I went downstairs to breakfast (quietly). Jen and several other folks went to dinner at 9:30 last night, and although I don't know when they got back, I know she wasn't back when I did go to sleep around 2. I don't know how everyone is staying conscious during the day...
I went back upstairs to wait around until later since none of the shops are going to be open till 9 am anyway. Jen and I went down to breakfast (well I went down to chat since I had already eaten) around 10. I met up with Craig and we planned to head out around 10:30 to pick up a few things from the market and then to see a famous theater that had been converted to a bookstore just down the block. I checked out and left my luggage with the concierge and Craig, Jen, and I headed out for some last minutes shopping in Buenos Aires.
We hit the supermarcado first and I picked up some Alfajores for the ferry ride to Uruguay. Next we started walking to El Ateneo, a theater that was converted to a bookstore. We got a bit misdirected so it took a bit longer to get there than it should have. The bookstore was beautiful. We looked around and I took some videos of the inside with my Glass. I went crazy in the cookbook aisle. I bought three cookbooks (all in Spanish) so that I can make some traditional Argentine empanadas and Alfajores when I get back to the States. This must happen.
We started to head back to the hotel around 11:15 and I got Jen and Craig to stop by one of the boutiques I had seen a couple of days ago, Vela Luka. It's this great jewelry place full of lots of colorful things. I picked up a few things for gifts and a pretty necklace for myself as well.
I took a picture of the shop. I really did love just about everything in this place, and it was all made by local artisans (including the owner) using natural or recycled materials. So cool!
This is my souvenir from Buenos Aires:)
Jen picked up a few things and Craig hurried us on our way so that we wouldn't miss the bus that was supposed to be leaving at noon. We got back in plenty of time, got our bags, stashed them in the bus, and headed to lunch at La Bidtecca in Puerto Madero. The food was so so but we didn't stay long. After lunch we mosied on our way to the port, checked our bags, and went through customs. The neat thing about leaving through the port is that there were two customs agents sitting side by side. The Argentine customs agent took my passport, stamped my exit visa, and then passed my passport to the Uruguayan customs agent sitting right next to him, who proceeded to hit on me, laugh a lot, stamp my passport, and waive me through. If this is any indication of Urugauy, this is going to be a fun couple of days:)
Picture of the inside if the port.
We loaded onto the ferry, which was not exactly what I thought it was going to be. The only other large ferry I've been on was the one I took from Egypt to Jordan years ago and it was much much larger than the one we were going to be taking. It was more streamlined and there were seats in it just like a airplane. Two key differences were the large snack bar and the positively huge duty free shop in the lower floor. We all crashed in some seats together and busted out our entertainment for the 3 hour tour...
I got some great shots as we pulled away from the harbor. Goodbye Buenos Aires!
The boat was relatively smooth until about midway through when we started to do some pretty impressive rolling from side to side. It wasn't a big deal unless you were standing. I, of course, took this opportunity to go downstairs to check out the duty free shop on the hunt for potato chips. I made it downstairs and back upstairs with jolly rancher bites in tow instead of chips, all without taking a dive off the balcony inside the ship. Go me.
The rest of the trip went by without incident. I listened to my book while Craig read on his kindle. Some of the other guys decided that a few beers were in order, so by the time we docked there had been a small amount of drinks had by some and the general volume rose accordingly. Once the boat docked (around 7 pm) we disembarked, collected our bags, went through customs, and loaded the bus to the hotel inside of 20 minutes. We were at the hotel in another 10 minutes. I love this country. It's efficient.
Jen and I got our room keys just as quickly and by 7:45 we were relaxing in our room on the 9th floor and unpacking. After some fussing with the internet I was able to get online and update my travel blog.
Comments