Argentina - Tango and Malbec

Just as I get comfortable with BA we are on our way to Mendoza.   It will be an interesting place to go to and everyone we have spoken to say very positive things about it.   When we woke this morning, it was raining and thundering.   We packed and left when the person came to pick up the keys.   After dropping our bags at a storage place we went and had a coffee.   While there the Adelaide couple we had met once before appeared and sat down to talk with us.   They have been coming to BA since 1999, so have seen it through Argentina’s various crises.   Travelling is always interesting.   We hailed a taxi to take us to the airport and the one we got was a small one with a boot that barely took one suitcase but with a bit of pushing we managed to get the second one in, otherwise it would have had to go on a lap.   The taxi driver was very good and got us to the airport quickly.   B and I were not seated together despite the sa...

Yes, finally we got to see tango but first things first.   B spent most of the morning trying to find a tango event to go to and then when she did it was a very protracted process.   Finally she had secured a booking at Senor Tango (recommended by our bike guide a few days prior) and a pick-up time in a shuttle at 9pm or within a half hour of that time.   Our café (no it is not me!) It was then time to go out.   We had a coffee at our usual café and because it was quiet Dani (the owner) chatted with us and asked us where we came from. He then started talking about having had the best coffee in Sydney in a place he couldn't recall.   He had set up his business with his ex-wife who was Indonesia and whom he had met when he was a student at University in Russia.   He wanted to go and live in Mendoza (having established that we were going there the next day).   In between time we wrote some post-cards.   It was the writing of the pos...

It was an early start by Argentinian standards although not by mine, yet given we have been sleeping in until 8am it was  early even for us.   We walked to the Subte and had one change of train to get the road that would take us to the Buquebus terminal.   After a couple of wrong turns we found the correct street and with a bit of walking we arrived at the Buquebus terminal where we were to take the ferry from.   It took a little while to go through immigration. Like Europe they did both Argentina and then Uruguay in the same booth.  We now have another country’s stamp in our passports. We were on a fast ferry, which was a bit like the one that used to go between Wellington and Picton.   An hour later we were in Colonia del Sacramento.   The Rio de la Plata is fresh water despite it being more like a lake or perhaps an estuary.   It is very brown and muddy, but apparently it is safe to swim in. The package we had bought for...

Our café We walked for over 15 kilometres and it felt like it when we got home later that evening. I think we must be getting into the rhythm of this city where no one moves much before 9 am and eating early is 8pm. We went to our favourite café for our daily coffee fix.  The coffee is very good and up to a standard we might get in Wellington.  While there we met a couple who were from Adelaide and who were spending a month here.  They do it every year so they can dance tango which they then teach back in Adelaide.  Bob sent me a list of the restaurants and places to visit which was most useful. He also gave us instructions on how to get a Sube card (like a Snapper or Opal card) and that you could use one on the buses and Subte (metro system). It is safe to use despite the warnings in Lonely Planet and other guides. An obscured Pink Palace We managed to negotiate the language gap in a Kiosk and got our Sube card and then was able to load it at the stati...

Our bikes - the start The forecast said rain, the clouds said rain so we packed our rain jackets in anticipation of it in the event we did not need them. I estimated that it was going to be about half an hour walk from our apartment to the meeting point at the car parking garage so we headed off after having had our morning coffee.  When we arrived there was no one there with bikes.  B looked at the booking and found that 10:30am was the time.  There were no cafés open so we wandered around and found an ATM instead.  B's card worked mine did not so no refilling the coffers. Half an hour later we met Luana and the other riders at the designated spot.  We quickly adjusted our three speed commuter bikes to fit us and then we were off.  BA has this wonderful network of separate bike lanes. Unlike the ones in NZ or Australia there are no cars parked alongside them with random door openings to knock you off your bike.  Despite the traffic if felt rea...

Apartment roof top view It was a very hot night and that as well as the body time zone and the actual time zone being a bit messed up meant sleeping at odd times during the night. We took a long time to get going in the morning.  There was a security issue with the sliding door to sort out and then planning our venture into Palermo.  It was after midday by the time we left our apartment to explore. Bev had identified where a couple of Movistar stores (the local mobile operator) were so we could buy a SIM card for our phones.  Initially we took off in the wrong direction but as luck had it we found this very nice little café to have a Scupture coffee.  While we were there a young woman came in who used some English and she then sat opposite us to have it.  She was from the US and had been in Buenos Aires since 2005 teaching English as a second language.  She came after graduating for adventure, to teach English and to learn another language with...

Sunday has been a very long one for me.  A nap in the middle of the day while we traversed the South Pacific. But first things first. It was an early start  so I could do the last of the washing and get the flat ready for my return.  As a result the day went extremely fast and before I knew it Kay and Bruce had arrived to pick me up and take me to the airport. Just before I left I got a text from B to say that she had been upgraded from Premium Economy to Business Class.  The way it was worded you could see a grin from ear to ear. When I got to the airport I checked in and found that I too had been upgraded.  That meant I would have my feet up for the flight.  The only issue was whether B and I would be in the same cabin.  My flight to Auckland was quite tight in time.  I had only about ten minutes in the Auckland Koro Lounge before the flight was called.  I waited a bit longer for B to turn up but it seemed that she was late arriving i...