is dripping, my face is red, and my hair is wet from sweat. And I’m panting and cranky.
People here and other parts of the world simply do not believe in fans or air conditioning unless absolutely necessary. Why is this? It’s such a simple solution but it’s like they don’t even think it’s hot.
The common areas of the hostel (bathrooms, kitchen, living room) have been blazing hot until today when it’s over 90°. Suddenly, the AC was on. It was like night and day. Maybe 90 degrees is the point at which they actually will turn on the AC.
When I checked in, aside from the heat inside the lobby, I was mortified when the girl took me to my room. The stairs. My God, the stairs. There are three sections. Every time we got to to the top of one, I thought that was it. But no. She just continued up. I had to stop and rest three times. I counted the steps to get to my room: 50. And they are all curving staircases of granite. It’s actually pretty dangerous.
First, you go up 10 steps, then these.Then you go up, these.
I almost wiped out yesterday in the kitchen. I didn’t see the step, walked right into it and went flying. Luckily, I caught myself with my two hands, barely stopping my face from hitting the hard floor. That would have been very bad.
There is a hostel cat and dog. The only time I see the dog is when he’s in the kitchen begging for food. The cat just hangs out everywhere.
This is the first and only dorm bed situation I’m doing on this trip. Gorilla hostel was the other but I cancelled that due to Covid.
My little bed and my little cube are fine. I have curtains around me, so I have privacy. I actually like being in the little cube. It makes me feel like I’m in a fort like when I was seven years old.
Yesterday, I booked a Hop On Hop Off bus and did the whole route around the city. I got off at the Recoleta Cemetery, but there was a line that looked like it would take about two hours, so I got back on the bus and continued the route.
It took seven hours with traffic doubling the time it should have taken, and there were many places I had to skip.
Casa RosadaEntrance to the gritty neighborhood, La Boca. This bridge is supposed to signify tango.
That night, I found where all the restaurants are five blocks away. Luckily, I’m resourceful because the hostel staff was not at all helpful in this regard. The Tandoori chicken skewers were excellent and different than what I’ve been eating.
The Mendoza Airport is downright tiny, maybe 1/4 the size of the Fresno airport. And it’s the capital city of this province! There was nobody in line anywhere, not at check-in and not at security. No wonder I walked by baggage claim when I got here.
I tried in vain to find my lost Kindle but it wasn’t there. When we arrived in Buenos Aires to transfer to Mar de Plata, I went straight to baggage claim. The baggage claim guy said yes, they have an Amazon Kindle at the police!
I was so excited, I went to the police, as instructed, and there was a sign, “Be back in ten minutes.” Erg. Finally, a guy came. I re-explained everything to him and he acted like he knew nothing about it. (I thought the two departments just talked.?). Then after waiting ten more minutes, he said no, he has a tablet but it’s not an Amazon Kindle. Erg!! It probably ended up being found when the plane (if it did) went back to Bariloche. I should’ve checked at the airport there! Erg.
It was time to board the connecting flight to Mar del Plata and it was pouring rain. We had to pile into a bus that deposited us at the plane practically on the runway. I was seriously afraid that an airplane wing from an arriving or taxiing airplane would clip us.
We had to stand in line on the outside plane stairs for about three minutes in the pouring sideways rain. My jacket, pants, and backpack were soaked.
Flying from Mendoza to Mar de Plata was a stupid move. It would have been way cheaper and easier to take the cheap direct flight to Buenos Aires and take the train or bus up and back, like I had originally planned to do. The flight took eight hours with the layover and cost three times as much. Not worth it.
I have now boarded seven flights and have checked into hotels eight times, nine if you consider Gorilla Hostel which I waited for and then canceled.
The Uber driver from the airport to my hotel was awesome. He and I talked the whole way and I understood 80% of what he said.
