Buenos Aires on the quick

Trip Start Sep 26, 2010
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23
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Trip End Jun 10, 2011


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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Every once and a while, for reasons that are not always apparent, you get really sick while traveling.  The first couple of days in Buenos Aires were spent lying in bed with a high fever doing absolutely nothing.  Thankfully Adar was feeling quite well and arranged to move us from our near inferno street side eight bed dorm room to a private room with air conditioning away from all the noise of the street.  In Buenos Aires, air conditioning is a treat.  I caved and started a round of cipro which quickly took on and annihilated whatever was ailing me.  In the remaining time that we did have, we navigated the worlds largest avenue (18 lanes) and explored a large triple masted naval vessel that had made several round-the-world trips.  It had an impressive steam engine for when the wind could not power it's massive sails.  The engineer and sailor in me was pleased.

Another afternoon was spent exploring the colorful La Boca neighborhood, in which we found and purchased a unique carpet made from cow hide
The Colorful La Boca Neighborhood
The Colorful La Boca Neighborhood
.  It was unique in that it was a quilt made from about 30 different colors of hide making for an attractive piece.  After leaving the tourist area of La Boca to walk along the water to Puerto Madero, we also found several very friendly locals who emphatically recommended that we leave their neighborhood immediately to avoid the other very UNfriendly locals who would be all to happy to forcefully make off with any of our valuable possessions.  At one point a group literally told us to stop and wait with them until the next bus out of there rounded the corner and then urged us quickly board.  The neighborhood did not look that bad but apparently it was.  Later we read that the neigherbood around La Boca was not the best and that tourists best stay on the beaten track. Thanks to the helpful (friendly) Argentinians for protecting us and our camera.

Another day we walked across town to the Recoleta cemetery.  This is an expansive maze of above ground crypts in various states of repair.  Some were large and ornate with intricately carved marble and stained glass. Others had shattered glass, rusted iron, and crumbling walls. Many crypts had entire families and were quite old and a few had additions as recent as 2010. On this day we also spent a good deal of time figuring out how to send our recently purchased carpet back home.  We found out far too late that we are unable to send anything back to the states that is more than 500g (1 pound) via regular international mail.  Thankfully FedEx, UPS, and DHL were all too happy to take our money.  A little lighter in the wallet, we had a carpet and several items that we did not want to continue to carry on their way home.

On a day when Jeremy was feeling a bit better, he got a haircuit and chose that day to shave his beard as well, despite Adar`s objections.  Please check out the photos below and vote your preference: beard or no beard.

After almost four months exploring the Americas we enjoyed our last dulce de leche helado and prepped our bags for the African continent.

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