Long way to go

Ahh, Buenos Aires. One of the few cities in the world in which I could totally live. It's so nice to be back strolling around Palermo, Recoleta, enjoying the fantastic weather. Yesterday I met up with a friend who is down here for a month's vacation, John, and we checked out San Telmo, the neighborhood where tango was born. However, I didn't see any shows.

Instead of antiquing, which the barrio is also known for, we spent a nice afternoon drinking wine in the park, one of my favorite fair weather activities. Ended up having dinner at La Cabrera - the third time I have eaten there, but I really think they have the best steaks I have ever consumed. And they gave me free champagne after I finished my malbec!

Today I spent the morning reading classic science fiction in the botanical garden. After that I went to the Museum of Belles Artes, which had a very impressive collection. Then I checked out a shopping gallery full of high-end design shops, but couldn't really afford anything. Tonight I am meeting up with a friend from New York, Zev, for some drinks. It's strange that so soon I won't be able to spend my days reading in parks, checking out museums, strolling around interesting neighborhoods. Reality is about to intrude rather rudely, in the form of work. I need a job! But I am not going to worry too much, not going to think about sending resumes out until I get back to NYC. Which is to say: next week. Wow.

Also, once I return to the states, I will go back through and update this site: post all my pictures and clean up some of the writing, which has been so hastily scribbled and barely edited.

By the way, my head is doing fine. The concussion was mild; I was kind of out of it on Sunday, but I am feeling much better today. Thank you to all those who expressed concern, but you have nothing to worry about! I am a hard-headed person.

Posted by j3s at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I´m back in Buenos Aires. It´s nice to be someplace familiar again, but I have definitely settled into the rhythm of travel and can´t wait to go to the next place. Which is La Paz, Bolivia, the highest altitude city in the world. The more people I talk to, the more I am beginning to regret signing up for a tour of the country. I was a little nervous having heard that Bolivia is very rough, so I booked a 10 day tour. I haven´t taken a tour since 1998, really prefer to travel on my own. However, from talking to people at hostels it sounds like it´s quite accessible, and I would have been fine on my own. Ah well. The bright side is I can turn off my brain a little, not have to think about scheduling buses or finding hostels for a few days.

The bad news is I am spending money more quickly than I thought. My original plan was to head to Chile after Bolivia, then back to BA, then back to NYC. Now I think after Chile I´d really like to head south to Patagonia for a week or two...if the money holds out.

As for Cordoba, I was sad to stay there only one day. Admittedly, much of my stay was augmented by how nice of a hostel I stayed at; the asado (BBQ) Saturday night was a blast, as was checking out the rest of the town: the big Parque Sarmiento, Paseo de Flores, the Museum, and a couple clubs and bars.

My bus left Cordoba, or rather was scheduled to leave, at 11pm yesterday; at 11:20 there was still no sign of the bus. I was getting kind of nervous, but did a good job of not getting upset once I understood that I hadn´t just missed it. Eventually I found a middle aged Argentinian woman who was on my bus too, and we waited together. She didn´t speak any English, but told me all about her family and her vacation, about half of which I understood. We cheered together when the bus arrived, finally, at almost midnight. After I had taken my seat upstairs (she was sitting on the lower level of the bus), the woman found me, gave me a macrame and bead bracelet and necklace she had made, a hug, and her email address, wishing me bueno suerte. It was so sweet! Little things like this make me quite happy, and remind me why I travel.

Now that I am back in the big city, I should mention a few things about it before I forget, both good and...interesting.

- amazing steaks, so cheap. My favorite so far is La Cabrera, but I want to try other places too
- the Sunday market at Plaza Serrano
- the MALBA Museum´s permanent collection of contemporary Latin American art
- cortado (coffee)
- really cheap breezy dresses and clothes
- asado culture, BBQ is a universal activity
- seeing my friend Maurizio play good music at parties
- always needing to have small bills on hand; portenos don´t like to give change for much over a 5 or 10
- so many beautiful plazas and parks everywhere
- good cheap argentinian wine
- Palermo Viejo, a really cute neighborhood
- the difficulty in finding English books not in the genre of Clive Cussler, Danielle Steele, or Stephen King
- the weather: sunny, hot but not humid, always a breeze
- the eagerness with which portenos offer directions
- Parisian-inspired architecture
- dulce de leche
- dulce de leche ice cream at Alta Volta Heladeria

I´m sure there will be more, that´s just off the top of my head. It´s a ridiculously pleasant city.