We talked about politics, many countries in the world having extreme right and extreme left politicians battling it out. We talked about the people of Argentina, the people of Mendoza, and how Buenos Aires is going to be different than Mar del Plata. I did not know that Argentinians and Chileans do not particularly like each other. It has to do with the Falklands War. Chile sided with the UK. Most Americans don’t even remember that.
Hotel Syrenuse
My hotel is by far the best on my entire trip. It is gorgeous.
I have a 2-story room. It’s super clean, and I have a bidet. And there’s even an elevator! Hallelujah! I don’t need to schlep my two heavy suitcases up two flights of stairs for once. This is exciting. It’s very different than the hostel crowd. At breakfast, everyone talks in hushed voices and classical music plays.
I’m trying to master the bidet. There’s the temperature thing. By the time you move over, sometimes the water continues to get hotter and that hurts! Other times I turn the part that squirts up too high and it goes all over the place. There are many facets to this fine art. But bidets are so civilized and leave you so clean. Why is this not normal in the US?
I went for a glass of wine in this cool cafe called Gavia 1921.
A very cool cafeThe door to the cool cafeThe garden area of the cool cafe
And took a walk around the neighborhood. This is definitely the high-rent district.
This may be a museum.
I’m heading into the three coldest days of the month in Mar del Plata. It is supposed to be around 59, with rain forecast for one full day. Two days ago it was 85 degrees. There you have it. I’m striking out with weather again and again.
So I got my winter clothes back out, and I’m wearing a sweater with leggings and boots.
This restaurant was recommended to me by the hotel.
I’m eating langostinos in this gorgeous place with this giant glass of wine which was only five dollars!!! Langostinos were much more than that, about $18. All food is expensive here except for the wine, empanadas, and tostadas (like panninis). It’s very quiet and upscale here in this neighborhood by the beach. It has an old money feel. I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.
There are no tours. There’s a walking tour but it’s closed the three days I’m here.
I walked down to the casino to see what’s up and to try to find a tourism office.
Parked on the street was this crazy bus playing loud Reggaeton with colored lights flashing. Everybody on the bus was clapping and yelling. It took a minute to realize they were clapping and yelling for me to join them. I couldn’t resist.
It was a City Tour. The guide spoke in rapid Argentinian Spanish, so I understood about a third of what was said.
Mar del Plata is actually a large city. We only went through a small part of it, including my hotel neighborhood. He was talking about the super rich people that live there.
We stopped at a little grotto in the Italian part of town. It was in honor of the Virgin Mary. It was very touching, which was surprising to me because it was also a little bit kitschy.
There was something about it that made me start to cry. I was thinking of my mom and our Catholic upbringing. Everyone was quiet with respect.
I touched the water coming down from the hill by The Virgin and put it on my forehead. Then I did the Father Son, Holy Spirit thing (what’s that called? Holy trinity? Prostrating oneself?)
I wanted to light a candle for Mom, but there were none available so I took an older one that wasn’t lit and lit it in Mom‘s honor. (Is that bad, to relight a candle meant for someone else?)
Then the bus went to the port where we got off for 30 minutes to look around.
These might be elephant seals?
I bought some anchovies in a jar and a can of tuna.
After the tour was over, I went to a seafood place recommended to me by the Tourist Office. I had Merluza, not sure what that translates to, but it’s a type of fish. It was fresh and delicious.
Later that night I went looking for another restaurant and ran into the huge house that was having a Christmas event. It was so cute! I bought a few things there.
The next morning, checkout day, was absolutely beautiful. I had almost changed my other hotel rese and stayed here one more night but didn’t. Now I wish I would have.
Look carefully for the white Jesus.
I have never touched the Atlantic Ocean. This was something I had really wanted to do but it was so darn cold. So I planned on doing it the day I was leaving.
I overslept. I was so mad at myself. I quickly packed and had 30 minutes to get to the water. When I started walking, I realized I still had to go down a very long hill and wasn’t going to make it. I had 15 minutes left and that wasn’t even close. Darnit! I didn’t get to touch the Atlantic Ocean. And there are no beaches in Buenos Aires.