Posted by j3s at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If I kept a list of my favorite places in the world, the balcony of our 15th floor flat in Buenos Aires overlooking the Cementerio de la Recoleta and the Rio de la Plata, anytime day or night, would be one of those top places. The view is stunning, the breeze feels fantastic on bare shoulders, and just sitting there instills a sense of calmness over me.

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog, I know. Many things changed since I began it; for starters, I never made it on the around-the-world trek that Atom and I originally planned. That's ok; I loved Berlin so much, I have no regrets about living there for the last year. Perhaps that's why I stopped updating this site: Berlin ceased to feel like travelling, and instead it just felt like a home.

I know, I never blogged here about Paris, the wedding in Le Bugue and the South of France; Amsterdam and Eindhoven, or London, and maybe those stories will come out one day. The pictures from my year in Berlin are all on my photolog, week by week.

Now for some basics. I left Berlin on December 13 for a number of reasons: I didn't want to spend another dark winter there, I was running low on money and wanted to see someplace else before I went broke, and I figured it would be nice to spend the holidays amongst friends and family. So I flew to New York and hung out for a week before embarking on a one-week midwest tour: Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit before heading back to New York. After recovering from New Years celebrations, I took took off for Buenos Aires on January 4.

So far, wow. It's an amazing city. My friend Kate has been down here since early December, and I am lucky enough to stay with her in her amazing flat until she leaves. It's on the top floor (15th) of a nice building (with a doorman! I am getting spoiled) in a swanky neighborhood, Recoleta. Pictures of the flat and neighborhood are at the end of this post.

I have a few other friends in town, too. Maurizio lives here, a musician from Buenos Aires who I met when he was in Berlin for a month, Gadi, a friend from New York that synchronously (but unplanned) flew in the same day I did, and a couple friends of his, Ellie and Chaya, that I met on New Years Eve. Even though many Porteños (Buenos Aires locals) are on vacation right now, it still feels like a good time to be here. And the weather is fantastic: mid 80's, not too much humidity, nice breeze.

So far Kate and I have been taking it relatively easy, deciding last week to postpone the touristy sightseeing (museums, landmarks) until this week. Regardless, I still feel like I've seen a lot just running around town to meet friends, shop, and dance. Maurizio played parties on Friday and Saturday, which were a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing what the local scene was like, and was reminded how much techno music makes the world a smaller place.

We've also done a bit of shopping; I love the exchange rate right now. After getting trounced by the Euro for a year, three pesos to a dollar is nice breathing room. I was on such a tight budget for so long that I feel quite luxurious at the moment: eating big steaks in fancy restaurants, considering going to a spa. I haven't bought new clothes in a year and a half, and while they go over my budget, I can justify the expense. I figure when I am done traveling I'll have to go back to work, and will need clothes for that. However, I'd rather spend the money now, because here a dress I like costs 15 dollars instead of 100.

Also, I love the weekly outdoor markets that abound around town. Yesterday, Kate and I explored the hipster market in Palermo at the Plaza Serrano. Before really getting into it, we ate at a restaurant on a main corner. After ordering sandwiches and a bottle of wine to split, our bill was about 4 US dollars, with tip. Also, we eat a lot of our meals at home to save money. The last year has definitely taught me a lot about budgeting.

One thing I love about this city is that every street seems to have a lush canopy of trees; it makes even the not-so-great neighborhoods much lovelier. And for those worried about my safety, this city is safer than Chicago. Instead of staying in patrol cars, policemen stand around on most corners for their shifts. Also, the Argentinians I have met so far seem to just be really friendly and helpful.

I do plan on leaving the country, seeing more of South America. Kate's playing at a festival in Punta del Este this weekend, and I'm going with her. After she goes back to the States, I'd like to go to Chile and see Santiago, and possibly check out Boliva and Peru, but only if it seems safe for a woman traveling on her own. I'm not too worried, but I don't want to be an oblivious idiot.

That's all for now, I'll try to be better about updating this site more often now that I am traveling again; in addition, I am still updating my photolog. As promised, pictures of our flat:

Kate working on music in the living room:

My laundry, drying on the balcony above the Cementerio de la Recoleta:

Dawn from the kitchen window:

Seen between the rails of our balcony:

The street we live on, Las Heras:

Posted by j3s at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)