I taxied to the bus station and settled in for the 5-hour ride. The guy next to me was Japanese and he was really sick. He had been in bed for the whole seven days, he said. Poor guy. I could smell his sickness. He was hacking up stuff. I apologetically told him I was going to change seats because I didn’t want to get sick. It was probably Covid, but you never know. He clearly had bronchitis and a sinus infection and needed antibiotics.
After sleeping in and getting completely lost, which I do in every town I get to on Day One, I finally re-organized all of my stuff and hung out in my room for a part of the day.
It started to rain as I ventured out. There were lots of restaurants and bakeries but hardly any stores for shopping, not that I’m complaining.
Lastarria
My favorite restaurant so far is CHPE Libre which stands for ChilePeru. Pisco, the alcoholic beverage both countries claim as their own, is the headliner here, along with Chilean/Peruvian fusion food. They had a live salsa band above the restaurant, and the place was packed. My seafood soup was delicious.
The girl sitting next to me was from Brazil, also traveling alone. We had a great conversation in English.
She told me that understanding me in English was easier than understanding the bartender’s Spanish.
Now I must go to Salvador, Brazil one day. Anthony Bourdain raved about it, so it must be good.
After dinner, I headed back to the hostel where they had free pisco sours. It was fun talking with a girl from Bulgaria and two Canadian guys. As we were chatting, there was thunder and lightning, followed by rain that sounded like buckets of water were being sloshed to the ground. This is evidently unusual for the dry Central to Northern Chile. 
Yesterday I decided to do the Hop on Hop off bus since there was nothing else I could do, feeling so awful. I felt I would be safe to others on the bus as long as I wore my mask.
It was probably the worst Hop on Hop off bus tour I’ve ever been on. None of the stops were marked with the numbers so you never knew where you were, and I couldn’t understand what the guy said.
A church destroyed by an earthquakeThe gate to the park, a gift from Scotland
Towards the end of the ride, there was one park that was nice, with a zoo, fountain, and snack areas. At the end of the park was the Archaeological Museum, where I got off and looked around. I love the tiny dinosaur and the leg of the giant one. I had never seen dinosaur bones before, so it was very interesting to me.
Tiny Dino!BIG Titanosaurus leg, went to the ceiling
In the bathroom, I ran into an American woman about my age who was trying to find the toilet paper that was outside the stalls, like in the public toilets. We were so excited to speak English to each other. She said I’m only the fourth American she’s seen in two weeks. I’ve also only seen about four Americans in three weeks other than a few I’ve heard talking while walking by.
It’s nice not to be in an over-touristy place like so many other places in the world. But then again it would be nice if there were a few more English speakers. Evidently late December-January-February is when the hordes come.
After the bus ride, I went to the chocolate store. I love the way you buy chocolates here. You choose an empty box that holds choose the weight you want ( I did 100 grams which is I guess about 6 oz?), then tell them how many of which chocolates to put into the fancy box.
My picks
I am starting to get my taste back and the little on and off fevers don’t seem to be happening today, Day Six of Covid. So I’m on the mend.
This morning I rushed in and tried my breakfast to see if I would be able to taste it, and I could 80% taste it! I was so excited, I contacted the wine tour I canceled yesterday to see if I could still come today. I was able to!
We went to one olive oil place and three wineries. There were some pretty good wines but a few too many sweet wines for my taste. What was different was that they started us with sweet wines instead of serving sweet wines last like we do in the US. Malbec rules in Mendoza.
We tried five types of olive oil. Even though it’s called Vistandes, the Andes are hiding in the clouds behind me. The groupBaby grapes150 year old tanks. They still use cement tanks in the 2nd fermentation process. “The tunnel” formed purposely by the trees for shade.
A lady from New York was sitting across from me on the bus. She was really cool. We hung out, talking, and we took pictures for each other. It was a lot of fun. I made the mistake of not eating first, so I was ravenous when we got back at 7:30 pm. Overall, it was a good last day in Mendoza.
